Feature

Implementing conservation standards and monitoring mechanisms to conserve George Town’s heritage buildings remain complex, even after 17 years since its UNESCO inscription in 2008.

Penang’s proximity to Kedah and the long history of cross-border marriages and trade brought Thai culinary traditions southward, introducing the intense, spicy-sour palate that still defines much of northern Malaysian food today.

Indian food in Penang reveals the history of those who brought it over and the openness of the people in its new home.

Malaysia is home to one of the world’s richest rainforests, with an estimated 15,000 plant species. Out of these are more than 520 edible plant species, and 300 of these are indigenous to the country.

As a child, I spent a lot of time in this aunt’s house, and most of that time, in her kitchen. While my other aunts and cousins played mahjong in the background, I would sit at the kitchen table, annoying her with requests to help her cook.

In the space Rongen has curated over two decades, ceramic shards from the Wan Li shipwreck are arranged like relics. Some have been made into jewellery and others set onto small sculptural pieces. The rest remain untouched, displayed just as they were when they were lifted off the seabed.

Penang murtabak is very elaborately prepared when compared to that from other parts of Southeast Asia. My findings are based on its traditional preparation at Hameediyah and the now-defunct Merah restaurants.

Kebebe is a culinary heritage of the Malay-Pattani communities of Lenggong, Hulu Perak, and is believed to have existed for over a century. To trace its roots, I spoke with a local historian, Mohd Razali Ahmad, fondly known as Pak Su.

I am a Malay from Balik Pulau. We are sometimes assumed to be the same as the Malays of Tanjong (George Town), the Jawi Peranakans or the Indian Muslims. In truth, our identities differ; this is no more evident than in what we eat.