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By Mihar Dias (C) Copyright May 2023
Recently, Hameediyah KL released a video clip of two men walking in the busy shopping district of Bukit Bintang, dressed in white Pagoda t-shirts and sarong kept in place by a big green belt, with one carrying pots supposedly full of rice and curries balanced on a pole across his shoulder just like nasikandar traders did in the olden days.
Across their necks are the mandatory Good Morning towels, a trade mark custom of mamaks in the food business. Only their crispy sarong, bright white t-shirts, clean towels and shiny pots tell us that they are from 21st century, descdents of their old forefathers who started the business way back in 1900.
If you're going to the Island of Penang on a ferry from Butterworth in those free port days, the moment you land you'd head for Hameediyah, one of the better known Indian Muslim restaurant within walking distance from the ferry terminal.
As a child I would walk reluctantly following adults making a beeline for Hameediyah. There was always a long queue outside snaking into the restaurant. The aroma of curry and briyani would fill the air leaving a lasting memory in my mind even today.
In the 1950s and 1960s, eating out was not the norm in our family. We couldn't afford to eat out on our dad's meagre income as a draughtsman in the Drainage and Irrigation Department.
Every penny was saved to feed one soccer team at home. But everyone helped. For a trip to the port city of Georgetown, we would save by selling anything we could. Old glass bottles were the easiest. We would wash and trade each bottle from 0.5 sen to 0.20 sen depending on the sizes on offer. The junkyard operator could guess that we were on a trip when he saw sacks of old bottles landing in his junkyard not far from where we lived.
Personally, I worked as a part-time tuition teacher getting RM30 a month. But RM30 was big then. It was more than enough to buy meals for everyone at Hameediyah and still have change to watch a movie at Cathay on Penang Road.
Anyway, Hameediyah food was something to look forward to when you get off the ferry at Weld Quay. They had a potpourri of curries, vegetables, fish, beef and mutton prepared in ways that was mind-boggling for my simple-minded mom who could only cook one or two traditional Malay dishes learnt from grandma.
She would never get to see such an array of food if not for a trip to Tanjung as Georgetown was often referred to in Malay. Most of nasi kandar vendor who frequents our village with poles on their backs and pots on either end would only carry four or five dishes of fish, beef (buffalo meat) and vegetables. Chicken or mutton would be too expensive then. They were often reserved for special occasions.
Anyway, seeing two Haneediyah vendors walking down Bukit Bintang brings back memories, the aroma of curries embedded in my mind that evokes glands that make me salivate like Pavlov's dogs at feeding time. Can't wait to try this new Hameediyah in Kuala Lumpur.
Mihar Dias is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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