Reminiscing the Serbat Man

While I was foruming in one of the Ipoh threads talking about Glorious Ipoh foodstuff, it triggered my memories of the earliest time I had a cool glass of soda water, or what you commonly bottled soft drinks nowadays that to me is a misnomer as 'soft drinks' are actually all beverages that are non-alcoholic right. Anyway getting back to the topic, a bottle of carbonated drinks those days was actually a luxury, either from the venerable F&N stable of drinks that at that time was Fanta or Coca-Cola, Kickapoo or another brand I cannot remember (Schweppes or Pepsi, I cannot remember which was already around in the 70's). In fact it was such a treat that I remember as a special Ramadhan breakfast table item, my dad used to buy a crate of mix flavoured carbonated drink bottles as a reward for us kids who fasted. And my dad personally also loved mixing ice-cream with a bottle of you guessed it ice-cream soda water, so for you kids who see a bottle of that flavour and wonder who drinks it, that was the purpose for that particular flavour. Anyway there was no 1.5 litre plastic bottles at that time and those bottles and crates were returnable to be recycled. So who said our society did not practise sustainable consumption back then.

Well being a luxury item meant that most times the only time I got to have a soda drink was from the Serbat Man who manned an old style soft-drink fountain in the main bus stop at Hugh Low Street. This was an Indian guy in a hole in the wall shop set up, who only had the fountain and bottles of various syrup flavours in addition to the normal drink items but these were more a sideline, the main stuff was the soda or serbat that could rival the bottled carbonated drinks any day. Actually for a sweet tooth kid like me, I actually preferred his serbat, as he was not stingy with his syrup when mixing it with the water that he aerates in his fountain. Now for you who cannot picture this, think of the soda fountains in the fast food joints that are now actually drinks dispenser or the vending machines that dispense drinks in cups if you can still find them, the process is the same. However the serbat guy has an advantage, in that he can mix up his syrups to come up with an unlimited range of flavours, and my personal favourite was mixing up what he called banana flavour that was green in colour with rose syrup that still came out in a darker shade of green. So everytime we went to town and would wait at that bus stop for the return journey, you can bet that a purchase of the serbat is in the cards. It was that cheap.

Nonetheless the demise of the serbat man was heralded by the arrival of drink dispensers and vending machines that made carbonated drinks more affordable. I also remember that my dad was convinced to buy a home use drink dispenser as an economical means of getting carbonated drinks at home, but I think in the long run the cost of the corn syrups and refilling the carbon tank was not justifiable and it was ultimately abandoned when it broke down. The last time I think I had a drink from the serbat man was in the early 80's, as after that he went out of business when the public tastes changed to pre-mixed drinks rather than having their dope served in a cup. Unlike Coca-cola I guess who started with the same origins in drugstores, the serbat man did not know how to move with the time to prolong the life of his drink mixes. Thank god his banana and rose syrup mix lives on as fruitade flavour in the current brands, think how much royalty he would have got if he had patented that mix at that time long ago.

White Tinted Glasses Anyone?

Continuing my keenness to post thought provoking articles that I come across the local media. Hopefully it adds to improving our way of thinking.

Focus Sunday December 2,
2007

The unfairness of it

Guest columnist


By A. ASOHAN

These are supposed to be politically correct times but
politicians don’t seem to be always correct, and age-old prejudices refuse to go
away.

POP quiz, hotshot: When was the last time you saw a dark-skinned
person appear in a local TV commercial?
Okay, there’s that cute Astro “I got time, I got time” ad. Hmm, any others? Any that, you know, didn’t particularly involve a character caricature or racial stereotype?

Dark-skinned models like Carol Gracias may be runway
sucesses but they are still unable to break into TV advertising, reports the
Times of India.

Sure, there are all those Petronas commercials, some of which are truly inspired, but they are public service messages, and not really advertisements. No, really ... when was the last time you saw a dark-skinned person appear on TV to try and get you to part with your hard-earned money? Or to try and lure you to partake of her luxurious and rewarding lifestyle? Or even do something as simple as present the news in a language other than Tamil? Many years ago, a Chinese lady friend of mine had her first taste of racial profiling after she broke into the local advertising industry. Tears over her teh tarik, she told a group of us – all old enough to have come from a time when schools weren’t so racially segregated – how she got a telling-off from her boss for trying to use a beautiful dark-skinned model of Indian-Malay heritage for a shampoo commercial.

