Meera Sahib spice store flourishes across generations

GEORGE TOWN: At the heart of George Town stood a sundry shop that has endured the test of time, providing herbs and spices to the people in the city once known as Tanjung (the cape) for more than a century.

Located in Penang Street in the buzzing Little India, the century-old Meera Sahib store which carries the slogan “The Best Spices in Town” is part of the intangible heritage of George Town.

It stands out and captured the hearts of many for keeping to its tradition by selling its own blended and grinded secret spice recipes in the likes of beriyani masala, garam masala and kurma since the day it started operations in the early 1900s.

From humble beginnings to nationwide fame, herbs and spices retailer and wholesaler Meera Sahib (M) Sdn Bhd has braved through “Merdeka” and witnessed “Tanjung” prospered into a bubbly trading city and recognised as a United Nation Education, Scientific and Cultural Organisation’s (Unesco) world heritage site.

George Town along with Melaka were bestowed World Heritage status by Unesco on July 7, 2008 due to their cultural heritage, history and landscape.

George Town was acknowledged as having developed over 500 years of trading and cultural exchanges between East and West in the Straits of Melaka. According to historians, prior to the 18th century, over 1,000 Indian Muslim merchants set foot ashore in Penang in the 1790s and started their business in the heart of the Pearl of the Orient.

To this day, the Indian Muslims formed one of the most important parts of the Penang business community – a culmination of two centuries of business acumen and skills. Meera Sahib stands tall among them and has flourished over generations.

“Everything started from zero”, said the man helming the business now, Mohamed Meera Sahib Mohamed Noordeen, 47, who was named after his late grandfather, the founder of the business who died in 1969.

“My late grandfather Mohamed Meera Sahib came to Tanjung from Tamil Nadu, India in the early 1900s and started working as a clerk in a sundry shop.

“After working at the shop for about 20 years, he became a partner,” he told Bernama in an interview.

In 1954, the late Meera Sahib took over the company as a sole proprietor and later changed the name of the shop to his own name. It was incorporated as a Sendirian Bhd in 1997.

To help the family business bloom, the two sons of the late founder joined their father in the mid-1980s and built one of the most thriving spice retailers and wholesalers in Penang.