Sago Worms Haram

Photo from lyick81.blogspot.com

The sago worms or ulat mulong or in Melanau si'et have been declared as haram for consumption by the Sarawak Mufti's Office today.

The reasons given are them being unclean and that they live in dual world or environment. 

Haram means 'forbidden' and is a concept in Islam which is not only limited to food but also prohibits a Muslim from doing something harmful to themselves or to others in terms of health or social standing (e.g. theft, gambling, gossiping, adultery, drinking, smoking). 

Now, this morning's news caught me by surprise. I myself have been consuming this grub for years along with other Melanau and non-Melanau Muslims. For one, they consume the sago tree trunk voraciously until they can undergo metamorphosis into the sago palm weevil or Rhynchophorus ferrugineus (pictured left), not unhygienic carcasses which would be understandable. 

As for the 'dual worlds' or dua alam, this refers to animals living in two different environment like amphibious animals such as frogs, crocodiles (obviously) and the Swamp Creature. In what way is the sago grub considered a 'dual world' creature needs further explanation. Is it because it goes through metamorphosis? One stage living inside a trunk while at the latter stage flying around? If that's so then some species of birds which starts off inside a tree trunk or a hole in the ground before learning to fly are haram.

I may sound like criticising the professionals but then again the Quran has told Muslims to think critically (not follow blindly and chant death to the infidels/insert race like what many keyboard warriors are doing). Not that I'm doubting the research done to prove that they're haram, but I do wish to to receive more explanation on it either in tomorrow's news or in the Mufti's website. This is a sudden kill-switch to the hundred-years of Melanau tradition and culture, just like how telling vegetarians that vegetarian chicken is not okay one day.

P/S: Although haram, Muslims are permitted to consume haram things during the time of emergency e.g. war, famine, natural disaster, where all source of halal food is lost. And if you're wondering, the sago worm is high in protein and suitable if you're lost in the jungle with no food. The sago worm contains:

Protein 25.8g

Fat 38.5g

Ash 2.1g

Carbohydrates 33.2g

Energy (kcal) 583

Amino Acids (g/100g dry weight)

Aspartic acid 2.29g

Threonine* 1.15g

Serine 1.33g

Glycine 1.04g

Alanine 1.37g

Valine* 0.81g

Methionine* 0.27g

Isoleucine* 0.75g

Leucine* 1.62g

Tyrosine* 0.97g

Phenulalanine* 0.73g

Histidine* 1.02g

Lysine* 1.72g

Arginine 1.62g

Tryptophan* 0.23g

*Essential amino acid

Bumiputera SME High Mortality Rate

I've seen businesses come and go. In less than 5 years a shop lot in Bandong, Sibu may see 2-3 times of ownership change. From kedai kopi to car wash to boutique, many gulung tikar.

Let's take a simpler example: The new food court at Simpang 3. It was good, so good some people who are well-established wooden stall food & drinks operators could not get the approval to set up shop there. The ones running the new eateries at Simpang 3 are newbies and unfamiliar faces except for Koleksi Azza clothes boutique. Where's the Kedai Roti Canai and the corner Kedai Runcit? Gulung tikar...

They all ran well. Facilities were good and rental was around RM450 per month (whoa!). Then came Raya on 1st September. After the Raya holidays, 2/3 of the eateries never open shop again until now (10th October). What happened?

1. Cannibalism

Look at Taman Harmoni food court. I can see at least 2-4 eateries selling the same Nasi Lemak and Mee Goreng with similar prices with only taste to differentiate them. Basically this food court was a cannibalistic ground. Can you count how many food operators who managed to survive until today? How can one survive when your competitor is just 5 feet away and it all comes down to feng shui or where customers parked (or in most cases rely on friends to support the business). 

Recommendation: A law or accord must be set to allow Bumiputera SME to offer a set of different product or services within a certain commercial area. Anyone who wants to sell something similar, goes to another area. So far I'm just aware it's a canis canem edit world, every man for himself.

