There has been mixed public reaction towards these awards. A major concern is whether this will lead to higher prices putting meals at affordable places beyond the reach of locals. What do you think?
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Penang nadi kandar is now overhyped and overpriced, with questionable hygiene in some places.
Next time you are in Alor Setar, try this ‘K Nasi Lemak’ by an Indian operator at Jalan Putera after 6pm:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=NZ4PVCHTAgo&feature=youtu.be
Better than most of the Nasi Kandar in Penang with reasonable price.
Actually Alor Setar has many good food at reasonable price. Food bloggers including Ah Qing of Penang recently posted a few videos, including RM2.50 wan tan met.
In Alor Setar, you can have nasi lemak from different racial operators:
Ong Nasi Lemak – Chinese
K. nasi lemak – Indian
Zam Zam – Malay
Ali Nasi Lemak – mamak
If only Sanusi could capitalise on this unique feature of diversity of Alor Setar…
Michelin should just keep itself to those high end fine dining gastronomic restaurants, not street food.
It is a shame that no local agency has accorded certified recognition to our street food, aside from 8TV Ho Chiak program.
Local regular customers will suffer after Michelin star is awarded – higher price, longer queue and waiting time.
We need more expert opinions and analysis from our street food connoisseur tunglang.
Until we hear from tunglang, here is the Penang and KL Michelin guide
Many more eager to see the return of iconic Penang ferries instead western biased Michelin awards.
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2022/12/18/bring-back-the-old-penang-ferries/
Time for second retirement of Langkawi boats for passengers now that MCA no more in charge of Penang Port?
Yes, bring back the iconic Penang Ferries. The present speedboat is not passenger friendly – cramped interior, poor ventilation and difficult access for old and disabled passengers.
Yes Nandos. The present boats are refurbished ones from Langkawi. Although the duration of cross strait ride now is faster at 10 minutes compared to iconic ferry ride of 20 minutes, the interior presently congested and closed windows only conducive to virus spread. With previous ferries we can enjoy sea breeze and good open air sights!
Penang Forum should support the return of ferries and we are surprised many NGOs are silent over dubious conversion from ferries?
Back in the 1970s and 1980s, the ferries would take about 13 minutes from ferry siren signalling departure to the docking pathway landing on the ferry upon arrival.
I am not sure why the ferries from around 2015 onwards (before they were discontinued) took up to half an hour to arrive – like they were travelling at snail’s pace!
Lack of ferry increases waiting time. I trust that DAP’s Loke as transport minister knows what is best for Penang to bring back iconic Ferry- passengers can enjoy sea breeze and watch Penang bridge on deck and not cramped inside the current old Langkawi speedboat!
The main emphasis is tourism as well as cheap transport, not speed.
According to Penang Port Comission (PPC) Chairman, Datuk Tan Teik Cheng, two ferries will be turned into special tourist ferries, two will be transformed into floating restaurants and another one will be made into a floating museum.
https://penangfoodie.com/old-penang-ferries-tourist-rides-floating-museum-restaurants/
Anyone has any new update on this?
Ferries are now run by Syed rice king. Try to twist less rice and have to look for flour king
Straits traffic and undercurrents may slow down the ferries.
Penang Port under MCA (now revamped again? for Unity Government) has relayoutd the plan for ferry passengers in anticipation of so called new boats from Vietnam, with new waiting lounge on ground level. If ferries return, this lounge will be redundant?
The old ferries need to refit with newer n more powerful engine, no need to spend taxpayers money with refurbished boats or new ones from Vietnam.
If more of the land reclamation from the sea goes through, the effect on currents is unpredictable.
There was no Penang bridge in the 1970s (and 80s?) – Ferry is the only means for cars to enter/leave the island. With bridge less demand for ferry thus lower frequency longer waiting time. If you want Ferry to operate at higher frequency with higher speed, be prepared to pay more for the ride.
