Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's use of the humble water spinach or kangkung to explain why the government should not be blamed for the volatility of food prices has drawn ridicule on social media.
At an event in Kemaman yesterday, an irate sounding Najib explained that vegetable and fish prices at times increase due to factors out of government control, such as bad weather.
"There are times when the price of vegetables, sawi (mustard green) and kangkung goes up and there are times it comes down.
"I read in the newspaper that some prices have come down. Kangkung prices once went up and now it is down.
"When the prices come down, why are there no praises for the government? When it goes up, the government gets the blame.
"This is unfair because (such issues are determined by) the weather condition," he said, during his off-the-cuff speech.
The premier's use of this ubiquitous and cheap vegetable as an example has become the fodder for jokes on Facebook and Twitter.