2. Low Market

Seriously, looking at the volume of customers I wonder how small businesses can survive. For example there was a furniture shop at a corner lot at Bandong. The market is low-middle income buyers from Kampung Abang Barieng, Nangka or maybe some economic outliers. Can you expect people from these groups to come and buy furnitures everyday? No. Some products and services are seasonal and furniture might only sell during Raya, Gawai etc. Then when they do buy some may go for loan. This is risky as the customers may not pay and default. Where's the Bandong furniture shop? Gulung tikar...   

Recommendation: There should be an initiative from existing agency like SEDC to help provide market research to SMEs. This way the SME can know where to locate their business for best profit and performance.

3. Lack of Skills

Businesses run on dreams, passion, money, customers and skills. Sadly most SME proprietors run on dream and passion, which is not enough. They open shop with high entrepreneurial hope but some have no basic business skills. For example there are those who do not know business and the owner(s) are two separate entities. Profit earned from business should not go into personal accounts. Marketing, PR and competitive skills? Mostly based on hunch and experience. Those who remain usually knows the selok-belok.

Recommendation: Enough with the kerepek pisang with photocopied Microsoft Word 2003-typed simple packaging. There should be an initiative to teach and train SME proprietors the basics to run a successful business such as marketing, book keeping, contingency plan, service etc.

4. Master Plan

Excuse as I will revert to Bahasa Sarawak for this important section. Okay kita mun berbisness mesti tauk long term juak, bukan nangga untung bulanan. Tuk contoh senario long term:

Tauk sik bus terminal lamak dekat RTM? Banyak kedai dekat commercial lot sekelilingnya nak? Plan membangunkan commercial area tok ada brutal sikit. Bila ada area commercial mok didevelop, semua bus terminal, lot, rumah etc dipolah sekelilingnya. Bila dah sik berkembang, sidak transfer bus terminal ya kat tempat nya baru nun untuk dibangunkan. Best kan area bas terminal baru ya banyak lot commercial besar dari area terminal lamak? Pas area ya sampe tahap tertentu agik, bas terminal ya akan ditukar agik gi area Salim untuk memajukan tempat ya gik. SME dekat terminal kinek tok akan terimak nasib sama ngan area RTM. Stagnant. 

Recommendation: Sometimes we need to know what the government or developers have in their master plan. If you know they are going to Salim next, invest there early on. Be dynamic. Be alert. Mok share nasib dan invest dekat area cam bas terminal lamak? No.

5. Killer Giants

The amount of giant players like big supermarket, fast food etc are killing the small SME everywhere. Have you seen what happened to the old Ngiu Kee? With each new Super or Hypermarket that opens in Sibu, the less market share one can get. If Ngiu Kee, Sugarbun (Cathay) etc are facing danger or already gulung tikar, what chance do small and new Bumiputera SMEs have? They are at the mercy of these invading superpowers and the only thing keeping them alive is either determination or luck. For now you might think "Oh kedai kopi ok eh, can invest", but what if one day Starbucks come here and the new market by then, the younger generation, prefer to go there? Gulung tikar la labu...

Recommendation: Will share with you at a kopitiam somewhere, just call my 017. We can still go against these empires.

Bintangor's Legendary Tumpik

I finally had a taste of the much hyped about tumpik of Bintagor. This traditional baked rice delicacy is a rare treat for me, and if it's legendary enough to be featured in a newspaper must mean that it's worth the 40 minutes drive to Bintangor. It was.

Google Maps can't calculate the route, unfortunately

The 40 minutes drive towards the outskirt of Sibu includes going out of town using the treacherous roads of Lanang, pay some cash to please the Lanang bridge toll operators (RM5 for large vehicles like mine sienz) and finally some relaxing kampung style journey to the small pekan of Bintangor.

