![\"Dr](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/dr-wong_1156.jpg\")
Dr Wong is a diminutive dynamo of energy and enthusiasm for the promotion of all things Malaysian. \u201cMy visit to the UK is timed to coincide with the Malaysia Night event in Trafalgar Square on Friday 4th October. This is the fourth time we have held this and we are pleased to have this \u2018night out\u2019 with our friends from Great Britain. It is for us a very engaging platform \u2013 people can meet and get to know one another better, through our cuisine. Both our Prime Ministers are enthusiastic about increasing trade between our countries and we share such a long history that we decided to carry on that tradition and remain close to one another, and that\u2019s one of the reasons that we are having the Malaysia Night. It is of great strategic importance: if you look across all the events planned by Malaysian agencies and ministries I think the UK ranks very highly. It\u2019s an investment on our part and we would like to see it grow.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt this time of the year there are an amazing number of visitors in the UK, and this is one reason why we are holding the Malaysia Night just now: to invite tourists visiting Britain to come and visit us. People cannot possibly collaborate and do business and become friends if they do not begin with partnerships, and that is what we are trying to build. If you want to know what this night is about, it\u2019s about building linkages, providing that platform for people to see that the country has diversity and racial harmony; we are very friendly, and we love inviting our friends to Malaysia. The airlines have been invited to be a part of it, and the restaurants are there so even if you can\u2019t go to Malaysia you can take a bite of Malaysia here in London.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I\u2019m asked to describe the cuisine of Malaysia, I say it\u2019s three cultures in one mouthful \u2013 Malay, Indian and Chinese! It\u2019s pretty simple, and in that sense we offer great value. Why did we choose food? If you have a good mind experience and stomach experience in a particular place your palate is overwhelmed and you become enamoured of that country, and you want to be a part of it.<\/p>\n
\u201cYesterday we had lunch at Selfridges, and on the menu was Malay Curry, Char Kuey Teow, Malaysian Curry Laksa, and Nasi Goreng, and I think that demonstrates Malaysian cuisine coming into maturity. I would like to flood your whole market with Malaysian restaurants, but that is not going to be the way to get people to eat Malaysian. The idea is developing relationships, getting people to bring home a piece of Malaysia. People want to eat Malaysia \u2013 instead of \u2018chicken tonight\u2019 it could be \u2018Malaysia tonight\u2019. Why roast turkey in the traditional way when you can serve it at Christmas the Malaysian way?<\/p>\n
![\"Dr](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/dr-wong_1146.jpg\")
\u201cWe want to generate a taste for Malaysian cuisine so you can embrace it, and now you can find those flavours all over the UK in supermarkets. When I first went to Wing Yip\u2019s there were a few pastes and sauces from Malaysia, but now there are rows of products, and I was really pleased by the fact that these actually sold, and people really came to buy them! These and non-food products are now available online through Amazon, and Wing Yip\u2019s are looking at selling them online \u2013 that\u2019s \u2018making it in the market\u2019. We hope that when people keep seeing the word \u2018Malaysia\u2019 they will come and visit us, come and do business with us.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe involved the restaurants in the Malaysia Night event because before you can get people to cook Malaysian they have to know how it tastes. Not everybody cooks, and they need to get a mouthful of what we are about, and that\u2019s an opportunity to get it. Social media has been active in promoting the event, and that\u2019s the way to get people engaged.<\/p>\n
\u201cFood is everywhere \u2013 Malaysians just love to eat! You can stay at a 5-star international hotel in Malaysia for a song \u2013 we are among the lowest price in South-east Asia but our service is top-class. At the same time we are able to cater to your western palate, even if you want a shepherd\u2019s pie \u2013 but you might have to take it with a twist!\u201d We all laugh at that prospect.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are lots of visitors who come from Europe to Malaysia every year and we would like to encourage people to spend the coldest months in our country. At the same time we have plenty of people who come from Malaysia to London at Christmas, we love Christmas in London \u2013 it\u2019s not just one-way traffic. That helps us all to draw closer together.<\/p>\n