Actually, the demand for ferries continued even after the first Penang Bridge was opened in 1985. Traffic on the bridge only increased substantially after the old Butterworth ferry terminal collapsed in 1988. The old terminal was never rebuilt leaving only the new terminal. This meant that the old passenger-vehicle ferries could no longer operate. So the top deck of the double-decker vehicle ferries at the new terminal had to be converted for use by passengers. This meant the number of ferries for cars was effectively halved resulting in much longer waits at the ferry terminal. As a result many cars… Read more »
Anil forgot after 1985 we have seen a new generation of drivers, mostly impatient to let their cars idle on the ferry but prefer to be in control (fast and furious movies a prime mover) to steer along the Penang bridge.
May be true, but there were still plenty of people willing to wait for the ferries, especially if they were just hopping over to George Town, Gurney Drive and Tanjung Bungah rather than taking a big U across the bridge.
Agree, slow down, enjoy life, view and open mouth to makan angin
Slow down? The car behind you will honk at you! The bigger the car the bigger the right of way – road rules in Malaysia!
Open mouth to suck in car exhaust CO2?
Likely becauae there are so many moving cars on the road.
Today refurbished boat may be faster, but the waiting time is much longer. Effectively passengers wasted more time. Time for Anthony Loke to correct Wee Ka Siong’s mistake. Improve the connectivity from KTM Butterworth to Ferry terminal.
Guan Eng hopes Penang Port Commission ready to accept unity govt decision on ferry service
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/420832
Michelin judges from the West could have different taste pallete, may award, base on its criteria, to those less than average food operators in Penang. This could have a profound impact on the established food and reputabke maestros and give outsiders a wrong impression of Penang street food.
If the hawkers increase price indicriminately because of Michelin recognition we locals should boycott them as there are many alternatives with equal good taste if not better.
There are people still looking up to ang moh. Never trust Michelin as much as I mistrust TripAdvisor full of BS!
Locals know what is good to eat.
No need AngMoh Michelin to recommend us.
Anyway Michelin presence will drive up demand (from outsiders like tourists), and by law of micro economics will drive up price to the dismay of locals. So bottom line is no good for local consumers.
In keeping up with Michelin’s ‘standards’, local hawkers may be forced to change their cooking methods, food preparation and even ingredients that could have long-term impact on the unique traditional style of Penang hawkers. In time to come the food may evolved ti suit western palette, standardisation that lose the unique Penang flavour.
Let the big restaurants and hotels find such ways to “extract money painlessly” from tourists. For locals, what the gomen can do is to ensure basic cleanliness at the food outlets for locals, without extortion. What is the prevalence of typhoid, cholera, etc.? Will a Singaporean dare to eat at such an outlet?
Those coming from Singapore via SQ flight are not necessarily Singaporeans, but Malaysians (professionals or PRs) earning S$ at Red Dot – they look for bargain and the home taste they miss. They do not need Michelin recommendations.
Ang Moh go for ‘safe’ food – no pig blood on curry me, no pungent belacan smell, no extra spiciness – so they trust Michelin and not local recommendations.
Every year 30 top medical graduates left Bolehland for Singland. They will return to Bolehland occasionally for holidays to enjoy the local food at a big bargain using the mighty SingDollar.
Penang food now is cooked by very Seniors.Young why stay and work in Penang. They work overseas in Sink apor, get getting pay as they are not kiasu to pay
for good food.
I heard now you can get good Penang food in Singapore, cooked by the descendants of the maestros who migrated to Singland.
Singapore import our young talents sidelibed by NEP. To make room for such import, Singapore will soon ‘export’ its economically dormant seniof citizens to our senior retirement homes.
Workers, whether skilled or unskilled, are keen to work across the Causeway for better financial prospects, say industry players.
With the amount of salary having little disparity in figures, they said the strong Singapore currency had been the top reason why Malaysians would instead work away from home.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2023/01/06/top-reason-why-msians-choose-to-work-across-causeway
In 2011, the World Bank’s report on Malaysia’s brain drain said over a million Malaysians had emigrated, adding “Singapore absorbed most of the brain drain, both in terms of stock (54% in 2010) and increment (68% over the last decade). Over the last decade, the skilled diaspora in Singapore has grown at a yearly rate of 6%.”
https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/opinion/2022/12/29/time-to-shut-down-failed-talentcorp/
It is a pity that local foodie experts like tunglang did not create their own food blogs that give ratings to good hawker or street foods in Penang. Tunglang could have been a Mark Wain of Penang!
