Sharing through food
Their traditional Christmas breakfast is roti canai.
HAVING lived away from Malaysia for 10 years, I sometimes feel neither here nor there. My then- new spouse took a job in Switzerland and I went along. Eight years after that, we semi- retired in Bavaria, Germany.
We, or I alone, visit Malaysia about once a year for about three to four weeks each time to catch up with family and friends. Of course, Malaysian food beckons as much as the country’s natural beauty spots.
After years of observation, I believe there is such a thing as a national character. Why else do most Malaysians who meet abroad get along so easily? We are in general open to people from all cultures because we are from a multicultural society. Our best feature is the Malaysian hospitality. Foreigners wonder at and are amused by how we greet each other in Malay or Chinese dialects with the question: Have you eaten? Malaysians are always ready to share their food and drink, no matter how rich or poor we are.
When a neighbour here throws a casual garden party, he asked my spouse to bring his own beer. At a bonfire picnic near Rome many years ago, we ended up half starved because our host couldn’t make bruschetta fast enough. I’m not saying all Germans and Italians behave like that but I’ve never experienced anything similar with Malaysians.
We are a food obsessed nation. If you look at Malaysians’ Facebook postings, it’s often about food, be it cooking, baking or eating out.
In Germany, whatever I wanted to eat I had to make it myself. So, I have had to experiment with making my favourite Malaysian food. In Switzerland, a British-Punjabi friend ran lunchtime classes and
It feels like a lifetime – well, almost half a lifetime away – since I have lived in Malaysia. I have lived in Scotland for 17 years after finding love with a Scotsman in KL in 1997.
After all these years, you’d think I’d taken on the characteristic, accent and behaviour of the Scots. You would be wrong! I still sound the same ( to the delight of my mother and dismay of my brothers who were hoping for a sister with a Scottish accent). Essentially, I am very much the Malaysian girl who left all those years ago.
As a mother of a 12- year old, I feel it’s more important than ever to ensure that my son, Lucas, understands and appreciates his Indian and Malaysian heritage as well as his Scottish roots.
We celebrate Deepavali every year with a house full of family and friends enjoying Malaysian/ Indian/ Scottish hospitality – a true mingling of cultures, reminiscent of what Malaysia represents.
It is with particular pride when I say my husband, Derek, and Lucas are huge fans of Malaysian cuisine with rasam ( spicy Indian soup), nasi kandar, ikan bakar and bak kut teh high on their list of favourite foods.
Every Christmas morning, Lucas requires me to prepare a Malaysian breakfast of roti canai and chicken curry as the usual traditional Christmas breakfast doesn’t quite match up. This is our Cuthbert Christmas tradition and long may it reign!
My passion for cooking hopefully promotes the deliciousness, variety and utter delight of Malaysian cuisine to the Brits and Europeans as I also teach Asian cookery. It is a personal crusade as it combines my love of food and my pleasure in sharing it with like- minded people.
All the efforts Derek and I put into ensuring Lucas appreciates his culture is supported with our visits to Malaysia. These visits strengthen Lucas’ connection to Malaysia, our family and friends. Trips home are an elixir for me.
These trips are so filled with love and kinship that continue to bring me strength and support when I am tucked away in cold Scotland. Close friends from my youth are still just as close while my family is a source of comfort, love and familiarity.
Don’t get me wrong as I have carved a lovely life in Scotland with a fulfilling career, great friends and family. Despite the miserable weather, the Scots are some of the friendliest and most laidback people in the world who have a great sense of fun much like my fellow Malaysians. But home is home and yes, Malaysia is still my home.
Malaysia has changed so much but we have a lot to be proud of. Our small nation has had wonderful successes at the Rio Olympics. It was great for me to cheer the Malaysian contingent at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014. Derek and Lucas even stunned a Malaysian sportsman when they shouted out “Malaysia Boleh!”.
My most abiding memory of Merdeka Day is when I was a Form 4 schoolgirl from Sultan Ibrahim Girls School ( SIGS), Johor Baru proudly performing at the Merdeka Day celebrations.
After that, we were invited to the Johor Istana for dinner and serenaded by the then Sultan of Johor with a few Sinatra standards. A surreal but memorable moment indeed.
Essentially, it comes down to how I really feel. I will be honest: I worry and feel guilty as I am not there caring for my parents in their old age. I fear I won’t get home in time for life- changing moments. But I take heed of my wise father, Gunasegaram’s words, “You chose your life path, so go live it”.
I know that wherever life leads me, it will always take me home.