Renowned Kopitiam Sitcom Actor Mano Maniam Passes Away
Malaysia has lost one of its most beloved cultural icons. Mano Maniam, the veteran actor best known for his warm portrayal of Uncle Chan in the iconic 1990s sitcom Kopitiam, passed away peacefully on May 30 at the age of 79.
His younger brother, Madi Maniam, confirmed the news to Bernama , saying Mano died of natural causes due to old age.
'Further details are still being arranged with the family,' he said, adding that the funeral is expected to take place this Monday at Bliss Gardens, Shah Alam.
Born on Nov 15, 1945, Mano was more than just a familiar face on Malaysian television, he was a pillar of the local performing arts scene.
With a career that spanned six decades, Mano wore many hats: Actor, director, playwright, acting coach and voice-over artist. His dedication to the craft touched generations of Malaysians, and his legacy continues to shape the country's creative landscape.
In addition to his work on local TV and theatre, Mano left his mark on the international stage. He appeared in Hollywood's 'Anna and the King' and the Netflix historical drama 'Marco Polo', showcasing Malaysian talent to a global audience. His distinct voice also brought life to Tok Din in the English-language adaptation of Lat's animated classic Kampung Boy .
Even in his later years, Mano remained active, conducting acting classes for senior citizens at the Kuala Lumpur Performing Arts Centre and lending his voice to various projects. He was a cherished mentor to many young artists and a vocal advocate for inclusivity and cultural preservation in the arts.
In a poignant twist, Mano was scheduled to receive an award on May 31 in recognition of his lifelong contributions to the Indian community and Malaysian performing arts.
As tributes pour in from peers and fans alike, Mano is remembered not only for his unforgettable characters and commanding stage presence, but also for his deep humanity, humour and the warmth he brought to every role.
Malaysia mourns the loss of a true legend, but celebrates a life that inspired and united generations through storytelling, compassion and art. Related
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Malaysia's 'flying roti canai' draws long queues at Expo 2025 in Osaka
The sight of Muiz tossing roti canai dough in the air is part of the crowd-pulling appeal at the Malaysia Pavilion. – BERNAMApic OSAKA: "Flying roti canai" has turned out to be a crowd-puller at Expo 2025 Osaka, drawing visitors to the Malaysia Pavilion with its skilful preparation and irresistible buttery aroma. The sight of roti canai being expertly tossed high into the air by Muhammad Muiz Ruzaini and Mohamad Zul Imran Zulkifle, combined with the tempting smell, has whetted the appetites of visitors. Some are willing to queue for up to two hours. Muiz said he did not expect to be selected as part of the Malaysian delegation to Expo 2025 Osaka, where he would showcase the rich flavours of Malaysian cuisine on the world stage. What makes the experience even more rewarding is the overwhelming response from visitors, the Kedahan said when met at the expo recently. "Many visitors praised the delicious roti canai and gave positive feedback, both in terms of taste and our presentation. "After they ate, many would come up and say 'oishī' (delicious). Some even repeated it seven times," he said, adding that most of the visitors were from Japan, South Korea and China. The freshly made roti canai, served with chicken curry and dhal, is priced at 1,680 yen (almost RM50) per serving. Daily sales average between 1,000 and 1,600 pieces, underscoring its growing popularity among visitors from the above three countries and elsewhere. The pan-fried flatbread – a popular choice at any time of the day in Malaysia – is skilfully stretched, flipped and spun in the air to create a layered texture. Crispy and flaky on the outside but soft on the inside, the roti canai was ranked among the top 100 street foods in the world in 2023 by global food database TasteAtlas. Zul Imran, a roti canai maker from Penang, hoped that the popularity of roti canai at the expo would help cement its place on the global culinary map and attract more tourists to visit Malaysia. "I hope the Malaysia Pavilion roti canai becomes the number one dish at Expo 2025," he said. Japanese visitor Yoko Yoshinaga described the dish as "sweet, with a unique texture, and addictive". "This is my second time having roti canai. I first saw it on X (formerly Twitter), and the unforgettable taste brought me back. I lined up again just to relive the experience," she said. Yoshinaga, who visited Malaysia 30 years ago, praised the nation's development, calling it a peaceful and modern country. Another visitor, Hanako Sekimukai, who tried roti canai for the first time, said she was pleasantly surprised by its flavour. "I've been to Malaysia before, but I never had the chance to try roti canai. The chicken curry served with it wasn't too spicy, which made it even more enjoyable," she said, adding that the cultural performances at the pavilion brought back fond memories of her time in Malaysia. Located on a 2,654.52sq m site across three floors, the Malaysia Pavilion reflects the nation's diverse culture and dynamic economy. Under the theme "Weaving a Future in Harmony", the pavilion highlights Malaysia's commitment to a sustainable, inclusive and forward-looking future. Expo 2025 is a six-month fair that began on April 13 and will go on until Oct 13. It is the second world expo in Osaka after Expo 1970. – Bernama
