Toast to a neighbour's success

``MALAYSIA - TRULY Asia'' is what the neighbour says. `The Window to Malaysia' indeed let in the aroma of Malay food at `The Residency' in Park Sheraton last week. For six nights, Chennaiites flirted with Malaysian cuisine and culture.

With an all Malaysian star-cast: Chefs Lisa and Hasna of Hotel Crown Princess and dancers from the City Hall Dance Troupe, it was hospitality and entertainment dished out in truly Malaysian style.

Well, minus the Oyster sauce and dry shrimp paste which they usually add even to their vegetarian dishes. ``Here, we had asked them to leave it out,'' Chef Samir of Park Sheraton informs us.

Talking about the food, Samir noted that the Malaysian vegetables are similar (Cabbages are called `Kobis', `Kari' is curry and `Brasmati' is Basmati and the only difference being that the Malaysian Biriyani is more or less the Indian Pulav), and even they way they cut fish. Or `Goreng' (fry) their food `Berempah' (Spiced up). Malaysians usually start with the salads (includes pickles) and soup/`satay' (the crowd at the `chicken satay' counter kept growing all the while), then go on to the rice/noodle (popularly known as `Mee') course and then the non- vegetarian section and finally to the vegetarian dishes and dessert.

But the similarities end with the food, the dances-completely different. ``We are culturally rich, but there are a few similarities because 11 per cent of our population are Indians,'' Mr. A. Kamil, Executive Chairman of Tina Travel and Agencies, the organiser of the week long fest, informs us.

The colourful dances-Tarian Buluh, Dikir Barat, Joget Lambak, were only a sample of the many Malaysia is known for, Mr.Kamil says. ``We are here to promote tourism in Malaysia-this is a big market. ''We have a rich culture, food, shopping is very cheap, and our hotels are very good,`` he adds.

For those who wanted to catch up with the latest on Kuala Lumpur, at hand was the Mayor, Mr. Tansri Kamaruzaman Sharif.

''Chennai is a densely populated city. There is heavy responsibility of the Mayor to keep the city clean and provide services``, was his assessment of his counterpart's job.

''There is great potential. Kuala Lumpur is publicised as the shopping paradise. A lot of Indian nationals visit for this purpose and a whole array of shopping arcades have sprung up to suit different tastes. Our cost of living is low and in terms of currency - we are very attractive. So, we are concentrating KL in Malaysia to become a regional shopping paradise. And we have shopping festivals in March, August, and December.

Mr. Sharif, appointed by the King for a term of six years and described as the CEO of Kuala Lumpur, says ``it is difficult to compare Chennai and Kuala Lumpur which has a population of only 1.4 million.''

However the visiting Mayor likes the ``good public transport in Chennai'' He of course quickly adds, ``KL has traffic jams and Chennai also has traffic jams''.

A car pooling system was experimented with in KL, which was ``not successful'', but KL has managed its traffic bottlenecks. Urban services, public transport, development, and planning control come under his purview, Mr. Sharif noted.

For the Mayor, the priority is to make KL a world class city - in terms of infrastructure, income generation, and cleanliness.

Comparing a city to a beautiful lady -whose constant upkeep is essential, he says, ``You will have to spend a lot of money to always keep her beautiful.''

By T. S. Shankar

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Southern States
Previous : Varsity staff held for threat against VC
Next     : Midsummer night out