KUALA LUMPUR: An uncanny bak kwa superhero has burst into the social media scene, leaving almost half a million Internet viewers agape with the made-in-Malaysia cartoon hero.
The Rice of Yok Man (loosely translated as “the rise of meat man”) is a four-minute video about flat-faced Yok Man, whose character was inspired by the dried sliced meat (known as bak kwa) taking the form of famous Wing Chun martial arts master Ip Man.
Bak kwa is a traditional delicacy enjoyed by the Chinese community, particularly during the Chinese New Year.
“We put up the video on Facebook on Tuesday and by mid-Friday, it had already recorded 444,485 views.
Creative team: Pee (left) and his business partner K.C. Lau, who is the managing director of PCT Innovations, with Yok Man on the computer screen. “At last count, there were over 195,000 Facebook likes for the video and about 200 tweets containing positive comments on the video circulated by audiences from many countries, who were all fascinated by the concept,” said PCT Innovations director Wilson Pee, whose online advertising agency was responsible for the production of Yok Man.
The story is set against a hypothetical backdrop of World War II, with the Japanese portrayed as having the desire to conquer the Malaysian food industry.
A food war ensues between the Japanese warlords (who take the form of a sushi and a tempura) and the Malaysian camp , represented by Yok Man and his martial arts compatriots, the egg-head named Double-Yolk Egg and the feminine Seremban Siew Bao.
Witty lines in the Cantonese dialect lace the interactive video, which requires viewers to click the pause and mute buttons to assist Yok Man in winning his fight.
The video with English and Chinese subtitles was created as a publicity gimmick for a local dried meat company.
“Response to the video was massive.
“Our business has picked up since the video went online,” Wing Heong Food Industries Sdn Bhd managing director Yap Sooi Cheng said.
Pee said Yok Man was produced completely by its creative team all Malaysians aged below 25.
“Creativity abounds in the young people and they can do marvellous things, whether or not they are certified,” Pee quipped, referring to the proposed Computing Professionals Bill which came under fire from information technology professionals recently.
Under the Bill, the Government would set up a board to oversee the registration of computing practitioners, computing professionals, sole proprietorships, partnerships and corpo rate bodies providing computing services.
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