Hock Chai’s YouTube channel is ok but lacks crucial info like pricing and English subtitles. He needs to organise his videos for easy access.
Sunny
Whereabouts of tunglang is now a myth to anilverse readers.
He could be missing in Belum Rainforest like what has happened to legendary Jim Thompson in Cameron Highlands ?
The local foodies know our taste. Our food tend to be spicy and oily (lard) and not appealing to westerners. Penang government should assist local foodies as we can have our own Mark Wiens, Seetoh and grading system for local food.
More people, more good is cooked like production factory.
More hawkers and the ‘survivor of the fittest’ will get rid of lousy ones or overcharging ones.
Some customers think crowded food outlets are better. So, the prices may not come down.
Crowded outlets = higher rents. They have to charge more.
https://youtu.be/dvG3tHRdOfw
Penang Food Lobang King Ah Hong can guide you good and nice food in Penang.
You can call him Michelin of Mutiara.
Support local heroes.
Penang foodies like tunglang can have ‘Street Food Affairs Penang’ YouTube shows, copying the format of such show on HBO featuring Mark Wiens’ encounter of Singapore food:
Food hygiene and cleanliness is more important than Michelin rating.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/12/25/kl-restaurant-shut-for-14-days-after-video-of-rat-nibbling-on-fried-chicken-goes-viral
Mamak oprators claimed insufficient workers thus compromising on clealiness? The authority should require 24-hr mamak restaurants to close for 1 hour daily for cleaning purpose – no excuse for lack of manpower for that hour.
Ironically many mamak restaurants could open 24 hours, 365 days a year and yet have no time to clean and wash up the place especially the kitchen. I think all consumers must be ready with their smartphones to video record incidents of poor hygiene and poor food handling.
Record the video and then what are you going to do?
Bring it to the newspaper companies and they will be happy to follow up. Why you are so clueless?
Post it on YouTube or TikTok. Haven’t you heard of viral videos on internet? Please keep up with time and technology.
Even before this rat incident I have shunned many mamak restaurants as they have poor hygiene standard. They tend to use hand to handle the food. The raw roti canai dough and cooked roti canai are placed on same place… OK for locals but definitely not for foreign tourists .
A popular roti canai stall at Jalan Transfer, Penang has been ordered to close for two weeks from after a video recording showing the eatery’s workers handling food in an unhygienic manner went viral.
https://www.themalaysianinsight.com/s/420853
Need to be specific what is meant by unhygienic manner. This is subjective because many food operators are not trained specifically how to handle food. Penang need to develop very own hygiene standard of food preparation for hawkers.
Another bad Roti Canai experience in Penang:
https://www.therakyatpost.com/news/malaysia/2023/01/07/family-regrets-eating-at-penang-roti-canai-stall-recommended-by-google/
Trust Google for food recommendation?
Cannot understand why at this stage you still need foreigners to certify our food is good. Enough of sucking to ang moh, who cannot appreciate our heritage food in its true sense!
Merdeka over 60 years, but many in Penang still think ang-mohs smell great.
Latest the new hotel called The George, targeting the George$ ?
No need to suck up to ang moh.
This is a 45 min documentary of how the British betrayed Chinese seamen that fought bravely for them against the Germans in WW2.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=Ojn9oLg9MOM&feature=youtu.be
After the war, the British betrayed them, called them undesirable and ‘deported’ them. They were rounded up, put into boats and supposedly ships from Liverpool and never to be heard again.
Today many Malaysians look up to and worship anything Korean (pop, drama, food, appliances). No wonder Coway and that Kuku can make big money here easily.
In the 70s our football team Harimau Malaya can beat the Korean team. Today we are nowhere in Asia although FAM tried to please the fans with a Korean coach to try their luck at AFF level.
FAM has also naturalised many foreigners to play for the national team, including a grand old Lee Tuck (no offence, if only he could offer his service at younger age). I heard such move has made many local footballers unhappy, being deprived the limelight of donning national colours, a fast path for good contract at JDT. That Korean coach Pan is a flavour of the month, may not last more than two years given what has happened in the past, could be earlier exit should there be failure in AFF Cup.
