The story
- Malay · derived fromkentang“potatoes”
- Hokkien · borrowed from食kentang
- English todayjiak kentang
From Malaysian and Singaporean Hokkien 食kentang or 食蕳砃 /食𫈉砃 (chia̍h kan-tang), from 食 (chia̍h, “to eat”) + Malay kentang (“potatoes”). Historically, the choice of potatoes over rice as a staple food, or its inclusion in one’s diet was seen as a shift towards a more Westernized lifestyle.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.