Foreigners will cook no more in Penang.
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Penang food - FMT photo |
I have heard from my relatives and mateys in Penang that they see Bangla char koay teow chefs stir-frying away at some stalls, a 'picture' which inspired me to pen my amateur poem at my KTemoc Komposes titled Bangla in Pilihanraya (wakakaka).
The principal character in my poem is Mister Farooq Majumdar with my ode to him (wakakaka) going like this:
Hello, my name is Mr Farooq Majumdar
* Malaysian and Penang Hokkien words (italicized) explained here
I was born in Kampung Paya Terubong
Which by the way, Sahib, is not very far
Just the distance for a Bangladeshi song
Yes Sahib, indeed I am very very Malaysian
Which is why today I have come to vote
‘Coz there is also lucrative compensation
And I really don’t mind coins or bank note
Come to think of it, I've a Malaysian mien
I work goreng-ing at a char koay teow stall
And pahkok with Ah Peh Ah Ee in Hokkien
While my towkay sits behind doing f*-all
Which by the way, Sahib, is not very far
Just the distance for a Bangladeshi song
Yes Sahib, indeed I am very very Malaysian
Which is why today I have come to vote
‘Coz there is also lucrative compensation
And I really don’t mind coins or bank note
Come to think of it, I've a Malaysian mien
I work goreng-ing at a char koay teow stall
And pahkok with Ah Peh Ah Ee in Hokkien
While my towkay sits behind doing f*-all
* Malaysian and Penang Hokkien words (italicized) explained here
Best of all I don’t have to go home, I mean
Kampung Paya Terubong is now my address,
And that’s what makes me really super keen
To vote as told, for a citizenship to possess
Kampung Paya Terubong is now my address,
And that’s what makes me really super keen
To vote as told, for a citizenship to possess
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"Farooq you naughty rascal, come home immediately" wakakaka (with sincere apologies to Madame Sheik Hasina) |
Mind you, I've often wondered at these Banglas, presumably all Muslims, goreng-ing away at the most non-halal char koay teow, but then I've seen hijab-ed sweeties in Australia working at supermarket and Costco handling you-know-what too.
I suppose the real Islam only instructs Muslims not to partake of the non-halal stuff and not to treat them as radioactive or toxic material.
Anyway, I wonder how in the world have these non-Malaysians, Bangla, Paki, Myanmarians, Vietnamese, Indons, etc been allowed to work here with open impunity (other than those brought in on official work visa). I've even read of gang fights between these foreigners at the KL Central Market area, and of some Africans raping locals or being in khalwat-ish cohabitation with some.
This is an issue that the Home Ministry must now look into urgently, before we become another Kuwaiti where once all work in the country were done by imported foreigners, and which saw how they behaved during the Iraqi invasion. Woi, Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, you tidurkah?
Today TMI publishes Greed of locals blamed for foreign traders’ invasion of KL which tells us (extracts):
Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association chief activist Datuk Nadzim Johan said greed for easy profit has led to the foreign invasion in Kuala Lumpur.
He said leasing the permit had become standard practice for the locals because it was easy money.
"We slog it out (trading) but can only expect to make RM4,000 clean (profit), but the foreigners can get up to RM10,000 a month as they are willing to work more than 14 hours a day, with only two days off a month.
"As such, they are willing to offer high prices to lease the permits and premises on a monthly basis.
"They need the permits of locals to pull the wool over the authorities' eyes. They will say the business belongs to Malaysian owners, not them," he said
A Bernama check found that the roughly 100 trading lots in Jalan Silang were mostly manned by foreigners, mainly Vietnam, Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals.
They did not appear to be fazed by the appearance of City Hall enforcement officers in the area.
He said leasing the permit had become standard practice for the locals because it was easy money.
"We slog it out (trading) but can only expect to make RM4,000 clean (profit), but the foreigners can get up to RM10,000 a month as they are willing to work more than 14 hours a day, with only two days off a month.
"As such, they are willing to offer high prices to lease the permits and premises on a monthly basis.
"They need the permits of locals to pull the wool over the authorities' eyes. They will say the business belongs to Malaysian owners, not them," he said
A Bernama check found that the roughly 100 trading lots in Jalan Silang were mostly manned by foreigners, mainly Vietnam, Bangladesh and Myanmar nationals.
They did not appear to be fazed by the appearance of City Hall enforcement officers in the area.
Note the last line "They did not appear to be fazed by the appearance of City Hall enforcement officers ..."!
Have there been lucrative 'kowtim-ization' somewhere?
MACC, mana lu lah?
No eye see
ReplyDeleteMACC has zero credibility.
ReplyDeleteThe biggest corruption case in the country's history...SRC mega million diversion of funds has already been kau time-d.
The donor was some backstreet Arab dredged up to "confess" that he was the generous provider because of his "love for Malaysia".
What more, much, much smaller cases......
Banglas love Malaysia....they come by the millions now.
ReplyDeleteOf all the foreign countries, Malaysia is the best destination for them.
Sure, there are other more affluent countries, but they are much harder to get into, higher risk of getting caught, and penalties for illegal entry or overstaying much more severe.
On top of that, more advanced economies are looking for skilled migrants, while most Banglas are unskilled manual workers (to start with), though they can learn a skill very fast.
For them, Malaysia is a land of opportunity.
Also easy for them to blend in, plenty of existing Indian Muslims , they can even become "Constitutional Malays" eventually (sooner than you realise).
In Bangladesh rural villages as well as cramped city neighbourhoods, the nicest home, the one with furniture and electrical appliances which others envy, is often thanks to one or more family members who have made it good in Malaysia.
Don't blame the Banglas. It is obvious the opportunities are there, why are Malaysians so pampered and/or lazy that they don't bother to take up the opportunities, or just sign it away as rentiers ? Instead they wait for BR1M...
RM 10,000 a month, profit, is a nice sum of money, even in depreciated ringgit. Why complain that someone else is getting it, when it is reachable if you are willing to slog for it ?
The guy who maintains my garden grass is a Bangla. He's much more reliable than the previous Malaysian guy, who only made an appearance when he was short of money.
ReplyDeleteThe Wantan mee stall at the nearby market is operated by an Indonesian woman. She's hardworking, and speaks basic Cantonese, Hokkien , even a bit of Hakka. I'm told the stall is still licensed to the previous local proprietor, but she's nowhere to be seen these days.
The non-Halal Wantan mee doesn't seem to bother her, I'm sure she's a good Muslim who doesn't eat pork. Its just a job to her, unlike the local Jihadis who go feral upon finding molecular-amount traces of porcine DNA in chocolate.
Bit by Bit , the locals are giving up jobs and businesses to foreigners, all the time complaining about lack of money and economic opportunities