No interest in local professional sportspersons since they are drawing good salary and perks but mostly lack professionalism in their attitude.
No interest but likely a special public holiday if Harimau Malaya win the AFF Mitsubishi Cup
Lost to Vietnam 3-0 now blamed the referee. The team lacked punch without JDT players? Sore loser indeed. Next week may be knocked out by Singapore team, then the coach could be sacked?
Harimau Malaya beat Singapore 4-1 with 4 Chinese players (Brendan, Quentin, Darren, Dominic) + 1 Indian (Ruventhiran) + 1 ang Moh (Stuart Wilkin) in starting eleven. The Korean coach of Malaysia dare to ignore skin colour in team selection, not seen for a very long time.
The national team beat Singapore to qualify for AFF Cup semifinal without the use of JDT players. Lesson learnt : fighting spirit is more important than highly paid superstars of Southern Tigers! Good job!
The Malay NGOs must ask why Malaysians can embrace Korean culture, but most non Malays has little interest in Malay culture (music, language, movies etc). Malay culture itself is beautiful but decades of Arabisation has made many see it to be Islamic that is contrary to their own culture.
They want to follow Samsung, LG, kia, Hyundai. Otherwise they stay back in the kampong and study religious book
The young ones tend to follow the likes of BTS and Blackpink.
Finas must be honest to ask why malay films have no market outside Malaysia and Indonesia.
Many of us think a tie and even coat is appropriate here. We even force children to wear ties in school. This is mental colonialism.
When you do not have your own sense of identity, you tend to follow others including in dressings and clothings.
Be proud of your own cultural identity. No need to mimic others.
Sometimes trying to stick too hard to same identity of bangsa and agama will make one stuck without progress when cannot assimilate new ideas and thinking.
Hourly rate pay for B40 is RM6.50 on average.
One has to work more than an hour to enjoy a plate of Char Kway Teow, which is not even Michelin rated.
Sad isn’t it how Bolehland has evolved into ?
Earning RM6.50 an hour but still no enough to buy a McDonald’s Happy Meal (RM9). How to be happy?
McD Happy Meal is to make kids happy (fast food + toy) but it will make paying parents unhappy.
Now with less purchasing power, more unhappy to pay 6% tax and 10% service charge at restaurants.
Be happy if you can cook your own meals, save money!
Grown own food of possible. Then cook own food with own grown ingredients. Create own supply chain as much as possible to fill stomachs without hurting pockets.
YB Sim if you read this appreciate your program to encourage home food orchard .
Don’t know why we must pay 10% service tax when most services are so poor. Some restaurants now even want you to order food user QR code with your smartphone to cut labour cost, yet they still impose the 10% service charge. Avoid such unreasonable eateries.
Latest: [One fast food chain in Malaysia has] increased its menu price on 4 Jan 2023 to usher in the new year to burn another hole in your pocket.
A2
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2. US to impose China Covid-19 testing as virus surge jangles global nerves dd 29 Dec 2022 7:00AM
https://www.thevibes.com/articles/world/81493/us-to-impose-china-covid-19-testing-as-virus-surge-jangles-global-nerves
3. Japan to impose Covid-19 tests for arriving China travellers dd 27 Dec 2022 5:30PM
https://www.thevibes.com/articles/world/81383/japan-to-impose-covid-19-tests-for-arriving-china-travellers
End.
A1 == A MILLION CHINESE EXPECTED By Khoo Gek San dd Thursday, 29 Dec 2022 https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2022/12/29/a-million-chinese-expected ======== Is money more important than the Health and Security of our Rakyat and Nation. Will there be a 2.0 Covid-19. How and from where did it spread worldwide the last time ? Would like to see how our PH unity government ( PHUG ) is going to handle this situation. Khairy J. is no longer the Health Minister. Our new Health Minister has set her mind on the Period Poverty issues. It would be smart of the PHUG to contract Khairy J. to take… Read more »
Bottom line is Penang food is unique and should not be judged with foreign standards by foreign agency. In other words, Michelin is not relevant for our kind of food. Foreigners should come to sample the food based on our own reputation, not their kind of certification.