Home-based chefs savour success but wary of setting up shop

Julie Mah (third from left) with her home-cooked food at the Siri Jayanti Metta Care Centre in Setapak on May 27.

PETALING JAYA: Despite experiencing various levels of success selling home-cooked food during the partial lockdown imposed in mid-March, several home-based chefs remain wary of venturing into the business arena, saying many restaurants appear to be feeling the pinch with some even forced to close down.

“From the looks of the many food places closing down, people may still prefer online deliveries and home-cooked food to decrease human contact,” said Julie Mah, who sells Nyonya food and snacks from her home in Taman Melawati.

“The difficulty in maintaining overheads will deter many from starting or maintaining their current shops, (which may) extend to food industries.”

Another food vendor, Nurul Iwani Muzaili, agreed that people nowadays would rather eat at home than dine out.

“For the time being, I think it is more appropriate to sell from home.

“We already know we may not get enough sales to cover expenses (if we open a restaurant) as people are still scared to dine out,” said Nurul, who focuses on local cuisine in Selayang.

According to the Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association, up to 30% of restaurants in the country have closed due to lack of demand as people remain hunkered down under the national shutdown of public activities.

Under the movement control order (MCO) enforced on March 18, restaurants and food vendors were limited to takeaways and food deliveries. Although restrictions were relaxed after May 4, business is slow.

Affordable home-cooked food became a popular option across the Klang Valley, driven by the burgeoning number of delivery operators and the popularity of social media as a marketing tool.

However, the additional costs of rented shop space, labour and other overheads will deter many from starting or maintaining their current shops, said Mah who started selling her food online last month.

She said a shop was no longer a necessity for those who wished to venture into the food business as a strong customer base, good taste buds, a willingness to listen to feedback and some basic social media skills would be enough to keep an online business going.

High overheads

Indeed, high overheads seem to be the biggest worry for these cooks, all of whom carry out their businesses with minimal costs from their home kitchens.

Prasana Nair, who operates from her home in Old Klang Road, said while Covid-19 and the MCO might have dented any ambitions to open a shop, unexpected circumstances were part and parcel of doing business.

Prasana Nair cooking food at her home in Old Klang Road on May 31.

“Those with physical shops will be slammed with bills during the MCO. Some places are bound by tenancy agreements and might have many staff to take care of.

“(But) taking risks cannot be avoided in business as we don’t know what tomorrow will hold for us,” said Prasana, who has been selling local, Western and Indian cuisine for the past 10 years.

Chai Loong Kee, who sells Chinese desserts from her home in Bukit Jalil, said home-based cooks could consider setting up a restaurant if they needed more space and had the manpower to fulfil orders.

However, she said many vendors had been operating from home for years. While they had seen an increase in customers during the MCO period, she said, it would not necessarily make sense for them to take the plunge into the world of restaurants.

“If a vendor is comfortable with a certain amount of income operating from home, then a shop is not necessary,” she said.

“It’s up to the comfort level of individual vendors.”

However, for others like Claudia Colaco from Klang, physical outlets are “absolutely necessary”.

“Food delivery services are rather expensive in Malaysia,” said Colaco, who specialises in Indian cuisine.

“When we look at the working class, how many meals can they afford to buy online in a month?”

Nusrat Ali Baig agreed, saying a physical outlet is key to giving customers a more complete dining experience.

Nusrat, who sells Pakistani food from her home in Segambut, said eating in well-decorated restaurants with the proper ambience provides diners with a better appreciation of the food.

“Diners will be able to feel the culture through our food if we have restaurants,” she said.

“I think the food business is the best one to be in during this pandemic. If you do not have a physical shop, you’re still able to do well from home.”

But despite the wide differences in opinion, these cooks agree on one thing.

“If the food is good, you will eventually attract your own crowd (and) they will support you and grow with your business,” said Mah. - FMT

Ex-AG agreed to Guan Eng’s request to unlock tycoon’s money despite only 12% return of 1MDB funds

Lim Guan Eng had written to Tommy Thomas asking him to lift the freeze on bank accounts belonging to a property tycoon, documents reveal.

