December 2005
[from FB post: January 9, 2011]
Just arrived in Penang, Malaysia. Look forward to see my old friend M and eating some good food! mmmmmmmmmm.........
[January 10, 2011]
I love Penang...I love food.
Just had breakfast of Roti Canai --- that is paratha bread with some curry dipping sauce. mmmmmm.... I love Penang.
Legacy
The British intended to make Calcutta the capital of British India in perpetuity. What remains is the oddly placed Victoria Memorial in now independent India. [see: Lumbini to Tokyo]. In Southeast Asia, British Malaya's intended capital was Penang (specifically, Georgetown). Many people incorrectly assume it was Singapore, but in fact it was Penang, which was a hugely important port city on the Straits of Malacca in its day. Today it is still an important port and a tourist destination, but still is a sleepy place compared to architecturally and economically dynamic Kuala Lumpur (KL).
Calcutta went on to become a major city in India. Georgetown, Penang, on the other hand, languished as a Malaysian backwater, except for one thing - food. Anyone who has lived in Southeast Asia knows that although Singapore is great for food, REAL foodies go to Penang. Penang is the home of all those great fusion dishes of Indonesia, Malaysia, India, Thailand, and the West. I have a love affair with Penang for many reasons [see: Penang Seawall], but foremost for me of what I associate with that island will always be food.
What I wonder now is why one ex-British capital went on to become a major city and an economic powerhouse and the other sank into relative obscurity yet became famous for its food? Bengali cuisine is hot and spicy and wonderful, but Calcutta is mostly only Bengali. Calcutta was also a hugely important trading port for the British Empire, yet no international food culture took hold. Penang was, at its peak, equally as important as Calcutta, yet after Malaysian independence and the capital shift to more "Malay" KL (which had never been much of anything), Penang fell into obscurity with the exception of its food culture.
These days Malaysia occasionally throws some investment toward Penang, but in a country that favors its Malay citizens over the large Chinese and Tamil minorities, mostly Chinese Penang does not get much attention from Kuala Lumpur. If any development happens there, it is more likely to be locally rather than nationally financed. Malaysia wants to show it made it on its own with Kuala Lumpur as its hub. Penang continues to pay the price for being developed by the British, I guess.
Anyway, in Penang I always just say, "I came for the food" - not such a bad thing, really.