That was in the late 1980s. Things have become worse since. Apparently these days, going by the racial make-up in local TV commercials, no Malaysian would ever buy products pitched by a darkie. Oh, and we’re also being told by a host of skin-whitening product pushers that self-assurance, beauty and youthful looks can only come from being fair skinned. Particularly offensive are those Tamil ads telling young girls that the road to true love is paved with melanin-removal. It was easier in the old days to just dismiss such prejudice – you told yourself that only the most backward and parochial Malaysian paid attention to skin colour. These days, however, skin whitening is such a big business in Asia that we even have educated people such as a local celebrity representing one of these companies’ line of beauty
products.

So, you know, if you don’t have the advantage of a half-Caucasian
genetic blueprint, you need to apply the skin-whitening cream for success in
life and love! Admittedly, even in the best of times, and amongst the best
of us, there has always been a trace of prejudice. The big difference is,
that in the old days, we at least had the decency to be ashamed of it. We
recognised the inherent wrong behind such bigotry. Many would try and rationalise it – “Oh, I’ve nothing against you marrying that dark Indian boy, my
daughter. I’m only worried because others will look down on you and your
children!”

These days however, skin-colour bigotry has won such mainstream
acceptance that nobody is ashamed of it, and few see it as an issue.
It is a problem that’s playing out across Asia, especially in India, notorious for its
“Fair and Lovely” bigotry. Sure, one can attempt to explain it with India’s
particular history, stretching back to the Aryan (light-skinned) invasion of the
Dravidian (dark-skinned) civilisation, its body of myths covering the
good-aligned Devas (light-skinned, and Aryan?) and their numerous struggles
against the dark-skinned Asuras (dark-skinned, and Dravidian?), and finally the
entire sub-continent’s subjugation by the British Empire. But hey, it’s the
21st century, folks. There’s no bloody excuse anymore! Certainly, the more
enlightened quarters of Indian society recognise this and do not deny the
deep-rooted bigotry. The Times of India, the world’s largest English
newspaper, says that the Indian mindset is slowly changing. In an article last
year titled “Fair is lovely, but dusky is sultry”, it noted the rise of dark-skinned runway models such as Nina Manuel, Sheetal Mallar, Carol Gracias, Nethra Raghuraman, Laxmi Menon, Diandra Soares and others. But it also reported that, despite their runaway runway success, these models still couldn’t break into TV advertising.

This kind of bigotry is almost excusable in relatively homogenised countries such as China, Japan and South Korea, and those with a predominantly East Asian population, such as Singapore. Almost, but not quite, given the globalised era we live in. In the Philippines, the “Mestizo look” is worshipped, a by-product of colonial-era prejudice. I still remember reeling after having read a Philippine Daily Inquirer interview with an up-and-coming “macho” film star who was getting some nice roles in action movies. He spoke about having to shoot one sequence on location on the high seas – he got such a tan that his wife complained about how dark he’d become.
This is a macho film star, mind you. A guy.

The skin-whitening craze can be best summed up by its entry on Wikipedia (www.wikipedia.com): “Some people treat larger areas to lighten the natural complexion, out of aesthetic preference or
to avoid social/work discrimination and gain access to better income (this is
true, for example, of prostitutes) or higher social position.”
So the next time this bigotry awakens within you, just remember what ”profession” you deserve to be lumped with.

Wide Angle is taking a break as Huzir Sulaiman is busy winding up his four-month Yale World Fellowship. During this time, A. Asohan, The Star's New Media Editor, will be our guest columnist. Wide Angle will resume on Jan 13, 2008.

It Just Takes A Little Politeness

I had a meeting in Putrajaya today at one of the ministry complexes and had a pleasant experience there that usually you do not associate with visiting such places. I have been to the complex many times before but usually was chauffeur driven with guests so there was no hassle in finding a parking spot. And when once or twice I went there in my company proton wira, it was a hit and miss affair in finding a parking space near the building that I would be visiting, as most times we needed to park near the visitors parking space near the exit and walk to the building in the complex. Nevertheless in general, it is quite easy to get a parking space within the complex, so it amazes me to see cars illegally parked by the roadside outside the complex that to me mars these hallowed grounds of public administration, and it makes me think these are the inconsiderate people who either does not make the effort to find proper parking or does not know how to inquire for the proper parking places.

