November 26, 2025
KOTA KINABALU – Travellers flying to Kota Kinabalu from Kuala Lumpur often carry an unusual souvenir: loaves and packets of Gardenia bread and buns. The Peninsular Malaysian brand has long been prized by Sabahans, perceived as being superior to its East Malaysian counterpart.
But a recent comment by a Perikatan Nasional (PN) politician suggesting that the seemingly innocuous staple food could help win Sabahan votes has backfired spectacularly, embarrassing the federal opposition pact and its Islamist component party Parti Islam SeMalaysia (PAS) just days before the Nov 29 state election.
That remark has triggered viral memes mocking West Malaysian politicians’ perceived disconnect with Sabahan concerns and reignited longstanding debates over Sabah’s autonomy – a sensitive issue rooted in the state’s unique terms of entry into Malaysia in 1963.
The controversy underscores the delicate political dynamics between Peninsular Malaysia and the East Malaysian states, where grievances over resource distribution and federal oversight continue to influence voting patterns.
Sabah Barisan Nasional chief Bung Moktar Radin said in a Facebook video on Nov 24: “This is deeply embarrassing for the people of Sabah and should never have happened. I urge all voters in this Sabah state election… to reject this kind of party that can cause inter-state racial disunity, and insult an entire Sabah community.
“It is an act that is unforgivable and must be rejected completely, 100 per cent.”
The controversy began on Nov 12, when Kedah PAS assemblyman Mansor Zakaria told the state assembly sitting that winning over Sabahans was simple, saying: “Just give them Gardenia bread.”
Mr Mansor has since apologised, but the backlash over the PAS lawmaker’s remark may yet affect the votes for the 42 state seats contested by PN out of a total 73 – of which six will be contested by his party.
And for many Sabahans, the gaffe has become a very real bread-and-butter issue, literally.
Two Gardenias, two recipes
The reason behind Sabahans’ fondness for Gardenia bread from Peninsular Malaysia is simple: Both the brand and its bread in Sabah are not the same.
The original Gardenia is manufactured by Gardenia Bakeries (KL), which was formed in 1986 as a joint venture between Singapore-based food company QAF and Padiberas Nasional Berhad (Bernas), a central player in the Malaysian rice and paddy industry.
QAF also operates Gardenia in Singapore and the Philippines.
According to Gardenia’s website, the brand’s history stretches back to 1969 when American master baker Horatio Sye Slocumm set out to open a bakery in Malaysia.
In comparison, a different company altogether holds the licence to the Gardenia brand in East Malaysia and Indonesia: Sabah-based distributor Kim Teck Cheong Consolidated. Prior to 2020, the licence was held by yet another Sabah-based company, Tong Hing Holdings.
“We have different products, different management, different policies and different operational systems,” Gardenia Bakeries (KL) had said in a statement in January 2020.
Under longstanding agreements between the two manufacturers, neither company is allowed to distribute or sell its products in the other’s market.
This has resulted in two Gardenias, two recipes, two product lines, and two very different experiences for Malaysian consumers.
Many East Malaysians claim the peninsula’s version is softer and tastier, while the version back home, they insist, is drier and the product range, far smaller.
Bread, dignity and politics
In response to the gaffe, supporters of Sabah-based Parti Warisan sang the Gardenia jingle at a nomination centre in Putatan on Nov 15 to mock PN and PAS, as reported by Malay daily Sinar Harian.
Social media erupted with memes, from PAS president Hadi Awang photoshopped hugging a Gardenia loaf as a souvenir when arriving for Sabah campaigning, to other party leaders depicted as driving Gardenia delivery lorries.
Sabahans weighed in online, including comedian Atu Zero, who often buys peninsula Gardenia bread to bring back to Sabah, and said he was offended by the PAS lawmaker’s remark.
“When an adult utters inappropriate words, my heart feels hurt by statements that should never come from the mouth of someone who is supposedly wise,” he posted on Instagram on Nov 13.
In damage control mode, PN leaders scrambled to contain the fallout in Sabah, where it is already facing an uphill battle. PAS has never won an elected seat in Sabah, though it received its first nominated assembly seat in 2020, after Sabah PAS commissioner Aliakbar Gulasan was appointed to the post.
PN deputy president Hamzah Zainudin, who is also deputy president of Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia, a key component party of PN, said the issue had been blown out of proportion.
“I think that was just an issue that was raised and then blown up by unreasonable people,” he told reporters on Nov 16.
Datuk Aliakbar said in a video on his social media accounts on Nov 13: “Sabahans are people of dignity. Not just Gardenia bread, even wealth or money cannot buy the people of Sabah.”
Other PN component parties, such as Gerakan, also downplayed the backlash on the pact’s chances at the polls.
“Residents are more concerned about flooding, poor economic recovery, traffic, cleanliness and safety,” said Gerakan deputy president Oh Tong Keong on Nov 20.
A real bread-and-butter issue
For many Sabahans, the kerfuffle also showed that bread, of all things, is yet another long-running symbol of the disparities between East and West Malaysia.
Sabahans already endure chronic water shortages and frequent power cuts. It also has the nation’s highest poverty rate at 17.7 per cent, according to the latest October 2025 data from the Department of Statistics Malaysia – despite the resource-rich state contributing significantly to Malaysia’s oil and gas revenues.
Ms Analia Kamaruddin, a 40-year-old deputy public prosecutor from Putrajaya who frequently travels to Sabah for court proceedings, told The Straits Times during a recent Kuala Lumpur-Kota Kinabalu flight that she always brings Gardenia bread as gifts on her way home.
“They love Gardenia,” she said, referring to her acquaintances in Sabah, while showing a bag stuffed with more than 40 buns.
“I have durian flavour, cream, chocolate, and many more. Getting Gardenia buns makes their day. Locally made bread, despite similar packaging, does not taste as good.”
She found Mr Mansor’s remark “offensive”, saying: “He should not be making fun of Sabahans like that.”
She was not the only one who brought a bag full of Gardenia bread on a flight to Sabah. ST noticed at least one other passenger on the same flight carrying a bag full of the bread, which Ms Analia noted was a normal sight.
When asked about Gardenia bread in Sabah, one store owner in Kota Kinabalu, who did not wish to be named, quipped: “It is not like the bread in (Peninsular Malaysia). It tastes different.”
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