KUALA LUMPUR: Former finance minister Lim Guan Eng asked the Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) to lift the restrictions on the bank accounts of a prominent property tycoon, frozen over some RM4 million worth of transactions in 1MDB-linked funds, despite failing to recover the bulk of the money, a revelation that comes less than a month after Riza Aziz was given a conditional discharge provided that he return part of the money he received from the state fund.

Details of Lim’s request last year, sighted in an investigation by FMT, showed the exchanges between him and then-AG Tommy Thomas.

In just two weeks, Lim had received a positive response from Thomas, who subsequently ordered the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to lift the freeze on all four bank accounts.

This was despite MACC informing Thomas that the bulk of the money – some RM3.9 million – could not be recovered as it was no longer in one of the bank accounts said to have received the funds.

“For one, the procedure was wrong,” a source familiar with the case told FMT.

“Any request to unlock a frozen account should have been made through a representation from the tycoon’s lawyer. Going through the minister was not only a conflict of interest but also breached the confidentiality of our investigations to politicians.”

FMT has reached out to the relevant parties for their response.

The freeze order on the tycoon’s bank accounts was made under the Anti-Money Laundering, Anti-Terrorism Financing and Proceeds of Unlawful Activities Act, ahead of an investigation by MACC in June 2018.

A total of 21 cheques amounting to RM4 million from then-prime minister Najib Razak were said to have been deposited into the tycoon’s CIMB bank account.

However, the anti-graft commission found only about RM76,000 left in the said account.

In his reply to Lim, Thomas said the authorities could not make up for the RM3.9 million shortfall by forfeiting funds from the tycoon’s other three frozen bank accounts.

He also told Lim that the tycoon had agreed to return some RM330,000 “being the sum equivalent to the illicit proceeds received from the former prime minister, Najib Razak, in relation to the SRC scandal”.

“This means that the tycoon would only have paid about 12% of what he received,” another source from the AGC told FMT.

It added that the information on MACC’s investigation provided to Thomas was supposed to be confidential.

“The ex-AG’s letter to Guan Eng contained several details of the probe, which raised questions about a breach of confidential information, especially to a politician,” it said.

Thomas recently hit out at MACC and his successor Idrus Harun after the Sessions Court on May 14 allowed a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for Riza, Najib’s stepson.

Riza was charged with money laundering amounting to US$248 million paid to his Hollywood production company Red Granite Pictures – money said to be linked to 1MDB.

Under an agreement with the prosecution, Riza would return some US$100 million, which works out to about 40% of the 1MDB funds he received.

The move drew an angry response from former leaders under the Pakatan Harapan government as well as Thomas, who said he had never agreed to the deal, adding that he was convinced Riza could be convicted.

Thomas’ denial however was questioned by MACC. FMT earlier sighted a handwritten note by him, leaving the decision to senior deputy public prosecutor Gopal Sri Ram while stating his agreement to a representation by Riza’s lawyer.

“Everything is in black and white, so to turn around and say he was shocked by the court’s decision last week is baffling,” an MACC source told FMT in a report on May 20. - FMT

We Brought SDs To Meeting With Dr M, Says Zahid

(FMT) – Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi has reportedly dismissed claims that he brought court documents to show former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad as alleged by a Mahathir aide yesterday.

“The party presidents who attended the meeting brought SDs (statutory declarations) and not court documents,” he was quoted as saying in a posting on Facebook today. “I came with the mandate from Umno members and leadership, nothing more than that.”

The remarks were also posted on his Twitter account.

Zahid said the meeting was held to propose that Mahathir establish a unity government without DAP, PKR and Amanah. The meeting was attended by leaders of six Malay-based parties.

Yesterday, a press secretary to Mahathir said Zahid had brought some documents as though to show Mahathir that he was not guilty of corruption charges. The aide wrote in a Facebook posting that Mahathir had said to let the court decide. Zahid faces 47 charges of criminal breach of trust, bribery and money laundering involving millions of ringgit.

The aide’s remarks were made about a photograph circulating online which shows Mahathir with leaders of six parties who had gathered after a meeting of the PPBM Supreme Council on Feb 23.

Those shown in the photograph were Zahid, PPBM president Muhyiddin Yassin, PAS president Abdul Hadi Awang, Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chairman Abang Johari Openg, Warisan president Shafie Apdal, PKR’s then deputy president, Mohamed Azmin Ali and GPS chief whip Fadillah Yusof.