Well forget about them as what I wanted to impart here is the fact that when I approached the security gates, as is customary for me I rolled down my car windows and asked if I could still park inside at the visitor's parking space since I saw so many illegally parked cars outside. The security man asked me where I wanted to visit and then suggested I try to park near the building if there was space, failing which he said I could park at the visitor's parking area since there are still many spaces left. Well I just did what he suggested but what really surprised me was that when I was looking for the parking space within the vicinity, another security guard approached me and asked me if I was the one who spoke to the guard at the main gate. I answered in the affirmative and told him I have a meeting there. Lo and behold he waved me in to the reserved parking spot and in fact allowed me to park at the Deputy Minister's parking lot. It seemed that the security guard at the main gate actually radioed in and told this guy to get me a parking space, what a nice gesture. Compare this to the security guards at most shopping complexes and other secured parking areas where you actually had to pay for parking, and these security guys are really a notch above their brethrens. I do not want to think the reason for this was not because I drove a mpv and wearing formal wear as there are many other people more well dressed and in more expensive cars, but it was because I took the time to acknowledge the guard at the main gate. Too bad I could not thank him when leaving as I did the building guard as the exit was located elsewhere, but I applaud him for his good work.

Conspicous Consumption

Working in KLCC I am basically surrounded by purveyors of wealth symbols for aspiring socialites. Luckily I am myself quite inured to such lures to the path of bankruptcy for a poor salary man like me, thus I normally am desensitised to the sales period that seems to be a monthly affair over here. In fact I once had an embarrassing affair when I entered a boutique famous for their shoes that was having a sale when I just started working in the area, since they were advertising of more than 50 % discount. Imagine me strolling in with sandals as I was on the way to Friday prayers at the KLCC mosque, and was just dropping by to recce the shoes thinking I will make the purchase after work. However when I was inside and started to turn a shoe over to see its price tag, it was in the thousands. That gave me a shock as through experience I know such shoes in their home country factory sales only costs a few hundred bucks. I was imagining I could get a pair for about the same price but when the list price is in the thousands, after the discount it would still cost more than a thousand right. No way Jose! Although I am thrifty but I subscribe to the adage that quality is worth the value, but this sort of pricing is pure throat slashing for me. I will not pay for something above its fair value, and definitely not a premium just to show off someone else's monogram. Might as well go for something custom made and have my own monogram or crest incorporated. Branded goods that really denotes its quality is the limit to what I would buy in terms of expensive goods. I still keep one branded EDT that even after 10 years, has not evaporated nor turned off. Well to cover my embarrassment, I took sometime window shopping before telling the salesgirl I will return after prayers and immediately took my honourable exit.

Thus I sometimes wonder like when I was passing by a boutique and saw a young girl trying on a boutique's monogrammed sunglasses, whose money are you spending? I cannot believe that at a such young age you have earned enough to display such conspicuous spending and I pity your parents that you can easily spend their money just like that. Even though my own kids are showing symptoms of the same attitude, for sure I will not allow that to happen. A penny earned is a penny saved goes the saying. But I would add that that penny earned also earns you the right to spend but in such case you would be spending it more wisely as you know how hard it actually was earned. Reward yourself with expensive gifts if the occasion calls for it, but don't just spend to show you have the moolah to buy overpriced baubles. You are just perpetuating the myth of wealth even though the really wealthy would still look at you as just another aspiring socialite. Like Scrooge might say during this season that symbolises such conspicous spending, "BAH HUMBUG!"

Long Live Artisan Breads

Even though eating oven baked breads is not really an Asian culture, years of living under the British yolk has made it an acceptable diet to Malaysian nowadays, especially since it is so convenient to prepare or purchase and consume. For me personally, when I tire of eating rice or noodles, a loaf of bread is an acceptable meal to satisfy my hunger and my younger daughter seems to have followed me in this eating habit. Thus it worries me when the price of bread has started rising in the past few weeks due to the uncontrolled pricing of enriched wheat, so much so that I fear the Roti Man may truly become an endangered species, following the ting ting sound that used to herald his appearance to your vicinity. As it is history may have already repeated itself, as a major modern bakery chain Bread History seems to have closed shop recently like Sunshine Bakeries in Malaysia in the 1980’s. So what fate may await the local artisan bakeries that still offer some old style breads that the young may not even know about. These artisan bakeries are basically small sized Chinese and Indian Moslems owned, though there may be some Malay bakeries in existence. Yet I include the venerable Federal Bakery of Kuala Lumpur as they still maintain their artisan bakery even though they actually have a bread factory of their own.