\u201cMalaysian companies are fairly well invested in the hospitality industry in the UK, and we link it with food and cuisine. We have a knack of producing great confectionery \u2013 we don\u2019t have your quality of milk, but we buy milk from Europe and we produce great chocolates! We make very good quality cocoa, and we manufacture very good cocoa butter \u2013 some of the cocoa butter available in the UK comes from Malaysia, and is used in skin-care as well as food applications.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is some Malaysian food that comes into the UK in the form of ingredients that many people are not aware of. For example, palm oil: our palm oil often comes in as speciality fats \u2013 some is used for cooking but a lot is used in pastries and confectionery. We invest here, and we seek investment from British companies into Malaysia, levering on the fact that we are right in the heart of ASEAN (the Association of Southeast Asian Nations) \u2013 we are smack in the middle of that area!\u201d<\/p>\n
On my last visit to Malaysia I had the chance to taste many Peranakan dishes and these are unique to the Malay peninsula. Dr Wong told me more about this extraordinary community and their vibrant food. \u201cWhen the Chinese first came from the Fujian province in around the 15th century, there were a lot of intermarriages (because people get lonely!). One of the Chinese emissaries was Princess Hang Li Poh, and to get diplomatic relations going in those days people got married! Very uniquely the Peranakans do not speak Chinese; they adapted to the local culture and speak Malay. They dress in a unique way, and have effectively married the two cultures together. So in their cuisine you get the hot, the spicy, the sour, and, interestingly, the Chinese aspects too! And the pottery in which it is served is very much Chinese; however, the cooking is rather Malay mixed with Chinese. In a way it\u2019s fusion, but it came about in the 15th century.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Dr](\"http:\/\/www.mostlyfood.co.uk\/img\/dr-wong_1165.jpg\")
Malaysia has coast and farmland and provides fresh produce for many other countries; but is there a difference is cuisine from region to region? \u201cAbsolutely. For example on the east coast there is a dish called Nasi Dadang \u2013 trade rice \u2013 so-called because the traders used to carry it on their journeys. The people of the east coast were mostly fishermen, and they would preserve the fish by deep-frying and pounding it, mixing it with rice, blue colouring from flowers, and fragrant herbs. As you move further down the coast to Pahang the colour changes \u2013 it is no longer blue but white. Take Assam Laksa or Penang Laksa: if you go south to Johor the original noodles were not available so they use flat cut noodles and cook it with coconut and fish.\u201d<\/p>\n
I was in Malaysia a few months ago, and I noted on my return to the UK that it seemed to be referred to as \u2018that country next to Singapore\u2019 \u2013 no, Malaysia is Malaysia. Singapore is sometimes seen as a polished gem but Malaysia is that hidden one! Hidden in plain view and it should not be overlooked. It\u2019s a country of such natural beauty and with such cultural and gastronomic diversity. It\u2019s a warm and welcoming haven for those who want to enjoy some of the best that Asia has to offer, and all in one country.<\/p>\n
Dr Wong flies the Malaysian flag for food tourism and much more. \u201cWe not only want to promote Malaysia as a stopover, but also as a great place to do business \u2013 in and with. For a long time people described Malaysia as \u2018that land-mass between Thailand and Singapore\u2019, but over time, as people come to know Malaysia better, they recognise our strengths: many people speak English, so there are no difficulties with communication; there\u2019s no problem of training the work force; we have more land available than some other ASEAN countries; looking at services, we are quite strong in banking, in logistics and ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). Malaysia has special qualities, and we are not just that \u2018land-mass\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther agencies and ministries like the Ministry of Tourism are organising a number of events. The Ministry of Culture organised \u2018Malaysia Culture Week\u2019, then there is Malaysia Night, and then there will be a whole month of art shows. This is about building links, because only when people understand how rich each other\u2019s culture is can they start digging deeper. We have capabilities in Malaysia to produce even equipment for the aerospace industry \u2013 there\u2019s a lot of interest from British companies to come over and invest in Malaysian aerospace, and we encourage that. The market today is not just about the United Kingdom, nor Europe, it\u2019s about the whole Asia-Pacific, and the whole world.\u201d<\/p>\n
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