Remember the report that said that santan-rich cuisine such as nasi lemak could lead to increased road accident fatalities? Apparently suggested by the Malaysian traffic police chief, the report understandably went viral across the nation.
It’s a serious matter, this. It goes against what every Malaysian has been brought up to believe – that nasi lemak is our friend, be it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. So is nasi lemak, or rather one of its defining ingredients, santan, more of a foe than a friend we thought it is?
That’s precisely what we at paultan.org wanted to find out. To end this all-important debate once and for all, Paul Tan himself and yours truly, Hafriz Shah, planned out an elaborate test to see if the consumption of santan really does cause drivers to feel sleepy behind the wheel.
The premise behind our be-all and end-all experiment is simple enough. In essence, I will eat dishes with a lot of santan, while Paul will have a similar set of meals without the so-called incriminating ingredient.
We’d then take turns driving a W221 Mercedes-Benz S-Class that’s equipped with Attention Assist, a safety system that continuously monitors “more than 70 different parameters to detect driver fatigue and tiredness.” If either of us were sleepier than the other, the car would know it before we do.
It’s all scientific and well thought through, this experiment of ours. Foolproof, even if we say so ourselves.
But before we got started, we had to make things equal between Paul and myself. No point in doing the test if one of us is feeling drowsy from the start, right? That would throw the results way off.
So, the both of us synchronised our sleeping patterns for an entire month. For 30 days, we went to sleep at the exact same time (on different beds – Paul) and matched our alarms clocks. Every time Paul’s slumber is interrupted by his newborn baby, I’d wake up to feed my pet cat too. Basically when Paul is asleep, so am I, and vice versa.
After the month-long prep period, came the actual test. The “santan test,” as we’d call it.
We started off with breakfast. Naturally, I had a pack of glorious nasi lemak with all of its santan goodness, while Paul had a (big) plate of santan-less chee cheong fun. Sounds normal enough at this point, doesn’t it?
Normality ended right there and then. As part of our plan to amplify the effect (of lack thereof) of santan consumption, we arranged a second breakfast.
We’d both have a bowl of cereal, but while Paul had his corn flakes with the usual serving of fresh milk, I added a decent amount of coconut milk (santan) into mine. Believe it or not, it tasted rather good!
Bowls completely clean, we went out for a drive. The plan was for the two of us to drive for exactly 41 km (a figure we carefully worked out through a complex set of equations too complicated to explain), as normally as we could.
So I sat in the front passenger seat as Paul drove first, notebook in hand to see and record if he’d show any signs of fatigue. Some time passed without anything of note happening, until suddenly, the S-Class’ Pre-Safe Brake system came into action, bringing the car to a stop while the seat belts tightened automatically.
Apparently, both Paul and I had dozed off in the car, and we nearly rear-ended a slow-moving vehicle. Neither of us could recall what car it was, but its number plate was hard to forget – APR 1.
By this time, our car’s Attention Assist system demanded that the driver take a break, displaying a cup of coffee on the instrument cluster. Not wanting to endanger anyone else on the road, we followed the car’s instruction and stopped for a coffee break.
Still obsessed to continue with our test, we put our own santan spin on the coffee break too. We ordered two cups of coffee: one latte for Paul and an espresso for me, served in a latte cup. You can guess where this is going, can’t you?
Yup, we made our own special santan-milk latte. This one, in case anyone’s wondering, didn’t taste so good. But I finished it anyway. “All in the name of science,” I convinced myself then.
Done with our coffee, we headed for lunch. This was always planned to be our main event. Paul ordered a plate of wantan mee for himself, and a lesser-known local delicacy for me – santan mee.
Then, disaster. Having forced myself to eat it (I guess I don’t have to tell you if it’s good or bad), I felt too sick to continue on with the test. We had no choice but to call it off. After all, we’d be fools to risk another APR 1 incident again.
With our flawed findings, we couldn’t quite prove or (more likely) invalidate the claim that santan could lead to increased road accident fatalities. But on the other hand, this is a classic case of “too much of anything is bad for you.” So remember, folks, do everything in moderation. Especially if it involves santan.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
I’ve just realized something.. could all of the GST car saving postings are all april fool jokes from the G. OMG!
Hafriz thanks for the heavy santan meal that you willing to sacrifice for your own health.
Police chief? only know how to blame things like his sissy boss “BN”.
Jusco and Parkson are looking for ladies undergarments promoter. Already 3 people from this forum join. Sam Lorrrr, Sam Loo (ori1) and De La Junk.
They got no choice. UMW got zero sales with cars having no VSC and 2 airbags only
You yourself is an April joke. Telling non related stuff in this article. If you like girl’s underwear so much, why not ask from your mother?
Its April fool, you santan feller…wakakaka
I don’t know about Santan and our super intelligent Trafik chief, but all I know, PT forum has lost two treasured individuals.
Now, Same Lorrrr and Sam Loo (ori1) have no choice but to join Parkson or Jusco and promote ladies undergarments. Nobody is going to touch Toyota with no VSC and only 2 airbags. So, Same Lorrrr and Sam Loo (ori1) can now only give discounts on Sorella, Bee Dees, Wacoal, Skiva, Triumph products.