The said tumpik is available at Bintangor's central market which looks like a green church. This church-inspired market houses typical Sarawakian foodstuff, supplies and cafes to cater the denizens. You can't miss it, it's the biggest building in Bintangor. Bintangor is not that big to get lost in. And it's easy to find the stall that sells the legendary tumpik. The stall name is Tumpik.

The plain tumpik biasa

Tumpik special

I tried out 2 of the available tumpiks, the normal plain one and a special one (with prawns inside). IMO lah, the plain tumpik was ok-ok lah but the prawn special tumpik was amazing. Maybe because the prawns were jumping 2 hours ago. I jumbled up the order so didn't ask for the exact prices. But both cost Under RM7. Was it worth it? Yes.

3 Jedi Tricks Fruits Sellers Can Do To You

Fruits. We all buy fruits at certain points of our lives. Guava. Lokam. Bananas. Pineapples. Corns (vegetables). Etc. But after a few years, one may notice the methods certain fruit sellers do to cheat you. Remember how your mom/aunt/yourself said "Cilaka, the seller said was manis but it's not!"? Well here are other tricks they can do:

1. Unmeasured Wanderers
Okay, sometimes when you are eating at a coffee shop or restaurant you will occasionally be visited by freelance street vendors. These people walk table to table selling food, Buddhist trinkets or outlandish but innovative made-in-China toys. Fruit sellers are a sub-species and have different modus operandi. Unlike toys or packaged food that can be quantified and sold at a standard price, fruits are usually sold in a plastic bag and customers are told that it's 1KG or 2KG of XXX fruit. They won't carry a scale to confirm that the plastic bag really has 1KG of fruits. EVER. So you are taking a risk of buying a bag of fruits that may be less than it's worth. Score 1 for the Dark Side!

2. Two Face
This applies to both stall AND freelance wandering fruit sellers. Some fruits are well packaged in the white netting thingy. The half part that faces you looks delicious and sexy, but once you bring it home and undress it you'll find the other half rotten. If you do this mistake often, do not go to any Red Light District.

3. Keep-Promoting-A-Certain-Fruit
Similar to "No worries, this fruit sure manis one" trick, the fruit seller might try to promote a certain fruit many times before and after your purchase. When you arrived at the stall he promoted to you durian, when you have bought rambutan he promoted durian, and when you wanted to leave he shoved durians at your face as you ran towards your vehicle. I'm sure you can tell something is wrong.

So be wary and be more careful out there brave fruit seekers!

Aggressive Biscuits

First there's Oreo. Then there's Cream-O. Now there's Bis-O.

I haven't tried Bis-O due to it's shabbiness though, obviously. The hilarity in this imitation wars is further enhanced by the latter's pronunciation which is close to bisul... what's next?

Eat Eat Eat Makan Makan Makan 吃 吃 吃

Owh gosh I guess this is the norm for a typical student during the holidays; eat, eat and eat. Everyone has their own eating pattern and I think mine would match some of you guys out there. So how many times do I eat?:

8:00AM Pre-breakfast
This is a lightweight meal where the mind and the belly hasn't really waken up yet. A quick sip of tea and 2-3 Danone's or Hup Seng's Cream Crackers would suffice while reading the news. It's like an automated impulse to eat something while reading, the same why most dudes read books or newspapers while depositing in the toilet.

10:00AM Breakfast
Usually a trip to any kopitiam or coffee shop located in Sibu (I think Sibu is the town with the most registered coffee shop numbering at 20,000 inside and outskirt of town). It's either roti canai or kampua with any form of peng or cold drinks.

12:30PM Lunch
Home from work like everyone else in the house. A heavy course meal with occasional fruit desserts. Nasi tambah (another round) is optional.

3:30PM Afternoon Tea
A quick 'getaway' from work by buying assorted kuih or cucur pisang (banana fritters) priced at RM1 for 3 pieces accompanied by hot tea.

6:30PM Evening Desserts
Not common but usually a quick rendezvous at McTreat for a Chocolate Sundae is perfect to destress before driving home.