The picture has been circulating online with a claim that Mahathir had wanted Malay political leaders to be reunited, and that Mahathir had never mentioned not wanting to work en bloc with Umno.

The meeting was held before the so-called Sheraton Move which brought together MPs from Umno, PAS, PPBM and some from PKR, and which led to the fall of the Pakatan Harapan government and the formation of a new government led by Muhyiddin in an alliance between PPBM with Umno-BN, PAS and others.

Appoint Najib as chief to strengthen BN, says Jamal

Sungai Besar Umno chief Jamal Md Yunos has backed a purported call for Pekan MP Najib Abdul Razak to be reappointed as BN chief, a position he held as then prime minister and Umno president.

Malay-daily Sinar Harian quoted Jamal (photo) as saying that the move to reappoint Najib is relevant to help "strengthen Umno and BN" and regain public confidence ahead of the next general election.

"This is my view; Najib must be appointed as BN chairperson to strengthen BN," said the controversial politician who noted that Najib only has a minimum role in his current position as BN's advisory board chairperson.

"Although traditionally the Umno president will be BN chief, but now we see, and I'm not saying the (current) Umno president is a failure, this move is to strengthen the president and so Najib can assist the president.

"This (appointment) can be done. The president (Ahmad Zahid Hamidi) can then focus on Umno's internal matters, to strengthen and bolster Umno," Jamal told Sinar Harian.

Meanwhile, the Malay-daily also quoted former Umno Lembah Pantai chief Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin (photo), who had served as federal territories minister under Najib's administration, as disagreeing with Jamal's call.

"To me, let those with party positions such as the president, deputy president, vice-president and others carry out their responsibilities because this is the hierarchy in Umno.

"Najib can contest when the time comes," said Raja Nong Chik.

"When the next (party) election comes, after he (Najib) has gone through his cases in court, he is certainly eligible to contest.

"Not only is he eligible, but he has the right to contest," added the senior politician.

The BN supreme council had appointed Najib - who is facing 42 charges of money laundering, abuse of power and criminal breach of trust - to head the coalition's advisory board in July last year, slightly over a year after its historic loss in the last general election.

At the time, several Umno leaders including Padang Rengas MP Nazri Abdul Aziz had described the move as "regressive" and not good for the party. - Mkini

Are you still afraid of PAS?

"Play with matches, you get burned."

- Vincent Vega (Pulp Fiction)

PAS information chief Kamaruzaman Mohamad is neither a religious nor an ignorant fool when he suggested suspending the sale of alcohol. He knows exactly what he is doing. For instance, the banning of cinemas in Kelantan to curb “social ills” has done nothing of the sort. 

Former minister Zaid Ibrahim once said that the social ills in Kelantan, styled by PAS as the “Verandah of Mecca”, had been admitted by the party’s leaders when they defended the need for public caning.

Stopping social ills was never the intention and I wish people would stop propagating this narrative. The intention is imposing order on the majority Muslim population. For proponents of this kind of Islam, the suffering that happens here on Earth is merely a prelude to a better afterlife, if you adhere to dogma.

This is why Abdul Hadi Awang muses that only hell awaits if non-Muslims lead. It also why some Muslims believe (as promulgated by the likes of Zakir Naik), that cruel, even corrupt Muslim leaders, are better than honest non-Muslim leaders - “Don’t ever take the infidel West as an example, because the best of them will still end up in hell, since their kindness is without any faith to Allah and the End Times,” Hadi thundered. 

The intention has always been to religious dogma as the first and last word for curbing personal and collective freedoms. This is not about finding solutions to societal problems; this is about imposing a belief system, regardless of societal issues.

Of course, this value system does not translate to the nomenklatura of PAS. Any excess if and when discovered is justified by some obscure religious passage or phrase. Living the good life. Well, even the Prophet rode the best camel.

And if you are a poor Malay Muslim and you ask why your leaders are living in luxury, well the answer is simple as Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Mohd Amar Abdullah (below) explained about how a governor justified living the good life during the Prophet’s time: “Therefore, he added, the governor needed to display the greatness of a Muslim leader as well.”