Shall I start with what used to be my favourite bread from Sunshine Bakeries? To the old timers out there, you may remember them as fluted rolls that are yellow coloured accordion bread that is so fluffy that you can eat on its own, forget what that jingle is singing about. Strangely when I googled for the fluted roll, the name of the bread does not seem to exist until I got lucky and found that its proper name is actually barrel bread or concertina loaf. This British or to be more exact English bread creation is even an endangered breed in its home turf, and only made by artisan bakeries there. Baked in specialised containers that gives it distinctive shape, thus is it any wonder than I only managed to locate only one bakery that still offer this bread, and for you still on the lookout for such bread it is at Southern Bakery in Jalan Pasar, KL. Those tins must be hard to come by nowadays. About the bread itself, even though it has lost its yellow colouring that I assume comes from the margarine or butter that it is supposed to be rolled with, it is still soft and flavourful though it cannot beat the taste of the old fluted roll. Economic considerations may have seen a reduction of its ingredients, as to say it is hard to sell would be a mistake as the last time I was there the rolls was flying off the shelves. That just goes to show there is still popular demand for this type of bread. As a bonus you can also find other types of old style rolls with various fillings in this bakery, and my other favourite is their steamed egg sponge cake (malai gao) that is another rare bakery item, though because this is not really a type of bread isn’t it so I will not dwell too long on it.

Meanwhile after reading about the availability of cream horns from Federal Bakery from this blog, I made the effort to visit the bakery some time ago and found that the picture exhibit was a bit further from the truth. Well compare the picture of the cream horn from that blog and the ones that I bought, and I wonder if I had gone on a bad baking day. Nonetheless the cream horn was still generous in its filling, though it could have been a little bit sweeter. The pastry should also have been more delicate and the addition of the cherry slices does not really add value other than aesthetics me guess. Well at least unlike some people I can still get some good cream horns from my Roti man, baked by an unknown bakery and worse still wrapped in anonymous packaging save for a small sticker giving its origins as from Anwar Bakery. This is the same type of cream horn that I used to get in my hometown Ipoh, and not like some cream horn that has yellowish appearance and taste to boot that is actually more readily available that I give a wide berth to. The problem is that this Anwar Bakery cream horn usually sells out by the time the Roti Man arrive, that if I really want some I have to order specially from the Roti Man. I usually buy a whole packet that contains five rolls, and this can keep for one week so I can have one a day. A neat trick is to keep it in the fridge so that the cream freezes like ice cream, as usually the case it will be last thing to be eaten. Thank god for the small blessing that these are still around for my enjoyment.

Another old school pastry that I can get from Federal Bakery is the sardine roll that should not be mistaken for the fried sardine filled sandwich bread that passes for one nowadays. This is real baked short pastry filled with sardine mix, and the taste is just heavenly. It has been a long time since I tasted one, as even my mom has long ago stopped making this at home. Those would have been topped with a varnish of egg giving additional oomph, and I am glad that Federal Bakery sticks to the recipe. So it is sad that their cream horn is not up to mark, otherwise I would make an extra effort to patronise their establishment to buy both of these beloved pastries.

Meanwhile please compare these old style Rusk bread. They actually are one and the same except the one with label was brought from the Roti Man while the other was bought loose from the bakery directly. At the bakery not only you can buy the Rusks based on the amount you want as it is sold by weight, they actually have different flavours that the Roti Man does not actually distribute. So for those who like these rusk breads, it is worth your effort to go the bakery rather than depending on the Roti Man. As for me, I personally don’t like it so it does not matter as those in my household who eats this Rusk actually prefer the original flavour. The reason being is that this is the original dunked bread, the dunking d's of old. Now at the end I will give my ode to the Roti Man. As you can see, there are still many types of breads like the finger breads and bread sticks in the picture that he can bring to your home that you may not be able to buy from the normal bakeries in this age of standardised fare. So pray that they will not disappear from the local scene totally, as you can already read on the net of so many who laments their departure from their neighbourhoods. Because I believe that once the artisan bakeries goes out of business, these Roti Man may find themselves being pushed out of the distribution network by the remaining large scale industrialised bakeries that usually have their own distribution vans.

Air Tangan

There is an old malay folks saying that has the basic meaning that a mother’s air tangan or hand’s water in its literal translation is the reason why home cooking always taste the best. What is this air tangan actually and why if truth be told, that even within the family somehow an auntie’s cooking or air tangan is much better than your own mother’s, even though assumedly they both learned the way to cook dish from the same teacher, their mother. Well have you ever wondered why is it in old style cooking in any culture, there is actually no measured recipe and it is always a pinch of this and a pinch that, and learning to cook is a case of learning and assimilating the method from a master chef. I dare say that great cooks are made from such students, and air tangan plays such a big role in developing the kitchen artiste’s flair in cooking up great meals.

