Eating sago worms

Fancy a meal that wriggles in your mouth?

KOTA KINABALU: Eating sago worms for the first time can be a nightmarish experience, but many quickly acquire a taste for them.

Whether served alive, stir-fried, cooked in soya gravy or drowned in a bowl of hot congee on a cold day, the larva of the sago palm weevil has come a long way since its debut in the Pulau Tiga Survivor Island game show in 2000.

This wriggly worm, known to locals as “butod”, has become a commercial hit and is one of Sabah’s tourism food brands.

Butod has been popularised by the Sabah Tourism Board as an ingredient in dishes for those looking for adventure in exotic food. They are also used in team building challenges such as in eating them raw.

Sago worms, which can grow to the size of the human thumb, can be found in sago trees, many of which grow in the Papar, Penampang and Kuala Penyu districts.

Butod is said to be high in protein and fat. When eaten, its chewy skin bursts to release a creamy texture.

A Penampang resident, Terence Dolinting, said rapid development in his district had greatly reduced the number of sago trees.

“Butod used to be sold cheaply,” he said, “but I recently bought a worm for RM2.”

He said some restaurants selling authentic Sabah food in Kota Kinabalu were of late finding it hard to get their supplies.

However, Quinie Chin, who works at a Kota Kinabalu restaurant that serves butod as one its highlights, said she had no problems with supplies because she could depend on a number of suppliers.

“The only trouble is that I get less during the rainy season and the price tends to fluctuate. If a supplier raises his price, I will usually source them from other suppliers to keep the cost down.”

She said her restaurant usually needs about 500 sago worms a month for sushi, pizzas and salads.

She agreed with those who would consider food served with butod as bizarre, but said the worms were a hit with many of her patrons, including tourists. “We see them daring each other to eat the live worm.”

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Human rights apply to all, EU tells Malaysia over Selangor Shariah ‘unnatural sex’ conviction

Mogherini called for the men to be released immediately, and for the human rights of LGBT persons to be guaranteed and protected according to Malaysia's international obligations. — Reuters pic

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 12 — The European Union (EU) chided the Selangor Shariah High Court for sentencing five men for “attempting sex against the order of nature” last week, saying the punishments are a breach of their human rights.

In a brief statement, its High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini said the Universal Declaration of Human Rights applies to everyone, even the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community.

“Caning — a form of corporal punishment — constitutes a breach of their human rights, and is a cruel, inhumane and degrading practice, and a form of torture,” Mogherini said through her spokesman.

“The human rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex persons are protected under existing international human rights law and relevant international conventions.

“The principles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights apply to all human beings without distinction of any kind,” the statement added.

The EU also called for the men to be released immediately, and for the human rights of LGBT persons to be guaranteed and protected according to Malaysia's international obligations.

The five were convicted under Sections 52 and 28 of the Selangor Syariah Criminal Offences Enactment 1995 after charged with attempting to conduct sexual relations with one or more men in an apartment at Bandar Baru Bangi, around 9.30pm on November 9 last year.

Four of the men aged 27 to 37 were fined RM4,800, six months imprisonment and six strokes of the cane. Another 42-year old man was sentenced to a jail term of seven months, fined RM4,900, and six strokes of the cane.

A group of 28 progressive civil rights organisations and political parties including Tenaganita, All Women’s Action Society, and Parti Sosialis Malaysia has since noted that the case's presiding Shariah judge Mohamad Asri Mohamad Tahir made numerous prejudiced remarks unrelated to the facts in issue.

The remarks made by Mohamad Asri included stating that people “like them” are difficult to control and must be segregated led the group to conclude that such extremely prejudicial sentiments resulted in unjust sentencing for the five

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Police arrest Namibian man suspected of strangling girlfriend to death in Sepang

Police said the incident was believed to have stemmed from a fight between the suspect and the victim at the apartment before the suspect strangled the victim, believed to be his girlfriend, to death.

SEPANG, Nov 11 — A Namibian man has been arrested to assist with the investigations into the discovery of a dismembered Nigerian woman’s body at an apartment in Cyberjaya last Wednesday.

Sepang district police chief ACP Abdul Aziz Ali said the 26-year-old suspect was detained by a police team from the D9 Unit (Serious Crimes) of the Criminal Investigation Department on the footpath along Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur, two days after the body was found.

In a press conference here today, Abdul Aziz said the incident was believed to have stemmed from a fight between the suspect and the victim at the apartment before the suspect strangled the victim, believed to be his girlfriend, to death.

In order to dispel the evidence, the suspect allegedly cut off both of the woman’s hands, which the police later found in a rubbish bin on the sixth floor of the same building.

Abdul Aziz said the 33-year-old woman’s right leg was also found to have been almost severed.

“Police also found a knife believed to have been used to maim the victim’s body,” he said, adding that the suspect also had two criminal records of trespassing and posing as a civil servant.

According to him, the investigation revealed that the suspect was a former student at a private institution of higher learning in the Klang Valley, and had been expelled last year.

Abdul Aziz said the suspect, who has been remanded for seven days beginning Nov 9, was believed to have befriended the victim via social media. — Bernama

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