PENANG is reportedly considering banning foreigners from cooking its world-renowned hawker dishes as part of plans to preserve food quality and encourage youngsters to continue their family hawker stall business.
It was first enforced in 2016 at food courts owned by the Penang Island City Council (MBPP). Later, DAP councillor Tan Soo Siang proposed a state-wide ban that would include private enterprises and have a bigger impact.
State exco for local government Jason H’ng Mooi Lye told Singapore’s The Straits Times that the ban should now presumably include all hawker centres and street food peddlers.
It is a practice in Penang for some local hawkers to outsource food preparation and handling to foreigners so that they can focus on expanding their enterprises or have more time for family and to pursue personal interests.
“The initiative is important to preserve the authenticity of our Penang food,” H’ng reportedly said.
Besides ensuring the quality of the dishes, the proposed move could help reduce dependency on foreign labour, he said.
The expansion of the ban to cover private eateries could also create more jobs for local hawkers, he added.
Tan had earlier said that under the current guidelines of MBPP, its enforcers could only issue warning notices, and only 17 hawkers had been reprimanded since 2016.
The proposed expansion to cover private eateries and roadside food stalls will be deliberated at a full council meeting soon. Once approved, strict enforcement will follow, and it will extend to mainland areas too.
The ban may cover popular dishes such as nasi lemak, assam laksa, pasembor, mee sotong, char kway teow, kway teow soup, prawn mee, curry mee, wonton mee, loh bak, chee cheong fun, char kway kak, and oyster omelette.
The Straits Times reported that the ban may not sit well with local hawkers, as many were facing difficulties getting the younger generation to continue their legacies. Their sole option was to engage foreigners to do the job.
Then-chief minister Lim Guan Eng had mooted the idea of the ban in 2016 as a way to preserve the authenticity of the state’s local fare and ensure Penang remained a gastronomical haven.
Food critic and Malaysia Association of Hotels vice-president Datuk Khoo Boo Lim said Penang hawker fare helped position Penang as the nation’s culinary capital. – July 17, 2024.
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