Sarawak laksa.
MAYOR of Kuching South Datuk Wee Hong Seng had launched the Centre of Gastronomy on Dec 10, 2021, without much fanfare. It will be sited at the building that presently houses the MBKS Kuching Swimming Pool at Jalan Padungan, which used to be operated by one of Sarawak’s oldest Teochew restaurants, It Hng (the famous Eleven Fingers Chef, whose signature stall can still be found at the old Power Street Open Air night market).
The present swimming pool will also be upgraded and turned into a family water fun park and it will co-exist side by side. The Centre of Gastronomy’s location is perfectly sited as it is just next to the grand Kuching South City Council (MBKS) headquarters with its unique architectural design and hopefully, it will bring to life a more vibrant nightlife to the area, which hitherto has been (and still is) a rather quiet part of the city.
This latest development had come about due to Kuching being newly designated a few months prior as the very first city in Malaysia to be recognised as a ‘Unesco Creative City of Gastronomy’ for its food heritage and diversity.
The proposal was spearheaded by the Culinary Heritage and Arts Society Sarawak, headed by Datin Dona Drury-Wee, and Society Atelier Sarawak headed by Edric Ong; the latter having successfully listed Kuching as a ‘World Craft City’ under the World Crafts Council two years earlier.
Sarawak’s Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, in his message congratulating the listings, had said: “We should also thank our Mother Nature and all the different ethnic groups in Sarawak with their unique heritage menu and food preparation techniques, which helped us build a strong case to get into the UCCN (Unesco Creative City Network) list.”
Abdul Karim further said that this would also increase the visibility and positive image of both Malaysia and Sarawak, especially on the international stage and be an extra attraction for tourists from all over the world once our borders reopen.
It will be an extra incentive to add on to the current meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE), wildlife parks and nature products that are already well-established.
Sarawak owes a great debt of gratitude to the late great celebrity chef Anthony Bourdain for making its unique ‘laksa’ world famous virtually overnight!
It was way back in 2005, some 17 years ago that Bourdain had first come to Kuching for a shoot of his travel series ‘No Reservations’ and the Sarawak episode had taken him to Choon Hui at Ban Hock Road for him to try his first bowl of Sarawak laksa. He had immediately taken to it, raved about it on his Twitter and Instagram posts, and of course, later appeared as a major scene in the episode he had even tagged it #Laksa #Kuching #BreakfastoftheGods!
Ten years later in 2015 he had returned, now for a brand new series for CNN called ‘Parts Unknown’, an award-winning show, and had again visited the same place and raved over it all over again. He had also made it as an essential ‘Top 10’ wish list of foods of the world at a then-proposed new International Hawker Foods Market that he had planned for New York City, but alas, that had failed to materialise for reasons unknown.
Kolo mee.
I was told by the proprietress Ah Mei of Choon Hui some years back that Bourdain had insisted on one of her family members to be based in New York to make and serve the Sarawak laksa, and despite being very interested, she was unable to rope in a single family member to both invest in the business and to travel and be based in New York for the project.
A missed opportunity for propagating and promoting one of our most uniquely special foods to America and the world!
Today’s typical tourist looks for unique and special attractions – his expectations when visiting a particular place would usually focus on some or all of the following available features of the chosen destination: culture, landscape, nature, shopping, events, gastronomy, architecture, and historical sites.
There are also niche tourists who would go to a place for one specific purpose, attraction or event.
I have met tourists who came to Sarawak specifically just to visit the Mulu Caves, to go to Bako National Park, to spend a couple of weeks up the Rejang or the Lemanak and stay at the longhouses, to spend a long weekend at the Rainforest World Music Festival; and so on. So far, I have yet to meet someone who had travelled all the way from, say London, Sydney, Hong Kong or New York, just to taste Sarawak laksa!
But that’s an added-value attraction; while here, they would eat at the hawker street stalls, dine at ethnic eateries like Lepau and others; and if they feel homesick for some fine dining, go to Zinc, The Junk, or Tom’s or one of the many new bistros and high-end diners at Galacity, Saradise and the newer commercial plazas. The one place you’d seldom or never find them is being stuck inside their lodging house or the hotel’s coffeehouse or restaurant.
Ethnic foods abound at dozens of specialist eateries, and this one is at Lepau in Kuching, one of the best in Sarawak.
Word of mouth is the silver bullet in the tourism industry. Good word of mouth had made Bangkok, Hanoi, Penang and Singapore where they are today – first, there’s authenticity, then it’s good quality and the most important of all, overall honesty and fair prices. Without a combination of all these four qualities and attributes, it’d be most difficult to make headway in this highly-competitive business of attracting tourists into our country.
But of course, we need the bare necessities: I’m told that even now we are still faced with the sheer lack of flights connecting us to the world at large – we still need abundant flights and more inter-city connections and an Open Sky policy. As it is our geographical situation is not ideal, tourists would need to either fly here via Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Singapore or Kota Kinabalu, and the frequencies and the number of such flights are extremely limited.
Then there’s the issue of a lack of well-trained tourist guides, poor infrastructure and inadequate facilities and dubious standards of our tourism product destinations. It’s noted that quite a number of new and good quality homestays have appeared throughout the state in recent years and they have offered a wide selection of niche products, from jungle-trekking to waterfalls to adventure and wildlife and hunting/fishing, as well as custom/culture/historical interests. Prices I’ve seen have been quite reasonable and I believe that it will be a growing part of our more niche tourism industry.
I would personally suggest and propose that those in the trade look into a more varied approach and organise packages for inbound tourists catering to their wide and diverse taste and interests: why not a full day or even two-day ‘Culinary Tour’ package involving visits to a wide range of food outlets, from a simple street hawker to a nice fine dining bistro; or a ‘Pub Crawl’ for the evening, starting with a dinner and then visits to three or four drinking holes; or guided tours to houses of worship; guided tours to the Spice Market and wet markets; and of course, shopping at Jungle Markets when they’re open; or an upcountry market visit to a small town like Bau, Siniawan, Serian or Sentosa.
Foods can be an added-value attraction when it comes to tourism.
There are a hundred and one ideas – make it interesting, with special unique sights and foods; and of course, priced it accordingly.
I’m sure that all these are being done by some tour companies right now, but what we really need is to publicise, promote and upgrade these products all the time!
Sarawak is unique, it has something for everyone; except for the more jaded tourists – well, they would have to go elsewhere for those more extreme, illicit and contraband thrills – but we’re happy where we are; offering the tourist almost everything his heart may desire under the sun and the moon.
Now let’s aim too for their stomachs and make sure that when they return home, they’d remember us for giving them some of the best eating experiences that they’ve ever had on earth!
Bon appétit! God bless Sarawak!
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