But one resounding common denominator in all of those memories, is that the vendors and what I would now call Food and Beverage (F and B) operators, always had a beaming smile on their faces. One smile that sticks out more than any other, is of a lovely middle aged lady who gave me my first own packet of rojak, whose smile till this very day embodies the quintessence of what understand to be ‘service with a smile’
Perak has long been known to be the Haven for Malaysian food lovers and gourmands. Ipoh, its capital has long held the unofficial yet coveted title of ‘Malaysia’s Food Capital’. Love it or lump it, agree or disagree, it does have an amazingly awesome array of cuisines available for those who are partial to some gluttonous sensory overloads. This is especially important during this climate of global austerity, when these food lovers and gourmands are not willing to part with neither their insatiable appetite for quality, nor their increasingly harder-earnt cash. Ipoh has had the reputation of being able to offer amply on both accounts, unlike major tourist hubs ( KL, Penang, Melaka) who offers one or the other and in some case neither!
Short of doing a PhD on the Socio-Economic-Geo-Political-Gastronomic- Historic studies of the Perak State, it’s be hard to really pin-point on a reason (or even a set of multiple reasons) as to why this is. But, let’s assume it’s because of the following factors:
- · Ipoh, the capital’s well-rounded metropolitan demography and its by-and-large cosmopolitan view and approach to external cultural influences
- · Its suitably small geographical size, and good transport infrastructure, which means better proximity and accessibility to the freshest ingredients, therefore more cost effective for all concerned
- · Perakian’s relative prosperity and slightly higher income and spend per capita
- · And the fact that it has been all the above for a good century or so.
A childhood hero of mine Peter Parker, AKA Spiderman once said,’ with great powers come great responsibility’. That’s my way of understanding the theory of supply and demand. Well, Ipoh’s reputation for good food, comes with a huge demand that is, thank the heavens, supplied by a huge amount of Perakians running food and beverage businesses to sustain the coveted reputation. My family is also lucky enough to have a major stake in a food and beverage business within the banqueting sector in Perak, which is one of the reasons for the penning of this article.
The responsibility shouldered by those ‘aunties and uncles’ or F & B operators are still there and the punters are still coming. The difference now, in comparison with the past, is that, they no longer have those beamingly bright smiles on their faces, and that there are now shouts of ‘Barang-Naik’ being used as political rhetoric. The punters are not willing to spend more, but still demanding the service from operators who are torn between the prospect of losing customers or losing on profit margins. It’s a LOSE LOSE situation.
This signals to me that commodity and food prices are really affecting the lives of Malaysian. Globally, we have seen ‘barang naik’ at unprecedented degrees due to some very high output export nations of meat and rice, suffer some horrendous natural disasters. When supply and demand doesn’t strike a positive skew or at least some form of equilibrium, import and export price hikes happen! It’s the nature of economics! We all know who suffers when that happens- the people of countries who don’t produce their own commodities… and more importantly, in the context of this article, F & B operators of those countries get really squeezed!
At the risk of being accused of spouting provocative rhetoric , scaremongering, and the attempting to incite civil unrest, I am going to opine openly here, that the recent and some still on-going unrests, seen in the middle eastern countries, were caused (among many other equally important issues) by the very issue I am talking about here- food price rises due to dependence on Import.
Of course, Malaysians are a little too comfortable to be venting our angers on the streets, and things ain’t quite as bad as it is in Tunisia and Egypt yet, but why let there be a possibility of it happening when we have enough arable land, the climate and people to stamp it out before it becomes an issue. Furthermore, why not take those steps to stamp it out when those very steps can not only act as a prevention of crisis, it can bring about a self sustainability that protect our people, and potentially provide the infrastructure to become a net exporter of those very commodities that our people are being economically blackmailed with.
I don’t unfortunately have the solution to this problem (I do have a few ideas though…), but I do believe it boils down to the following 4 questions:
- 1) How can we Perakians, as individuals, contribute to food self-sustainability in the State of Perak, and ultimately build a better and brighter future for our future generations?
- 2) What incentives, measures and initiatives are there available / being implemented (public, private or charitable sector) to encourage a stronger, more self-sufficient agricultural micro-economy within the state of Perak, by encouraging a higher standard and volume of production of currently import dependant commodities such as meat?
- 3) What is currently being done to raise the Perakian people’s awareness of the importance of buying local, supporting local producers, and changing the incorrect perception of Local= substandard, and most importantly restore the former pride, glory and equally importantly coffers of the Perakian rural farming community?
- 4) What targets are there in place, whether they be imposed by federal, state government or NGOs, in tracking the progress food-self sustainability, both in production and in consumption, to limit the carbon footprint of food commodities as well as to protect local businesses and consumers against global food price fluctuations/rises?
What I want to see on the back of asking these 4 questions are simple. I simply want to see food and beverage businesses operate with a smile on their faces. I also want to see them supporting their friends, relatives, neighbours who are members of the local farming community, who live locally to them. These are people who needs to being encouraged, supported and helped by government and those who have the power /passion , in these harsh economic climates when huge international multi-billion dollar conglomerates wage price wars with little small local farmers who struggle to make ends meet. I also want to see the next generation of those struggling local farmers to be thrown a lifeline and opportunity to progress in what they do along with the advancement of technology, and furthermore encourage their children to do the same.
If the government and those walking the corridors of power are fully committed in protecting the welfare, economy of the people they represent, and safeguarding the future of their children and their children’s children, act on the outcome of those questions and ACT NOW!
After all, is a smile too much to ask for when I take my child for his/her first packet of rojak?
Howard Lee can be reached on emwdine@gmail.com
