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Mihar Dias (C) Copyright April 2023
If you were interested to know the purchasing power of Malays in urban areas, go visit a few mamak shops or restaurants during Ramadan.
On an ordinary day (except the month of Ramadan) go visit Pelita, or Deen or even Bestari at Desa Sri Hartamas or Mubeen at Damansara or Mahboob or Q Bistro in Bangsar or any similar establishment in urban areas throughout the country and you will discover that these places are packed with customers, mostly ethnic Malays having roti canai, thosai, teh or kopi tarik early in the morning.
Sometimes as early as 7AM when they spill out of the nearly mosques or surau into the mamak shops.
Most mosque goers do not go for morning walks or exercise early in the morning. As soon as the morning prayers are over they'll make a beeline to any nearby mamak shop for their daily fix of teh tarik and roti canai.
From 7 till 830AM, many mamak outlets in urban areas will be full of men in songkok or white skull caps joining an army of workmen sipping sweetened recycled and artificially flavoured tea full of condensed milk and sugar that will guarantee that they gain weight and eventually succumb to Type II diabetes.
At lunch, working Malays would be back for nasi kandar at the same outlets because traditionally these outlets are known to provide affordable meals.
Similarly, in the evening Deen at Hartamas, in particular will be full of customers enjoying satay in an open area outside the restaurant.
They often watch live telecast of English Premier League football matches on a large screen while enjoying satay and a plate of mee goreng plus the mandatory teh tarik.
But come Ramadan all these places are empty except for a few stragglers mostly non Malays that visit the place on the way to work.
Only a few among the ethnic Chinese community do patronise mamak shops.
They prefer Chinese style soupy noodles, fried meehoon or half boiled eggs with thick slices o toasted white bread with butter and plenty of kaya served with kaw kaw local kopi O!
During the first week of Ramadan I visited Pelita, Deen and Malar Bistro at Desa Sri Hartamas, Mubeen in Damansara, Kayu and Q Bistro in Bangsar.
At 7AM, these places are empty. Gone are the white caps, the songkok and the sarong clad Malays in baju Melayu.
A friendly Bangla waiter at Pelita walked over to me "Uncle nobody comes! Puasa. No takeaways also. Very quiet".
At Mubeen the friendly proprietor Raheem from Kerala said, "Busines is slow during the day. After iftar until midnight it's good!" At 7.30AM only two regular walkers Lim and Lee regulars at Mubeen were seen chatting over a cup of teh tarik.
That's not all. At up market cafes like Huckleberry or Croisserie of Bukit Damansara, Yeast in Bagsar, Common Man Coffee Roaster at TTDI or Kenny Hills Bakery at Bukit Tunku that are usually full and hard to find seats are quiet during Ramadan. There are no long queues at the entrance.
Gone are the Malay ladies in long dresses with fancy head coverings craving for sweet servings of pavlova or peach strudle for breakfast.
Malays form the bulk of customers that frequent food and beverage outlets in KL Klang Valley. Without them, most eateries and cafe struggle to survive during the day. That explains why some restaurants like AhYum in Bukit Damansara offer iftar buffet to make up for loss of business during the day.
The power of Malay Muslims in KL Klang Valley may help prosper an F&B outlet.
Similarly, they could do otherwise if they chose to refrain from going to such restaurants.
Ramadan shows that Malay Muslim patronage could make or easily break an F&B outlet in urban areas of Peninsula Malaysia, particularly in and around Kuala Lumpur.
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