Home away from home
With our colourful diversity and multicultural tapestry, Dubai expat and Zee TV’s FoodAddict host Zenofar Fathima never feels like a stranger here in Malaysia, writes
RAMADAN is coming to an end and soon, strains from the Aidilfitri will resound from mosques around the country, ushering the arrival of Syawal. Families will start the day early with the menfolk making their joyous trek to the nearby mosque for the Aidilfitri prayers while the women will remain at home, putting the final touches to the house and preparing a delectable feast for guests.
After the prayers, friends and family dressed in their best will gather for the ubiquitous Raya Open House, to bond and strengthen their ties. Children will be at their happiest as they excitedly prepare their pockets for the to come.
And this is pretty much how Aidilfitri is celebrated in Dubai.
“It’s the same,” begins Zenofar Fathima, the CEO of Zen Productions (Malaysia’s full-service video production company) and multi-talented TV host for Zee TV’s when we meet for an interview at Westin Kuala Lumpur recently.
With Raya just around the corner, I was curious as to whether there are any similarities in the celebrations. The attractive mother-of-three elaborates: “The only difference is probably the food. We have biryani and mutton on the first day of Aidilfitri in Dubai. We like our meat. We also have kebabs and baklava (sweets). Since I’m Indian, we’ll also make chapati and thosai. What I like most is tucking into the big plate of rice which serves four people to share and eat together. It’s a good way to bond during Aidilfitri.”
Smiling, Zenofar, who has been residing in Malaysia for the last five years because of work, shares that she’ll be heading home to Dubai to celebrate Aidilfitri with her parents. There she’ll remain for the next five months to work on projects for her production.
HUGE SUCCESS
Her foray into production began earlier last year when she single-handedly produced
Airing on Zee TV Middle East and carrying the tagline, “The journey of great taste and good health”, the show focuses on showcasing Malaysian food, places of interest, shopping destinations and even fitness tips for her Middle Eastern audience.
Statistics have shown that last year, a total of 123,878 Middle Eastern tourists visited Malaysia.
Since they are not familiar with Malaysian fare, the visitors tend to opt for food they know such as Italian, Thai and of course, their Middle Eastern staple, whenever they come here.
It is Zenofar’s hope that through her show she’ll be able to hear her fellow countrymen say: “Can we go for Malaysian food?” instead, someday.
“Food connects people. It all started when I saw some Middle-Easterners eating satay without the condiments. So I took them to Kampung Baru for the best satay and taught them to eat it with the peanut sauce, rice cake and the onions,” shares Zenofar.
Smiling, she adds: “I believe I did a good job as I received many mails asking me where to get the satay. This is the sort of content I try to carry in my show.”