Let us all ask our wives to support them by buying from them.
Sure or not or to buy for your ownself. You seems to be a real expert in these products and extremely familiar with the various brands.
Kimek tul……PaulTan turun padang bcoz of santan…..kikiki……
well, you dont have to actually pour the santan directly in your food to proof it.
simply start early with nasi lemak for breakfast, than maybe curry noodles for brunch, and take lunch again with rich and kuah masak lemak or something.
That could easily get you in an accident :P
The actual culprit there is not the santan but the cornflakes. Cornflakes is high GI food that will cause your blood sugar level to rapidly spike and then drops down. The drop is what caused u too feel drowsy. High GI foods such as white rice, white breads, cereals and processed foods is best reduced or avoided before driving to maintain alertness.
Dear Hafiz
Enjoyed so much the article. But I believe your methodology is wrong. It’s not Santan per se but Santan with rice.You have to have a really good two ‘bungkus’ of santan -packed nasi lemak ‘daun pisang’ with sambal sotong.Only then you should drive and see the ramifications
The heavy santan laden nasi lemak will make you drowsy. I don’t disagree with what the Police traffic chief had said.Even without any scientific proof, I can vouch that it may in fact affect your driving skills.
No excuse for these two fellas to reduce fat intake lah….. ;-D
Look closer, bro. We used santan kelapa kurang lemak :p
eating santan is not OK… eating paultan is OK… lol
Hah, gaaaaaay
Well at least paultan crew tried to cheer us up in the midst of post-GST trauma.
Actually u guys are saved because your plate number is JPJ compliant, so it’s proven indeed JPJ compliant plate number can reduce accident.
I read headline as “more accidents caused by Satan”.
u know… I’m scared PAS/ISMA/Ridhuan Tee/some ulama, ustaz may actually say that and mean it. No joke.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID THERE…. and its all good.
hahaha…..this is a good one….! :)
But cereal with santan….? Looks like you guys created some fusion food there…
everyone forgot what April 1st is really about… all because of GST
I feel more sleepy if i turn on Radio RTM while driving
Ayam Brands should sponsor this event! Heh…
hafriz shah back to teenange mode? he should visit new york skincare solution.
Hahahaha. I knew it when i saw the APR1 plate no. I checked the prev post on the santan statement, it was around march 17, less than a month. But u said the sleep-prep was done in a month. Hahaha
Attential Assist? Complex set of equation? Coffee panel indicator? LOL. Nice one!
makan nasi kandar mamak confirm sleepy…espcially the ones with underwear inside curry..
This seems like an April fool joke to me! The font on the meter panel looked fake in Italics? Anyway, good job Paul and Hafriz!
Oh by the way, your tests on the merit of using RON97 versus RON95 performed on the Jetta/Polo is absolutely correct. I had after reading your article switched to RON95, and I do get improved mileage from my Jetta (with approximately 10K mileage logged to-date), over the past month.
Is that Paul’s daily ride? Very nice.
Since this is a joke, I guess it means santan with cornflakes (in theory, yucks) doesn’t taste so good yes?
Only one way to find out…
I thought adding a bit of santan to coffee should taste OK. I imagine adding a bit of coffee in cendol should taste nice, adding some extra depth. And adding a bit of salt in a cup of sweet & milky nescafe can enhance the flavor.
Or maybe I just have weird taste.
Ever tried maggi kari with milo?
No, I’m not pregnant.
Hafriz, did you do a cholesterol test after that?
Speaking of which, seriously, coconut milk and cereal – is it really nice? I might give it a shot since I am allergic to dairy…
But Paul looked like he had a field day, watching you eating coconut milk with cereal… And also good idea for Paul to clarify on different beds – very important… LOL.
Good one guys!
For those who still not aware, this is an APRIL FOOL JOKE. Good one Hafriz and Paul!
!loof Lirpa. Read this backwards
Nice, very detail santan review!! Good jod Paul and Hafriz.
Even if santan does make one fall asleep. Coffee or tea after nasi lemak contains caffeine that will counter-act the sleepiness.
OMG kena tipu APR 1
Hafriz should’ve gone for a good bowl of cendol. That will wipe that smug smirk off Paul’s face.
Wahhh MMA badge.Merc belongs to a doctor la.but not only santan la.even if you eat a lot also the blood supply goes to the stomach and disrupt the flow to the brain.When less blood flow,less oxygen,brain cells deprived of energy converted from glucose or ketone,the becomes sleepy.and also another factor.If have small kids whom are on iPads till 4am in the morning.Parents cannot sleep.Hahaha.
Adoiii..betoi betoi la weii..hahha..april fool ka tak april fool ni citer korang ni haaa…hahhaa
Plate APR 1 indeed!!!!
Very interesting. PT better tag it under ‘Driving Myth’ or create new series using that tag. The previous petrol ron97 test VW cars also should be under this segment.
Just imagine there’s lots of other ‘myth’ need to be debunk. Eg. Car battery dry vs. wet cells, which one is last longer. And many more etc. Should be fun and informative indeed.
coffee icon on the meter – good one folks!
APR 1 heheheh