Now, after having imposed orders on the Muslim population, it is the turn for the non-Muslims. Never mind the economic fallout from the imposition of such a suspension (on the sale of alcohol), for the black market trade already in place. The mere mention of it is to instil fear, to demonstrate the power – governmental and social – of the religion of the state.

It is the oldest trick in the book. Spin class problems into a religious dialectic. That is the agenda of PAS.

What is the counter agenda of the supposed progressive alliance? The choice we are told is between fascist state religion and secular progressive society. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that a progressive choice is available in Malaysia. Instead, there have been red herrings for changing governments – a corrupt Umno potentate when there have always been corrupt Umno leaders – and dubious alliances with supposedly reform-minded religious-political operatives.

You cannot claim that you want Malaysians, regardless of race or religion, to be “Malaysian” first and at the same time promote the religious agenda of Muslim political cabals. These religious cabals, whether the friendly faces of Amanah, the race-based realpolitik of Bersatu or the Umno-PAS union, have one thing in common – they all claim ownership in one way or another of Islam in this country. You cannot hitch your wagon to any one of these cabals and at the same time fool your base into thinking that secular values trump religious imperatives.

Think about this for a moment. The claim that Umno uses Islam to divide the country is exactly what pro-establishment Islamists say about Pakatan Harapan. When you favour one narrative, one experience over the other, you are by definition making a stand, choosing a side and playing to the Islamic divisions in this country. It really does not matter if you think the side you have chosen is “correct” in their interpretation of Islam, especially when there is no evidence to support such a proposition.

Ever since May 9, there have been consistent moves by religious extremists, the crypto Islamists within Harapan, the Malay far right and the religious bureaucracy to undermine the secular values in this country.

There is no such thing as a “moderate” Islamisation process, despite what some moderate Muslims claim. Attempts to make such claims should rightly be viewed with suspicion by rational thinking Malaysians. Non-Muslim politicians should not take sides in Muslims divisions and if they have to align with Muslim cabals, they should make their stand clear as to their secular agendas, and their belief that all Malaysians are equal, despite what some religious trendsetters claim.

Liew Chin Tong talks about the “purists” and “mainstreamers” as if there is an ideological difference between the two. There is no ideological difference and there is no empirical evidence to support such a claim. What there is evidence of, is that the latter are willing to work with non-Muslim political parties and for a time forgo their religious rhetoric, if not agenda, while the former would rather work with like-minded partners to achieve power. And the two are not mutually exclusive.

When you fund the religious bureaucracy, when you fund religious schools and when you make statements (that a secular party should not) that the DAP (for example) supports Islamisation based on the Constitution, what you are really doing is continuing the narrative that PAS and the mainstream Malay establishment want to continue to ensure they maintain a religiously submissive majority.

Nobody is saying, certainly not me, that Harapan should ditch the religion of the state, but what I have always argued is that Harapan has no real religious narrative that could be translated to a policy which is different from the agents of the fascist state. And this is dangerous for Malaysians who believe that their public and personal spaces need to be defended.

We get all these articles demonising PAS, especially by non-Muslim political operatives, but nary an article about how reformist ideas or egalitarian ideas, which are supposed to be the basis of Islam (as many folks in Harapan tell us), would be part of the Harapan agenda.

The supposed secular and progressive alternative does not care about “moderate” Muslims. All they care about is not spooking the Malays, which is funny because the lives of young progressive Muslim politicians – and yes I am including Umno and Bersatu political operatives – have very little to do with the lives of young disenfranchised Muslims, who supposedly make up the base.

Indeed, as far as grassroots go, young PAS political operatives have more interactions with young working-class Malays in terms of religious interventions and moral policing through various federal and state propaganda organs. The irony, of course, is that this happens in Harapan controlled states. Go figure.

As a long time PAS friend, who is still convinced that I will see the light before I pass on, told me recently: “It is too late, even if we (PAS) lose, we win.”

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S THAYAPARAN is Commander (Rtd) of the Royal Malaysian Navy. A retired barrister-at-law, he is one of the founding members of Persatuan Patriot Kebangsaan. - Mkini

Of Gawai and tuak, alcohol and PAS

Today is June 1. It is Gawai Dayak in Sarawak and the Kaamatan festival is also celebrated in Sabah.

