No nostalgia for Nasi Lemak

Growing up, December was special. It’s the time of the year when my family would plan our holiday trip abroad – away from our home in Sandakan, Sabah. I remember our first trip; we boarded a plane, and in less than 3 hours, we landed in a new city. The sights and sounds were so different from our hometown; but amusingly, still a part of the same country, known as Kuala Lumpur.

Flying a thousand miles, crossing the South China Sea, just to land in a different city of the same country? That was just part and parcel of hailing from the Bornean island.

It took me years to realize how much the Sabah-Peninsular divide really influenced my thinking. Kuala Lumpur and Sandakan are so far from each other, that we have very different ideas about Malaysia, Malaysian-ness, and the national identity. It took me years to understand how my Malaysia, and the dominant Malaysian narrative and identity, are very different.

Growing up in Sandakan, I was mesmerised by the empty vast sky at dusk when it reflected perpendicularly to the ocean’s surface; a striking opposite to the skyline view of a thousand foot high architecture here in KL. When I moved to KL and made new friends and we talked about our identities, culture, favourite food and the country’s historical milestones, I found myself learning a few things. Hearing their stories made me realise how alienated our experiences are from each other. As they rave about nasi lemak, banana leaf rice and their mamak lives, munching on a keropok lekor, a savoury fish sausage made from fish and sago flour native to Terengganu, I really wish I could have some coconut pudding instead.

Food is undeniably important to our culture and identity. It tells you about the country and its people. Not only that, I think it is the easiest way to bond with others. The best part is that you don’t even need to know how to cook to talk and discuss food. Food has saved me from multiple awkward situations and gained me a few friends along the way, but nothing has beat what I am about to impart through this Malaysians’ favourite and most quintessential dish— Nasi Lemak.

Of course, Nasi Lemak is amazing -- the coconut infused rice, accompanied with hard boiled egg, slices of cucumber, peanuts, fried anchovies and sambal wrapped in a banana leaf. The combination of the sweet, spicy and salty crunch in a spoonful of fluffy rice, I believe, is what has melted the hearts of many a Malaysian and foreigner alike. It is even considered the unofficial national dish. Unquestionably, all Malaysians must imbibe nasi lemak–it is sold mostly at every corner of the street, right?

But, I did not grow up eating Nasi Lemak.

“Selalu orang-orang Semenanjung kalau datang Sabah mesti tanya mana nak cari Nasi Lemak di Sabah ni? Selalunya memang aku jawab aku tak tahulah, sebab orang-orang Sabah memang jarang sangat makan nasi lemak. Kalau pagi biasa makan mee, roti canai, sup-sup dan Kuih-muih,”

“When people from Peninsular Malaysia travel here, they would ask me where they could get Nasi Lemak in Sabah - and I’ll always say that I don’t know, because Sabahans rarely eat Nasi Lemak. We usually have noodles, roti canai, soup-based food and kuihs,” wrote Liz Izara.

Image: Kuih-muih

How did Nasi Lemak become the national dish? Is it because “pretty much everyone in Malaysia has Nasi Lemak since forever”? When McDonald’s Singapore released the Nasi Lemak burger to celebrate Singapore’s national day, it caused a social media uproar from some Malaysians proclaiming the dish exclusively “theirs”. Isn’t this where the dominant narrative of being a Malaysian step in? Maybe Nasi Lemak is most prevalent within the Klang Valley area, because the major populis lives here? With mainstream media focused in the city centre as well, the ‘quintessentially’ Malaysian identity reflects mainly on what is being consumed within these areas.

I have probably eaten less nasi lemak in my life compared to the average Singaporean, and if eating Nasi Lemak growing up is the measure of Malaysian-ness, I would be less ‘Malaysian’ than many Singaporeans.

I cannot help but to reflect on my identity as a Malaysian.