The Star
2 hours ago
- The Star
Delicious Spanish flavours at Barraca, a must-try during KL Restaurant Week 2025
Most Malaysians are die-hard, cast-in-stone foodies. And yet, prices at some of the best restaurants in Kuala Lumpur are distinctly out of reach for many pocket-weary urbanites. In order to even the paying field (pun intended), Kuala Lumpur Restaurant Week 2025 recalibrates the dining scene for a limited period, offering diners of all stripes the opportunity to savour meals at some of the city's hottest spots at pocket-friendlier prices. This year's iteration will run from June 6 to 22 with lunch set menus starting from RM58 per person and dinner set menus starting from RM78 per person. There are 30 participating restaurants including the Michelin-selected Wagyu Kappo Yoshida as well as celebrated eateries like Sushi Masa, Aposto, Barraca and Coast by Kayra. The eatery's hallmark is the long bar counter seats which are designed to resemble the tapas bars in Barcelona. If you're looking for a new place to try during KL Restaurant Week, three-week old Spanish eatery Barraca makes for an ideal option. The spanking new restaurant is housed within The Campus in KL and is owned and operated by Samadhi Retreats, which also runs eateries like Tamarind Springs and sister Spanish restaurant Barra, the non-halal kin of Barraca. The pork-free eatery is a charmer, with a long space largely taken up by a bar counter with seats that offer uninterrupted views of the scenes from the open kitchen. It is helmed by talented Spanish chef Ignasi Prats, who is also behind Barra. 'At Barraca, we have a bar counter because this concept is very popular in Barcelona in Spain where you can go to any tapas bar and have a big variety of tapas in a casual environment. "We wanted to recreate the same environment but for a more inclusive crowd, because the area has a very diverse demography of people, which is why we opted for a pork-free restaurant,' he says. Prats is the creative culinary force behind Barraca, which serves delicious Spanish tapas and paella. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star For KL Restaurant Week, Barraca's three-course set menus for lunch and dinner offer incredible value. Lunch is at RM78 per person (RM20 less than the regular price) and dinner is RM98 per person (RM66 less than the regular price). A reservation for two is required to access Restaurant Week offers. For lunch, Prats serves up a Mediterranean Salad as a starter. The salad is made up of roasted eggplant, bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, olives and capers. 'Basically in summer time in Spain, before we barbecue the meat, we always grill bell peppers and eggplants to make a cold salad. And I put it on the menu because it was one of my mum's favourite meals,' says Prats. The Mediterranean salad is a triumphant offering that features eggplant, peppers, olives and capers. The salad is divine – luscious, slightly blistered eggplants form the structural heart of this dish, which is accentuated by the sweetness of the peppers and the briny overcoat provided by the olives and capers in this constellation. The balsamic reduction served on the side adds a touch of acerbity and contrast that livens up this entire assemblage and gives it a pep in its step. The main dish for the lunch set menu is the ultra-decadent Canalones De Pollo, which is long pasta logs stuffed with slow-cooked chicken and topped with bechamel and cheese. This hedonistic charmer is a rich – and richly rewarding – dish that combines some all-star favourites – ooey gooey melted cheese, the stunning silkiness of a bechamel sauce, tender chicken and perfectly cooked pasta. For dessert in the lunch menu, Prats serves up a Spanish favourite in the form of the Churros Con Chocolate. As its name implies, this sweet treat combines long spiral twists of churros (deep-fried dough) with a warm chocolate sauce in a combination no human could find fault with. The churros are crisp to the touch and pair perfectly with the chocolate sauce served on the side. If you're opting to eat at Barraca for dinner during KL Restaurant Week, the three-course set dinner is a sure-fire winner. The starter of Piquillos Con Bacalao for instance features red capsicum stuffed with milk cod fish brandade. 'We slow-cook the cod fish with milk, potatoes, and herbs to make the brandade. And then basically we mash everything together to make a kind of paste. And in Spain we have a small bell pepper that has a sweet, smoky flavour so we use the cod fish to fill into the pepper. And then we make a sauce with the peppers and some onions,' explains Prats. The result is a convergence of soil and sea that somehow meld fluidly into one cohesive, incredibly tasty dish. The peppers have a smoky undercoat buoyed by a natural sweetness and this is balanced against the cod, which is incredibly flaky and supple with an aquatic undercurrent. The sauce that ties it all together is robust and piquant and covertly turns the entire concoction into a superstar offering. For mains for dinner, there is the crowd-favourite Paella de Chorizo, which Prats says was actually created as a back-up plan but has since become a bestseller on the menu. 