Okay let’s get down to peeling away what is air tangan. Firstly to me this is the love of cooking, since if you have no great interest in making a great dish and treat cooking as a chore, you may be able to make an edible meal but not something memorable. Love here does not really necessarily means the love of the cooking process itself, but the passion of cooking something to make it a memorable meal for the family, thus making the food a notch above palatable. The love that comes through the taste of the dish is what makes it delicious beyond compare. Thus even a busy mom who takes time to prepare a simple meal well will be complimented on her cooking, as compared with a lazy maid forced to ensure a certain of dishes is prepared for the family dining table, no matter how epicurean the dishes may be.

Secondly, this love of cooking the tastiest of meals will make the cook want to ensure that the flavour of the cooking showcases their zeal. Remember that the old way of cooking is a bit of this and a bit of that? Well that encourages you to fine-tune your cooking instead of cooking by rote, as a robotic style of cooking just generates industrial meals, with taste to boot. It is a lucky chef that can taste something good and recreates the taste from memory, as that shows his inventive side needs no set measurements to fence in his appetizing creativity. Thus he is able to bring about his skills to carry his cooking up a notch, with recipes just as a reference point for him to play around with. The base will still be there to assist the familiarity, but fine tuning it will create the masterpiece. Why is it that different establishments that offer the same thing will always have champions amongst them, that to me is not due to any particular “secret ingredient”, but more so with their preparation. I recently read of a master cook being asked in an age where his competitors are using thermostats to ensure so-called optimum cooking temperature why he does not use one, and his answer was why should he when he can judge perfectly when the temperature would be perfect to start cooking. What he does not clarify is that he cares enough to know this significant knowledge, and there are no short cuts to great cooking. The hand of the cook translates his passion that in the end may well be more important than the pedigree of the ingredients.

Thus please do not equate gourmet food solely to be the end result of air tangan. The care and enthusiasm in loving cooking can elevate the simplest of dishes to a really memorable meal. As people with “green thumbs” can grow ferns in a desert, people with great air tangan can turn a bunch of ingredients into masterpieces while the rest of us mortals struggle to get it right. Sadly in this time and age, barely palatable dishes presented in a trendy presentation can pass for a gourmet meal, plating as it is called in the industry, and an honest to goodness label for a really good food seems to be a forgotten adage. Congratulate yourself if you can find a cook whose air tangan shines true, be it outside or at home, and I pray that you at least find it at home.

Not Even A Footnote of History

I personally am very particular about writing about stuff that smacks of racism but the recent claims by the so-called Champions Of Oppressed Indians in Malaysia deserved to be rebuked of the highest order. Claims that the Indians in Malaysia has been subjugated and browbeaten ever since the British brought them over as indentured labourers already reeks of sedition, but now going overseas to petition foreign governments to view Malaysia as a Pariah country by claiming there is ethnic cleaning, suppression of rights and other ridiculous claims about the Indian society at large in Malaysia really deserve not only a smack of the wrist or slap in the face, but thrown to the dungeons. Luckily we do not keep crocodiles in the moat; otherwise that is a more deserving fate for these bastards.

Do they think they are really above the law that the can build temples anywhere they want that when the authorities take the rightful step to take down the illegal structure, that is terrorism by Moslems? Is it only such illegal places of worships that suffer the same fate, has not mosques and Chinese temples received the same treatment? Does this only happen in Malaysia? Why don’t you try to the same in the countries you are petitioning, let’s see what fate awaits you. Gitmo is calling! And yet here you can find Indian squatters living peacefully beside the Police quarters near the Police Station. So what police harassment are you talking about? If this is unbelievable, go to Sungei Besi and look for yourself. By the way do take note of the large school buses owned and operated by this supposedly poor squatters.

Now is the time for you upwardly mobile Indians that have tasted the nectar of Malaysian freedom to not only set the record straight but also take it in your hands to resolve the troubles that afflict your community. Those of you who make up numerous numbers of the Bar Council should speak up and show how people of your community can become lawyers in this so-called oppressive society. Are your professionals afraid to flaunt your wealth? Your merchant class must speak up on how you have reaped your wealth in this so-called subjugating nation. Do talk on how an Indian who can only read and write Tamil script is able to own two houses while only working as a company driver. Otherwise a community that has until recent history still practise a caste class system deserve to be viewed as a Pariah community by our people, as you do not know how to appreciate our lucky nation. Let this sorry state of affairs created by trouble makers of your community do not even gain the satisfaction of even becoming a foot note in our national community.