7:30PM Dinner
Again another round where everyone comes home for a slightly lighter meal than lunch. Followed by a short session of watching Everybody Loves Raymond before heading back to the office at 8PM.

10:45PM Supper
A drive home that is usually stopped by a burger or kebab stall. Food ranges from RM1.30 beef burgers to RM2.50 beef/chicken kebabs which helps give some heat before going to showers.

Looking at the pattern I must say I can match a Hobbit's haha. It must be the work that requires a lot of fuel or simply bored of the holidays. Susah la like this. When stressed during assignment or exam we eat a lot, depression we eat a lot, bored we eat a lot, happy we go KFC or McD or Pizza Hut celebrate we eat a lot.

But on the bright side when we are back to a new semester our eating pattern kinda messed up with a good chance to slim down. So ahh, yumcha anyone?

The Ugly Truth: Traveling Food

For the past 5 years of traveling I've seen drastic price changes to the food at rest stops along the trans-Borneo road. These stops, be it small shack kopitiam style or medium scale concrete restaurant that dots every 1 hour of travel distance, offer a variety of exotic food you can find anywhere else in any township you live in. And what makes them unique is the price the owners set for each of those food.

If Labuan have duty free thingy, the shops here in Sarawak have travel tax, foreigner-who-dunno-actual-price tax and you're-hungry-so-have-to-buy tax charged on all goods and services. Well, the toilet is free anyways. If you want running tap water to clean your hands afterward it will be 20 cents. Tissue RM1.

Back to the food, several big rest stops do not put price tags on their goods. Most of them are grab, say and pay. You GRAB a sweet & sour Mr. Potato, the lady behind the counter will SAY it is RM5.00, and then you PAY RM5.00. Then you savor the expensive 20-25 potato chips while arguing in your head "WHY THE HELL LA I BUY THIS THING?"... Well anyways that's the lumrah of a traveler. Below are the list of prices you can expect to see as of 2009:

Drinks: The same as any coffee shops, canned drinks may cost up to RM2.00
Keropok (don't care what): RM3.50 - RM5.00 (normal price RM1.20 - RM3.50)
Maggi Mee Cup: RM3.50 (increased by RM1.00 within the past 6 months)
Meal (nasi campur etc): RM5++ (depending on mood somehow)

So be careful out there and prepare a wad of cash if you are planning to make a lot of stops during your travel. No point arguing with the owner as the next available food might be 200KM away. Travel safe, ciaoz...

KFC @ e-Mart

Finally there would not be any need to drive to Boulevard to eat KFC anymore :)
Too bad I might won't be in Miri by the time it opens. Oh well, KFC after finals aite?

Credits to dearest for the pic :)

Prom Nite 2009

Had my last prom this year (next year graduate edi pok...) at Eastwood Valley on Friday evening. Brought along some familias who were all bumped from the busy study week (not me anyways). I'll just let the uploaded photos from various friends in facebook to show how the prom went.

The food could improve though, as I ended up eating hot dogs at Mat Magic in Senadin late past midnite. What a romantic way to end the nite :P

P/S: Oh and I enjoyed the last dance in the parking lot in the (after)storm :)

Breaking Fast 10 Feet in the Air

I've broke my fast at many locations away from a proper dining table for this year's Ramadhan. Sometimes I get to break with fries while being stuck in a major Miri traffic jam. Sometimes breaking at the counter of the fast food joint while waiting for the staff to prep the food. Sometimes it's 5M away from the dining table because I arrived home late and there's no time to unlock the door etc. I adhere strictly to the rules saying one must not delay a breaking of fast.
The 27th day was a bit extreme, being stuck in a traffic I completed the whole fast breaking on the Pujut-Lutong bridge. The 28th day was the sheet. Moments before takeoff the captain announced it's time to break, and I did so while chugging down a bottle of Frost root beer during taxiing. Thanks to the Fokker's turbulence during take off, I stained my favorite white t-shirt during a transition from 0 - 500 feet in the air.