'Originally I was doing a paella with duck but we ran out of duck. So this chicken chorizo paella was created as a back-up. But everyone really liked it and there was a lot of demand for the dish, so I added it to the menu,' says Prats. The paella with chicken chorizo was originally created as a back-up dish but became so popular that it is now a mainstay on the menu. — Photos: ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star The paella is cooked using a base of red peppers, green peppers, onions and tomatoes which are cooked until caramelised. The rice is then cooked with this mixture as well as chicken stock and porcini mushrooms. The entire assemblage is then topped with artichoke hearts and grilled chicken chorizo. This is a dish that takes you on an euphoric rollercoaster ride of flavours, textures and sensations. The paella rice is cooked till it retains a firm bite. The mushrooms meanwhile have stealthily infiltrated the inner sanctum of the rice and saturated it with woody, rustic notes. The chorizo that crowns the dish is surprisingly similar to the porcine brethren it resembles and is firm and incredibly flavourful. Trust me, this is a meal you'll want to have if you're looking to experience unfettered jubilance. The fabulous Basque-style burnt cheesecake offers a wonderful way to end your KL Restaurant Week 2025 dinner. — ABIRAMI DURAI/The Star For dessert as part of the three-course dinner menu, there is the incredible Tarta De Queso (RM36), which is essentially a Basque-style burnt cheesecake. This was a dish that attained fame when it was first introduced at Barra, so Prats says he had to have it at Barraca too. The highlight of the cake is its texture – which is sweet, smooth and incredibly creamy to the touch with the richness of cheese swimming through its veins, offering an unforgettable ending to the night. Bookings for KL Restaurant Week 2025 can be made through or through the DiningCity app. Address: L1-08, The Campus Ampang, Jalan Kolam Air Lama, 68000 Kuala Lumpur
New Straits Times
5 hours ago
- New Straits Times
'Flying' roti canai draws huge crowds to Malaysia Pavilion in Osaka
OSAKA: The "Flying Roti Canai" has quickly become a crowd-puller at Expo 2025 Osaka, drawing visitors to the Malaysia Pavilion with its skilful preparation and the irresistible buttery aroma wafting through the air. The sight of roti canai being expertly tossed high into the air by Muhammad Muiz Ruzaini and Mohamad Zul Imran Zulkifle, combined with the tempting aroma, has whetted the appetites of visitors. Some are willing to queue for up to two hours. Muiz said he did not expect to be selected as part of the Malaysian delegation to Expo 2025 Osaka, where he would showcase the rich flavours of Malaysian cuisine on the world stage. What makes the experience even more rewarding is the overwhelming response from visitors, said the Kedahan. "Many praised the deliciousness of the roti canai and gave very positive feedback, both in terms of taste and our presentation. "After they ate, many would come up and say 'oishī' (delicious). Some even repeated it seven times," he said, adding that most of the visitors were from Japan, South Korea and China. The freshly made roti canai, served with chicken curry and dhal, is priced at 1,680 yen per serving. Daily sales average between 1,000 and 1,600 pieces, underscoring its growing popularity among visitors from Japan, South Korea, China, and beyond. Roti canai is a pan-fried flatbread that is a popular breakfast choice in Malaysia, made from a mixture of flour, water, salt, butter and eggs. The dough is skillfully stretched, flipped and spun in the air to create a layered texture - crispy and flaky on the outside but soft on the inside. In 2023, TasteAtlas, a global food database, ranked roti canai among the "Top 100 Best Street Foods in the World." Meanwhile, Mohamad Zul Imran, a roti canai maker from Penang, expressed hope that the growing popularity of roti canai at the Expo would help elevate it on the global culinary map and inspire more tourists to visit Malaysia. "I hope the Malaysia Pavilion roti canai becomes the number one dish at Expo 2025," he said. Japanese visitor Yoko Yoshinaga described the dish as 'sweet, had a unique texture, and addictive'. "This is my second time having roti canai. I first saw it on X (formerly Twitter), and the unforgettable taste brought me back. "I lined up again just to relive the experience," she said. Yoshinaga, who visited Malaysia 30 years ago, praised the nation's development, calling it a peaceful and modern country. Another visitor, Hanako Sekimukai, who tried roti canai for the first time, said she was pleasantly surprised by its flavour. "I've been to Malaysia before, but I never had the chance to try roti canai. The chicken curry served with it wasn't too spicy, which made it even more enjoyable," she said, adding that the cultural performances at the pavilion brought back fond memories of her time in Malaysia. Located on a 2,654.52-square-metre site across three floors, the Malaysia Pavilion reflects the nation's diverse culture and dynamic economy. Under the theme "Weaving a Future in Harmony", the pavilion highlights Malaysia's commitment to a sustainable, inclusive and forward-looking future.
