KUALA LUMPUR, July 20 — Several trade groups have reportedly backed a proposal for Selangor to also adopt Penang’s policy of banning foreign workers from operating hawker stalls.

The groups said the move would allegedly preserve the reputation and authentic taste of Malaysian food, with the Malaysian Federation of Hawkers and Petty Traders Association pointing to how cooking techniques differ between ethnic groups.

“The foreign hires should only be handling cleaning or helping with food preparation, not actually cooking,” its president Datuk Seri Rosli Sulaiman was quoted as saying by The Star.

“Take, for example, the way an Indonesian cooks, especially how ingredients are sauteed; they may follow a different style. You can taste the difference in their asam pedas or lemak.

“It is up to us to retain our way of cooking and tradition,” he added.

Meanwhile, Jalan Alor Traders and Hawkers Association secretary Simon Ang pointed to the practice of subletting businesses to foreigners as justification for backing the move.

“Hawker food is normally a family-run business, so it should not be run by foreigners. Those with hawker licences operate on government premises or land.

“At the rate of only RM144 per year or RM12 per month, these small-scale businesses are meant for the B40, or young entrepreneurs operating on government land,” he told the paper.

Earlier this month, the Selangor government said it will review the policy that bans foreign workers from working as main cooks at hawker stalls as an early measure to prevent these foreigners from operating hawker stalls without permission.

Selangor Local Government and Tourism Committee chairperson Ng Suee Lim said the policy implemented by the Penang government is difficult to enforce due to the state’s large population, which exceeds seven million people.

The Penang Island City Council (MBPP) recently said it will be enforcing a ban on foreign cooks in all hawker stalls, food courts and coffee shops starting next year once the new policy is adopted.

The state government had previously implemented a ban on foreign cooks for all hawker centres and food courts belonging to MBPP.

The Penang ban on foreign cooks in hawkers applies to 13 types of local hawker food:

  • nasi lemak
  • asam laksa
  • pasembor
  • mee sotong
  • char koay teow
  • koay teow soup
  • Hokkien mee
  • curry mee
  • wan tan mee
  • loh bak
  • chee cheong fun
  • char koay kak
  • oh chien

The ban was introduced in 2014 and implemented since 2016.

Tan stressed that the ban will not affect cafes, restaurants, hotels and franchises offering the same types of hawker food in their menus.

Recommended reading: