/ARTS WEEKLY/MALAYSIA: ‘Nasi Kandar’ Gives Taste of Integration

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Anil Netto

PENANG, Malaysia, May 20 2003 (IPS) - It’s 4 a.m. in Gelugor, a residential suburb in the northern Malaysian state of Penang. The odd car passes along the main street, shops are shuttered and there is hardly a soul on the streets.

But the glow of bright fluorescent lights reveals a hive of activity along a particular stretch of shop-lots: it’s a ‘nasi kandar’ restaurant, one of dozens of similar outlets enjoying a major revival in Penang and in the capital, Kuala Lumpur.

Inside this Indian Muslim eatery, a crowd of young Malay and Chinese Malaysian university students and adults is glued to television sets carrying a ‘live’ telecast of a European Champions’ Cup soccer match.

Seated at other tables are Indian men tucking into late night snacks of fried noodles and ‘roti canai’ – light, flaky unleavened pancake, perfect for soaking up a side dish of ‘dhal’ or spicy curry.

A male and female Malay teenager, with black plastic stick-on tattoos stuck to their cheeks, look conspicuous.

This traditional hangout with a new look is one of the few places where age and class barriers and ethnic polarisation – prevalent elsewhere in the country – are almost non-existent.

Where the politicians have fallen short in fostering ethnic integration in Malaysia, the ‘nasi kandar’ outlets are showing the way.

These places are a microcosm of what a genuinely multicultural Malaysian society, made up of majority Malays and Chinese, Indians and other indigenous groups, could look like – places to unwind and catch up with friends, to exchange political gossip and to engage in idle banter.

Nasi kandar’ has always been a traditional favourite among the various ethnic groups. Blending rice with a mixture of spicy curries, it was first introduced by immigrant Indian Muslim vendors in the early 1900s who supplied meals to dock workers in Penang and to passengers alighting from ships.

These itinerant vendors would balance two baskets, one containing the ‘nasi’ (rice) and the other, the curries, on either end of a pole hoisted over their shoulders – hence, the term ‘kandar’ (Malay for yoke).

There is the usual chicken, fish and beef curries, an array of fried dishes, and for the more adventurous there is cow’s stomach soup, quail soup and goat’s leg soup. Some mysterious dishes like ‘torpedo soup’ have also showed up on the menu.

Mixed vegetables, okra and cabbage, accompany the main dishes. Noodles, ‘rojak’ (spicy fruit salad) and ‘satay’ (skewered meat) tantalise the taste buds.

Audaciously, the owners of this new outlet chose not one, but four shop-lots in a row for their latest outlet, knowing full well that three of the top U.S. fast food franchises in Malaysia have well-established outlets all within a couple of hundred metres away.

Taking the competition head-on, they have succeeded in drawing the crowds late into the night, long after their rivals have closed for the day. Their formula: take a popular spicy traditional dish, once served in dingy dilapidated shops and narrow alley ways, improve hygiene, and renovate the premises to rival those of any U.S. fast food outlet.

The outlet in Gelugor is the tenth in a nationwide chain belonging to Pelita Samudra Pertama (M) Sdn Bhd, a private holding company.

One of the firm’s directors, K K Sihabutheen, is a trained architect who has seen it all. His father and his grandfather from south India were both involved in the business from the 1940s. ”My father introduced the first 24-hour ‘nasi kandar’ business in northern Malaysia in 1972” in Penang, he says proudly.

Pelita itself started business in 1995 with a single outlet in Prai, on mainland Penang state. In three years, it opened five outlets

Improving cleanliness was a priority. No more dhoti-clad waiters instead, the waiters, some of them migrant workers from India, wear pale blue uniforms with batik imprints and headgear sporting the colours of the national flag.

”The ‘nasi kandar’ stalls in Penang certainly look a lot cleaner than before,” agrees engineer Krishna Moorthy, who frequents another ‘nasi kandar’ shop elsewhere for its ‘teh tarik’ (frothy tea). ”There is certainly a more favourable ambience.”

Using his architectural background, Sihabutheen helped to transform Pelita into a trendy chain of outlets. In place of the familiar peeling plaster and paint on the wall, sparkling light coloured wall tiles are the norm, with smart-looking tables and chairs.

The change of image did not go unnoticed. Other ‘nasi kandar’ outlets in Penang also began cleaning up their acts. Popular rival chains have opened new outlets at a frenzied pace, at times taking up half a dozen shop-lots in a row.

”Some older trades just don’t survive,” says Khoo Salma Nasution, of the Penang Heritage Trust. ”Among those that survive you would expect some kind of transformation.” The traditional food business, she observes, is one of those trades that have not only survived but have done well.

For teenager Shazwan, the answer is straightforward. ”I get more satisfaction eating out here,” he says, dipping some ‘roti canai’ into a bowl of curry. ”It’s a cool place to hang out as well.” Moreover, as Sihabutheen points out, ”you can’t eat fast food everyday”.

Pelita has even opened a restaurant in Chennai in India. The response, says Sihabutheen, has been overwhelming. "We had to turn away the crowds during the first few weeks because we just couldn’t cope."

It was a homecoming of sorts. After all, the first ‘nasi kandar’ vendors in Malaysia originated from Ramnad in Chennai, India, notes Sihabutheen.

But the ‘nasi kandar’ they introduced here in their newly adopted land was distinctly Malaysian, catering to the broader multi-ethnic taste buds. ”And now we are bringing back the food to India,” he laughs, referring to the new outlet in Chennai.