My greetings and felicitations to all my Dayak friends in my dear homeland and Kotobian Tadau Kaamatan to the Kadazandusun community in Sabah.

Gawai Dayak, a harvest festival celebrated with thanksgiving offerings for a bountiful year, is also considered a religious and social event.

And tuak, the popular rice wine, is a staple of Gawai Dayak, where every visitor to a host’s home is obliged to take a sip. It is a “must-have” of the Gawai celebration.

Tuak is basically made from a mixture of glutinous rice, sugar and yeast, which are fermented for a long period.

Womenfolk in the community take great pride in preparing tuak for Gawai. Yes, it is an alcoholic drink.

On May 27, after PAS information chief Kamaruzaman Mohamad (photo, below) called for a ban on alcohol sale in order to curb drink-driving, a reporter asked for my comments on the issue.

I wrote a quick statement, challenging Kamaruzaman to tell the Sarawak government to ban tuak during the coming Gawai Dayak festival.

“If you are not up to it, Kamaruzaman, then use your brain the next time you ask to ban this and that.

“Now alcohol, next gambling, after that, tobacco. What else?”, I posited.

I described the PAS leader’s proposal as “ridiculous and nonsensical”.

Banning all sales licences of alcohol beverages in convenience stores so as to stop drink-driving? How pathetic is that!

Why not ban all motorcycles and vehicles on the road? Then there will be zero road accidents.

Perhaps, we should also ban sex in order to resolve the issue of abandoned babies.

I doubt the sincerity of Kamaruzaman’s statement and view it as an attempt by the young PAS leader to highlight his Islamic credentials, perhaps to hasten his climb up the PAS hierarchy.

Now it’s alcohol. Will it be gambling next and after that, will he be picking on certain entertainment shows and even some eateries or clothing which he does not like?

I believe we have heard enough of such nonsense from PAS and let me advise Kamaruzaman to stop politicising such issues.

A ban on alcohol is not the answer to the problem of drink-driving. Stricter laws and enforcement are.

I support Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin’s statement on May 30 that penalties for driving under the influence of alcohol will be enhanced during the upcoming sitting of Parliament.

The prime minister also said that he had instructed the Transport Ministry to draft amendments to the Road Transport Act 1987 for the purpose.

I will even support a mandatory life sentence for drunk drivers who cause fatal accidents. They must be punished severely.

Seriously, if Kamaruzaman wishes to help curb road mishaps, he could start by encouraging Mat Rempit (motorcycle stunt riders or illegal road racers) to give up such a dangerous thrill-seeking hobby.

Many Mat Rempit have lost their lives and their increasing numbers continue to pose a danger to other motorists.

Of the 55,887 fatal accidents recorded over a nine-year period from 2011 to 2019, only 47 were caused by drink-driving, with five such incidents in 2019.

The majority of the fatalities were due to speeding, carelessness in observing traffic regulations, overtaking, changing lanes and at blind corners.

Unfortunately, I do not have the statistics of fatal accidents involving Mat Rempit but from regular media reports, there are surely one too many unnecessary young lives lost. This is a tragedy.

There is also something very important which Kamaruzaman and his PAS colleagues should be aware of.

Banning alcohol also infringes on the rights of people of different tenets and beliefs and Kamaruzaman should take note that in plural Malaysia, no one religion is more superior than the other.

Malaysians had co-existed in peace and harmony because they tolerated, respected and celebrated the different religious and cultural practices of one another.

If it is Kamaruzaman’s intention to take a swipe at the DAP and the non-Muslim community in the brewery business so as to score political points, then take it to them directly.

Do not drag many other Malaysians, who are not politicians but enjoy their beer, wine and whisky, into your political warfare. They are not interested.

By the way, I don’t drink. I don’t touch alcohol. Many of my close friends are aware of that.

However, if not for the MCO, I would probably be back in Sarawak joining my Dayak friends for Gawai.

Do you have a problem, Kamaruzaman, if I take a sip of tuak at the open house of my host?

If so, then take this from me: Just mind your own business and don’t you dare question me what I eat or drink, or even how I choose to dress.

I don’t care how you live your life, so don’t bother with mine.

