Teresa Kok is the top palm oil influencer in the month of April

In early March this year, Primary Industries Minister Teresa Kok claims that taking a spoonful of palm oil a day would make her younger. This soon became a viral topic as it was seen as a promotional stunt to fight against the recent EU ban on palm oil.

Although she received criticism over her remarks, but she did not slowdown in addressing palm oil in April.

From the “Palm Oil” influencers list, Teresa Kok took the top spot with 453 statements. But she is not alone in this battle as other ministers also addressed the nation’s palm oil industry struggle. They are namely Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, Foreign Minister Saifuddin Abdullah, Economic Affairs Minister Azmin Ali, Defence Minister Mohamad Sabu and Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, amongst others.

This is not surprising as palm oil is the top contributor to Malaysia’s GDP under the agricultural sector. According to the data from Department of Statistic Malaysia, almost half of the GDP from the agricultural sector came from palm oil industry, 46.6%. This translated to RM44.8 billion or 3.8% of Malaysia’s total GDP for the year 2017.

Looking at the media coverage, it is not surprising that The Edge took the lead in producing the most articles on palm oil (166 articles) as the topic concerns the nation’s business and economics. Other than Bernama which published 134 articles, other media produced less than 100 articles each.

As the price of palm oil is also falling, it looks like Teresa Kok will continue to promoting the product in May.

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Tags: Malaysia, Malaysia Indicator, palm oil agriculture, Teresa Kok