26 Teaspoons of Sugar - A Malaysian Obsession

Fun Fact 1 :

That's how much sugar Malaysians reputedly down on a daily basis.

Fun Fact 2 :

And that Malaysia is the 8th highest sugar consumer in the world.

Source :

A fellow Malaysian some months ago whom I suppose knows what he's saying since his work involves affairs pertaining to domestic trade and consumerism. 

My own preference :

I love my local frothy milk tea (refer picture) but every time I patronize a local coffee shop aka kopitiam, I must always remember to add the phrase 'less sweet' (kurang manis) for my coffee or tea order as the default setting is at least 2 teaspoons of sugar topped with a generous dollop of sweetened condensed milk. Mmmm. Yumm. Haha.

Ouch :

Malaysia (allegedly) has the fourth highest number of diabetic sufferers in Asia (1.3 million in 2010) and most overweight and obese people in Asia with more than half of adults either overweight or obese. Double ouch.

What I thought was kind of amusing :

was that a local (and quite influential) consumer association is pushing for colour coding on product labels to refer to sugar content. Red for high, orange for medium and green for low.  It makes me wonder what that suggests about the average Malaysian buyer.Wait. Does that include me as well?