Reflection on a Culture of Food

Fenny could hardly focus on the discussion in the meeting room. Her eyes were literally stuck with the boxed food uniformly stacked on the corner table. The moment it entered the room, the heavenly smell hovered over every nook drawing almost everyone’s eyes for a moment to the corner table where it was put. Fenny looked at her friends sitting across the room. Her friends understood the silence in her eyes. They stood up, moved to the corner table and started transferring the boxes to the discussion table. Everyone was indeed waiting for the food to be served. The heavenly smell didn’t disappoint; it indeed was delicious. It was just regular snacks although it included a great variety of noodles, rice cakes, then rice cakes with dry fish, rice cakes with chopped chicken, sweet cakes, pastries, tea, and Milo. Well, that in fact looked like a lunch table. But everyone in the meeting room knew it is not lunch yet, just snacks. And they dispersed after the meeting for lunch.

What amazed me that morning was the fact that I am currently residing in a country that loves food. And it’s not just a usual likeness, it is a culture and as much relevant in every part of life as possible. Food is glorified here in the best way possible. I have attended my office meetings in the last three years, and I could barely remember a single one without the ‘snacks’. And by snacks, I mean all the food items mentioned earlier and even more. Every time we have a meeting, we are informed on the snacks with specific details. At times, there are lengthy discussions on what snacks to serve for such meetings. I mean serious discussion. But I must say, we are always served with the best choices.

Think of the classrooms with cheerful young faces. Usually, the first thing in my first class of the academic session is about interaction, knowing the young minds. When I ask about their interests and hobbies, the most common answer I get is eating. They love it. When I ask what kind of food they like, I usually am flooded with the answers of exotic names. There is a visible glow on their faces when they talk about food. Ask them about their favorite pastime, and there will be at least a few happily giving ‘eating’ as the answer. This glow is not just among the young minds, I see it in other young souls around me as well. Go to any mamak stall in the morning, and you will be landed among overcrowded yet happy breakfasters queuing for and indulging in a sea of food. Trust me, it’s a wonderful view to witness in the morning – all crowded yet no noise at all.

Lunch times witness a similar view but with more options of indulgence for the mind and soul apart from your tummy. It’s really amazing to find how a sea of delicacies arranged in line including vegetables, meat varieties, fish and seafood awaits food lovers who queue without any hassle and chaos. The peak time lasts for 4 to 5 hours with hungry souls queuing up from early lunch in 11 in the morning till latecomers in 3 or even 4 in the afternoon. But no sign of mismanagement, panic or noise whatsoever is present. And this is a daily sight in front of any eatery during lunch hours. Every time I go out for lunch, the calm reminds me of the chaos in the fast-paced city life I used to live before moving in here. Ironical it sounds, but the steep variance of my past and current places amazes me to the core.

Dinner times are usually lively, rather the liveliest ones of the day. Same old overcrowded eateries, same old calm and organized queues, but lots of lights shimmering everywhere you could possibly see. Food varieties would expand by now to hotpots and steamboats. Same old smiling faces everywhere (I forgot to mention about their smile before as it is so usual here, something people practice here without effort and with so much sincerity) along with the usual rituals of meet and greet whenever a known face comes across. My dinner outings are usually happier than those of breakfast and lunch as I cross paths with chains of laughter flowing from candid minds. The aroma of exotic delicacies blankets every possible corner of the eateries; the smiles, the camaraderie, the amiable environment – everything harmonizes the evenings so perfectly that I feel blessed to be part of it. After all, it’s not just food, it’s a culture.

The times for breakfast, lunch and dinner are not the only ones when you get to see this beautiful stream of metabolic indulgence. Go to any gathering – be it a wedding (which is almost a weekend happening here since people are mostly free and available on weekends), an outing (both long or short), a holiday (both long and short), or a vacation or stay-cation (again, both long and short) – food always takes the front seat of priorities and to-do lists. I have never come across any hullabaloo about wedding extravaganzas like it is, well supposedly, in my country. People are so humble, simple, down to earth. But when it comes to food, they pour their heart literally out for all. Bags full of snacks is a usual sight at the front office in the morning. These snacks are bought by my colleagues for everyone in the office. And this is an everyday sight with no hidden agenda. It is not mandatory to buy food for everyone, but it is a tradition. A tradition of celebrating food, a culture of celebrating life.