To assuage my thoughts, I shared my story with some friends from home. Their views were not as far off from mine. We grew up eating noodles or Kolo Mee for breakfast, rice for lunch, occasionally enjoying tea time with pisang goreng, UFO tart, egg tart or roti kahwin. But a conversation with my good friend, Shin Li, made me realise how the food we grew up eating is greatly influenced by the town’s history and our own families’ cultural heritage. Given that Sandakan used to be nicknamed ‘Little Hong Kong’, it is no surprise that this community reflects the flavours of the Cantonese and Hakka ethnicity.

Image: UFO Tarts

Even within the state of Sabah, the ‘norm’ differs between districts. In Kota Kinabalu, the palate is greatly influenced by its proximity to the sea and the local people. “Here, the delicacies include Hinava* and also Nantung or Ambuyat, which is a sago dish served with fish and soup,” explained Melissa Duis, a content producer and writer on culture, tourism, and media working in the film, documentary and online industries.

*Hinava is a traditional Kadazan-Dusun dish made from fish with lime juice, bird’s eye chili, sliced shallots and grated ginger

Image: Ambuyat

Melissa is of Kadazan-Dusun descent, which constitutes the largest ethnic group in Sabah. I asked her: What makes Nasi Lemak a national dish?

“If you ask me, nasi lemak is quite commercialised,” she said. “However, not in a bad way.”

She continued, “It’s not surprising that it has drawn us together in a successful and positive way because it is something that everyone enjoys, even for me as a Sabahan. It’s a rarity for me, until I came to KL and I love it. It draws us all together.”

Malaysia is the best kind of cultural melting pot: one filled with so many traditions and identities. It is Nasi Lemak, but it is also ambuyat and assam laksa and so much more.within Sabah, there is immense culture, history and diversity that makes it impossible to pick one thing and say “that’s definitely what Sabah is all about.”

What makes Malaysian food a Malaysian?

“Malaysian food is what you see right now, what people define. It’s very surface,” said Alleena Abdullah, a retail and hospitality brand consultant; she is also a chef, food connoisseur and cultural aficionado with a big heart.

She then emphasized, “but what it is, is something that we haven’t really discovered yet.”

“The more you go out there, understand and find out what people in Sabah, Terengganu or Penang, the more I think you can gather all thoughts. If you eat all these foods, wherever you are, you are Malaysians,” she continued.

I never grew up eating Nasi Lemak, but I do like Nasi Lemak. I’m happy that I can now enjoy this more often than I could before but it doesn’t hold the same nostalgia for me as it does my West Malaysian friends. The foods which have my heart are the ones I grew up eating which unfortunately, I am not able to enjoy here in Peninsular Malaysia.

Talking to Melissa, Alleena and my friends gave me a new found revelation. With such a huge population of diverse ethnicities in this country, it is true that you cannot just sum that up in one Nasi Lemak. A lot of food in Malaysia are permutations of food from different countries, passed down by our ancestors. That is the beauty of it. We don’t have to constrain ourselves into a homogenous definer. Knowing more foods doesn’t make you more Malaysian, and knowing one less type of Malaysian food, herbs or spices does not make you any less Malaysian – that diversity is Malaysia!

Nasi Lemak: The National Dish, now becomes the vehicle for us to further examine our divides thoughtfully. It’s an opportunity for us to reflect as Malaysians, to look into our food, culture, and life critically. Being a nation isn’t always about championing a singular narrative. It’s not just about being united or taking one dish and forcing everyone to own it, because a healthy family and community is one that celebrates diversity, learns from it, and lives with it; together.

Identity is the experience we go through. Not just us, but the country as we evolve through urbanisation. This Malaysia Day, let us celebrate the diversity of our experiences, the culture and languages we share, the spices and dishes we do not know and the food not acknowledged. I hope this will open our hearts and minds to boundless treasured discovery already here in this land we call ‘home’.

The opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors. They do not purport to reflect the opinions or views of BFM 89.9 or its members.

Written by: Kathleen Kwan. Co-written by: Rahmah Pauzi

Special thanks: Diego Lynch & Alleena Abdullah