It was a unique experience, and now I have safely returned home to Kampua Town with a blood-stained t-shirt. Wish you all a jolly good holiday and Salam Eid.

What's in Your Fillet-O-Fish?

Finally we are exposed to what kind of fish McDonald's have been using in their fishy burgers...

Fillet-O-Fish
Juicy fish fillet in a golden cracker crumb coating, smothered in tangy tartar sauce and rounded out with cheese between a freshly steamed bun
RM5.80

For the past 20++ years of my life I have never thought of what fish McDonald's been using in their tasty Fillet-O-Fish. Well, after 20++ years on Earth, I discovered I've been paying RM5.80 to eat these not so attractive aquatic friends:

This is the Hoki fish or whiptail or Macruronus novaezelandiae that thrives south of New Zealand. Somehow it reminds me of the salted jerk fish in a jar a.k.a. 100 years-old super salty fish I always get from Mukah.

And I thought we were paying for top quality fish like salmon or tuna or something instead of these sad chaps who are now at the brink of extinction. Since you are what you eat, I'm not touching McD's burgers for a while.

Source: The Ledger

KFC - It's Kentucky Fried Chicken Again

Kentucky Fried Chicken, Kitchen Fresh Chicken, Kentucky Fried Chicken. Colonel, makeup your mind!

Thanks to a tip-off by Anonymous in an older post, I found out KFC have reverted back to their original acronym meaning. A visit to their website lately clearly shows that they are now Kentucky Fried Chicken and not Kitchen Fresh Chicken.

The new packaging retains the same red corporate color but got a new propaganda design. I see KFC, but not what it means. All I see are vaguely fade texts spamming the box like FRESH and CRISPY. Mmm subliminal messages...

However fresh visits to the local Boulevard KFC lately does not show this move. At the back of the french fries box are only random confetti and patterns where the word Kitchen Fresh Chicken used to be. I'm kinda getting confused with their tactics. But if it's a re-rebranding they are aiming to get, it's just confusing a veteran consumer like me. Now which name should I use to explain to the younger generation should they ask what KFC stands for? Kung Foo Chow?

15Malaysia - Halal

A very silly slapstick comedy demonstrating the proper Islamic way to slaughter chicken directed by Liew Seng Tat. This is the fifth video released in 15Malaysia.

I don't know about you guys but I do find some elements in the video to be a bit stereotypically racist. Apart from that it's kinda LOLable and Halal concept made simple. Babi... babi... babi... babi... babi... babi...

Saberkas Bazaar Ramadhan 2009

Some snapshots from the said bazaar in Miri. Despite the economic downturn, the bazaar is still full with the standard format of food. Mmmm P:

First shot of the bazaar and this guy happens to come into view. Aiya...

Ummm just a few weeks ago we had haze. Now we can experience it all over again with BBQ smoke. Memedihkan mata >.<

Barely 4pm a lot of food have finished.

Honey marinated chicken wing is MANDATORY

Some bawal and kembong being grilled with sambal.

RM12-RM15 terubok. Too bad it's not spawning season. The caviar is the best around.

And of course, kurma or dates to give you back those lost glucose.

How to Make Red Star Omelette

Red Star Omelette

No more rations in your refrigerator because of the capitalists? Have no fear comrades, for you will not have to visit one of the capitalist fast food restaurants. This omelette will only require a few basic supplies that can be found in your fridge. It pays homage to the Red Star and every Socialist can do it. It is the ideal meal for a patriotic Socialist with a busy lifestyle.



Cooking Time:
11 minutes

Consumption Time:
6 minutes

Ingredients:
2 eggs
4 sausages
5 spoons of tomato ketchup


Instructions:
1. Cook those sausages to your satisfaction.
2. Cook and mince the eggs in the wok.
3. Add the tomato ketchup to the minced eggs until it turns reddish orange.
4. Place the minced eggs onto a plate and form a star using the spatula.
5. Cut the sausages at key points and place it on the minced egg to form the Hammer & Sickle.
6. Serve with orange juice.

