KUALA LUMPUR, March 31 — Umno president Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi shared a cryptic post on party hoppers yesterday, taking a veiled jab at them by labelling them as frogs "bred by certain towkays”.

In what seemed to be a dedicated posting on the amphibian, Zahid shared as to how such species are in fact very useful, as they are also great fishing baits.

However, he reminded his followers that Islam forbids its believers from consuming animals that live both on land and in water, "including frogs and softshell turtles”.

Zahid said that despite being an avid angler himself, he has never used frogs as bait, as some opine it to be a sin and that he would not eat said animal even if it were cooked in the tiga rasa style, that is popular with Malaysians.

"There are anglers who use frogs as bait to catch fish. Live frogs are said to be more effective than artificial frogs, to trick fish.

"I feel compelled to share the story of an angler who complained about the high price of frogs: ‘Frogs cost more now. Already hit RM15 per kilogramme.’ Perhaps that is why the market has been flooded with frogs since last year,” Zahid penned, while sharing an Utusan Malaysia report on how Malaysia had produced 1,775,847 frogs last year.

The original report, in which Melaka was reported to be the largest frog producer in Malaysia, said that the number was an increase from the 1,736,600 frogs produced in 2019.

"Frogs are also considered an exotic food by some. 

"For Muslims, eating animals with two habitats is haram, including frogs and softshell turtles,” he wrote.