Hameediyah distributes 'nasi kandar' the traditional way

GEORGE TOWN: Aimed at bringing back the nostalgic feeling of the old times, Restoran Hameediyah, believed to be the oldest nasi kandar restaurant in the country, distributed 250 packets of its specialty to the needy in a traditional way yesterday.

The rice packets were brought to the site by the restaurant workers in wicker baskets that were hanged to a wooden pole which they balanced on their shoulder.

The restaurant owner, Ahamed Seeni Pakir Abdul Shukor, 66, who is the seventh generation, said the initiative was taken so that the less fortunate could also get to taste the specialty offered at his restaurant and at the same time, to bring back memories of the old times when hawkers or vendors would balance a wooden or bamboo pole on their shoulder with two wicker baskets of the rice meal.

"That was how our ancestors sell the nasi kandar before until the restaurant was set up in 1907. The young generation may not know it, so, we want to show to them how it was done before," he told reporters after distributing the food packets in the city here yesterday.

He said the restaurant offers a wide spread of dishes, including turkey curry; chicken dishes, such as ayam masak ros and ayam kapitan and mutton.

"In those times, our customers can have a meal of rice with fish curry, daging masak hitam, a hard-boiled egg and boiled okra or ladies finger for only 20 to 30 sen. Then, in the 1960's, the nasi kandar was carried on shoulder pole to residential areas and sold along roadside.

"Now, you don't see people selling nasi kandar on shoulder pole anymore.

"It was food for the lower and middle class then, but over time, it is a favourite among people of all races and walks of life because of its aroma," he said.

-- BERNAMA