Wednesday 6 August 2008

The Mamak Culture



For my friends and I, hanging out to chill would mean having supper alfresco at the Mamak stall / restaurant. Mamak refers to Indian Muslim. The food served at a Mamak outlet comprised of roti canai, murtabak, naan, nasi lemak, teh tarik, kopi and etc. It is becoming a local culture to hang out at Mamak stall for a chit-chat session after dinner. Usually the stalls are crowded on weekends and it would stay open for customers till wee hour in the morning. Some restaurants stay open for 24 hours. Mamak stall culture is popular because the food and beverage are affordable, one can stay the whole nite chatting away even if one only order a cup of pulled-tea (teh tarik).


The photo here shows a popular Mamak outlet in SS14, Subang Jaya, called Mamak Bistro.

4 comments:

Jian said...

Gotta spread the mamak culture to many other "higher standard" countries.. i'm sure there's demand for non-posh and non-kaya way of eating and meeting up hanging out.. :)

alicesg said...

JC, we do share the same cultures.
We have mamak stalls too.
Being neighbours, it is great that I can easily find the food in Malaysia suitable for me. I love spicy food.

Pat said...

Like the colors in this photo that remind me of places in Miami Beach. Also found your caption most interesting. I am intrigued by the sign with two figures on it. It looks like one is trying to take something from the other. Couldn't enlarge this! Please explain!!

J.C. said...

Hi Bibi, that is a signage found in many places around Subang Jaya. It reminds the public to be careful of their personal belongings, e.g. bags, necklace as there have been many snatch theives in our township recently. The thefts have been very rampant for the past few years. In fact, I have seen one snatch bag case happened many years back right in front of me. I was standing just next to the theives' car when a lady's handbag was snatched. Thus, till today, I am still having phobia when crossing a street with my handbag.

"Use your first smile, your first form of generosity, of love, of kindness—use it at home; start at home. And if there is something left over—if … your plate is just full of abundance of patience and goodness and smiles and joy, then by all means, you should go … and offer that to others. But we must begin at home." by Dr Robin Smith