Remember our earlier story on how Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP) came up with a new standardised spelling for “Char Kuey Teow” in Malay?

They spelt it as “kuetiau”?

So many Malaysians were not too happy with the decision and took to social media to voice out their displeasure.

Not a new version of the word

Following the outrage, DBP responded.

According to a report by Malay Mail, DBP said that the spelling was not exactly new.

They clarified that the word "kuetiau" was actually featured in the second edition of the Kamus Dewan in 1984.


It was done as part of an effort to provide uniformity of spelling for official context.

“DBP will continue to spread awareness on other terms and their spellings so that more will appreciate our national language,” said DBP in a media statement as quoted in the report.

We still don't know if we can get on board with this spelling though.

It just reminds us of "ketiak" too much. ?