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See that tree over there?’ said Mohamed, pointing at a straggly
specimen across the busy road in Penang’s George Town. ‘That
was where my grandfather used to sell his nasi kandar. He had
two baskets at either end of a pole that he carried on his shoulders to this
spot. Then he’d unwrap one and set up his little fire. The second basket
carried rice and other ingredients.
‘In time, he did well enough to buy a hawker cart. My father took that
on and the business grew, so that he was able to rent a stand in a coffee
shop. And from that, here I am with nasi kandar stalls of my own.’
Mohamed’s grandfather had come from Tamil Nadu, in India, along with
many others. Many Tamils came as indentured laborers for the British, to
work on Malaysia’s rubber plantations. Others became hawkers, eking out
a living in the towns, selling food and other goods.
Malaysia has a rich tradition in street food, not least because of its
immigrant workers. The largest immigrant group in Malaysia is the
Chinese, many of whom came to work on the country’s tin mines. But
an earlier wave of migrants – known as Nonya or Straits Chinese – had
reached Malaysia in the early and middle part of the 19th century. Many
married Malays, and fused their cooking ideas along with their genes to
create some distinctive tastes and flavours.
‘Malaysia is the street-food capital of the world,’ said Anwar Fazal,
when I explained the purpose of my visit. Anwar worked for years with
consumer organizations – not testing fridges or driving the latest car, but
setting up campaigning groups such as Pesticides Action Network, Health
Action International and the International Babyfood Action Network, and
working with the Consumers’ Association of Penang, one of the foremost
non-governmental groups.
These bodies turn the concept of a Western ‘consumer’ on its head,
for they examine shopping and products in a different way, looking for
example at what damage to workers and the environment is caused by
agro-chemicals. They also focus on the well-documented scandal of baby
milk being sold to people who can neither afford it nor prepare it safely
because they lack clean water. I’d worked with these organizations briefly
in the 1980s and was pleased to be back again and see familiar faces. The
excellent street food was of course another draw.
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