And one more thing, Kamaruzaman, since you are a politician, allow me to advise you not to touch money which is not yours, in case such temptations come your way.

You see, some leaders in your party were alleged to have done that in the past. Isn’t involvement in corrupt practices sin in Islam?

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FRANCIS PAUL SIAH heads the Movement for Change, Sarawak (MoCS) and can be reached at sirsiah@gmail.com.  - Mkini

Just another day in Malaysia

And so the long-running Malaysian political soap-opera rolls on, with plot-twists and more cliff-hangers.

Last week’s episodes had a curtain-raiser with Senior Minister Azmin Ali (above) telling a press conference: “We should not be dragged into another political crisis and made victims just because someone is crazy for power and wants to be prime minister.”

Say what? The words would only have weight and meaning if they were an apologetic confession of mea culpa in the recent past. I bet he said it straight-faced without wincing.

Followed by a slight, light relief with Bersatu supreme council member Wan Saiful Wan Jan, in the vein of Mak Kiah, story-telling and domesticating the expulsion/exclusion of Dr Mahathir Mohamad from the party.

The party/family did not kick out the prodigal father. He left on his own steam.

“Instead, the person’s action has automatically caused him to be outside of the house. This is what has happened in this case,” said Wan Saiful.

Aww, Mahathir out on the streets, politically homeless and destitute, sleeping on flattened cartons in the corridors of power… except that he showed up in his office at Bersatu headquarters, awaiting eviction, and nobody showed up to beard the lion in his den. On that day the spirit of the brave, intrepid Malay warrior was nowhere to be seen.

What if Mahathir were to decide to work from his Bersatu office again? A couple of security personnel, reluctantly obeying the command of keeping their jobs, denying access? Stiff upper lips on grim government faces while the incident has a field day on social media spread?

The ownership of the house will be engaging teams of lawyers and churning out reams of legal documents and demanding many hours of court time in the coming months.

Meanwhile, officers in the Registrar of Societies are warily circling the radioactive hot potato that’s landed in their midst, hoping their quandary of what decision is to be made as to who is what and who is not, who is in and who is out in Bersatu, will be decided by the courts or a command from up high that made it clear – execute the order or the axe will fall on a different head.

All this drama involving one of the smallest parties in the ruling coalition. One could say the narrative has taken a stylistic, tonal turn into satire, mixing the political insight of the “Yes Minister” series with the anarchic lunacy of Monty Python… except it’s for real and involves a twice-prime minister and the current prime minister.

With the ubiquitous Malaysian political prop since the 80s – video tapes of hotel room incidents and, as in recent days, audio tapes of “unidentified” voices speaking of enmity and potential purchases.

Why do people pay attention to the “revelations” of these tapes? Because they substantiate your assessment of the character? Because it is comforting to have confirmation that politicians are devious and cannot be trusted?

It just means they can turn around tomorrow and say the opposite, as has been amply demonstrated in recent times.

What do you expect of a politician? Consistency of stance? Get real.

It’s probably taught at boot camp for novice politicians: nose out the current power bases; hang around the fringe till you get noticed; always go with the flow of the Tao, ever ready to transfer allegiance; never settle for a free T-shirt and umbrella and the occasional nasi bungkus; jawatan and/or contract.

And look at the track record of tapes surfacing in the hope that a political career will go down in flames. Not clear. Blur. Cannot make out who that is. Don’t know who’s talking because no names crop up in the conversation. Accompanied by a vocal chorus even before the forensics have been done (or botched): fake, the video/tape is a fake, send overseas.

Meanwhile, another narrative thread is teased with the speculation that Anwar Ibrahim may count on the support of over 120 MPs when Parliament next sits.

Amanah deputy president Salahuddin Ayub coyly teases the possibility of Pakatan Harapan back in Putrajaya before the next Parliament sitting expected in July.

Really? I’ll believe it when I read the news. Probably just a passing fever of the brain, no lasting effect.

And if frogs did jump… would anybody be surprised? I would be surprised if nobody jumped before and after elections.

And all of them will be jumping on pious principles, when the principal problem is that frogs are unprincipled and should be exterminated… legislatively, I am a man of peace.

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THOR KAH HOONG is a veteran journalist. - Mkini