While you cook, why not listen to an epic Socialist anthem?


What is Socialism? Click here and be inspired!
Who are the the Capitalists? Read here and find out why the economy is collapsing

How to Properly Use a Tong Gas

This only applies to states still using the ancient tong gas for cooking in the kitchen. It should be a rare sight in cities in Malaysia where there are underground gas pipes feeding home kitchens nationwide. If you don't know what a tong gas is, it's basically a heavy tank of inflammable gas that is connected to a stove to create fire. This is a method way ancient than rubbing two sticks together to make fire.

STEP 1: Buy a tong gas. Roughly RM78 a tong. If its RM100, the shop is taking advantage of you. Bring the tong home and place it in a spot near your stove. Pull the protective rubber out to reveal a hole (but don't throw away the rubber!)

STEP 2: Then gently place this gray colored device into position as shown. It should fit the hole of the tank.
STEP 3: Twist this black thingy by the side of the gray device to 'lock' the head onto the tong gas.

STEP 4: Make sure the other end of the gray device (should be a black rubber tube, or any color variant) is attached to the stove. Buy one of those cheap RM0.50 screws to lock the tube into place.

STEP 5: Congratulations you can now cook safely, until the gas runs out. Go watch the Asian Food Channel if you want some inspiration on what to cook.

STEP 6 (Optional): Do STEP 1 to 5 in a reverse order if you don't plan to use it for a long time. Disconnecting the tube and putting the rubber cap back onto the tong gas should help reduce the chance of a gas leak and an exploding house.

Borneo Cultural Festival '09

Um... eh... hm.... culture?

I managed to visit this year's Borneo Cultural Fest (BCF) last night. This year it runs from the 3rd till 11th July at the Sibu Town Square. Sadly I don't see much "culture" as how BCF was 4-5 years ago. Back then there were authentic Iban tattooist giving tats to foreigners, actual wooden tibau (gigantic Melanau swing) for visitors to play and to break their backs (ouch to the old lady ><) and actual sets featuring how Chinese, Melanau, Malay etc houses looks and feels like at each corner of the town square. This year, it's just food, food, food, stage performance, food, car auto show, food, logging equipments, food, funfair, food and food ("blame the economy" they say). It feels more like a trade expo than a cultural based event :(

Don't these kids have school in the morning? Or do they have kelas petang?

Umm... can I express it out loud? The purple lights are just too gay...

There you go, cultural food that you can find everyday in kopitiams and side road stalls are all available here...

At the main Town Square A (that's what I think they call it, the one facing Sanyan) is where the main stage. I'm seriously against crowds, so seeing these much sitting in front of the stage just turned me off...

Instead I'd rather join these folks squatting in front of a giant TV screen watching the performances on the stage...

Performances such as from... ummm who is this girl?

Cars can be cultural too, I guess... like this Chevrolet complete with localized style tribal tattoos on it. Very foreign yet local. Mmm culture...

Across Town Square A is obviously Town Square B where all the trade expo and funfair are located. Wheee bumper cars!

Until now I don't know why they kicked me out after I drove in my own bumper dozer into the bumper car arena...

Look! Remember these? Owh-so-classic funfair games :D You know, throw ping-pong balls into the appropriate holes, shoot the balloons with a Glock, fish ducks/fish out of the pond etc to get points and win prizes... yippee!

En! My favourite! The "shoot-those-blasted-glued-rings-but-they-never-go-into-the-bottle" games with air-rifles. But these weren't air-rifles. They were bolt-action homemade rifles that can knock out a full grown cat wohoo!

Owh one more thing, don't wear slippers or sandals... the fairgrounds can be a bit berbatu and muddy...

P/S: Yes I know, this sounds like a post flaming BCF. But you can refer to others who cover up the bright side. Just let me cover the bad side to be fair eh?