Better days ahead for dining landmark
Catering primarily to the burgeoning local community, these early vendors offered simple yet flavourful streetfare that quickly became popular among residents.
As development in the area accelerated, the need to organise these roadside businesses became increasingly apparent.
By 1994, the hawkers were relocated to a designated 250m stretch on Lebuh Kurau 5.
This move was intended to bring order to the bustling food scene.
The once-mobile carts evolved into fixed stalls, which many owners gradually expanded and personalised, with some even constructing private washrooms.
An artist's impression of a new single-storey food complex that will be built on an empty plot of land in Jalan Kurau.
'Over the years, we have invested a lot into making our stalls more comfortable and inviting,' said Yeoh You Seng, 70, who has been selling bak kut teh since 1996.
Today, the vibrant food street, fondly known as 'Wai Sek Kai' or 'Glutton Street' in Cantonese, is home to around 100 hawkers, most of whom operate in the evenings.
Each stall offers a unique rendition of beloved local dishes like char kuey teow and Hokkien mee.
The variety draws regular crowds of locals and visitors alike, making it a dining landmark in Butterworth.
However, the popularity of this bustling street has become a bane for residents living nearby, leading to significant traffic congestion and other challenges.
Traffic congestion
The Wai Sek Kai at Chai Leng Park is home to several famous stalls, such as this one selling 'lok lok'.
Taman Chai Leng Village Community Management Council (MPKK) chairman Tan Hock Chai has highlighted the issues caused by the food street's popularity.
'The heavy traffic has become a source of inconvenience for nearby residents.
'Cars are often parked along the narrow roads, making it difficult for emergency vehicles to pass through,' he lamented.
'To ease congestion and improve conditions for both the hawkers and the community, relocating them to a proper complex with modern facilities is vital,' he said.
Plans are already underway to move the hawkers to a new RM8mil purpose-built food complex in Jalan Kurau, close to the existing site.
Construction of this single- storey complex has begun, with a groundbreaking ceremony expected soon.
Seberang Perai City Council councillor AS Ponnudurai explained that the new complex would house 100 trading lots, each measuring 2.5m by 3.6m and equipped with individual sinks to ensure hygienic food preparation.
Additional facilities will include public washrooms, a foyer and a dedicated entrance for visitors.
Chee, a claypot chicken rice seller, says a newer place will provide better hygiene and convenience to customers.
The complex is expected to be ready by 2027.
'The current hawker site, which has been in operation for over 30 years, has become increasingly overcrowded and plagued with recurring issues such as poor drainage and outdated infrastructure,' said Ponnudurai.
'The new complex will not only offer improved facilities but also feature a playground, landscaped gardens, and modern amenities.
'All these will be managed by the city council,' he added.
Hawkers divided
The present stretch of stalls is overcrowded and suffers from a lack of amenities, making it inconducive to hygienic food preparation.
Despite the promise of modern amenities, not all hawkers are eager to move. Many have built their businesses at the current site over decades and are deeply rooted in the community.
'This place is steeped in heritage and well-known as a food haven among locals and visitors,' said Yeoh.
'Business has been good here, so instead of relocating, why not invest in repairing and upgrading what we already have?'
Desserts seller Penny Ong, 60, who has been trading at the current site for nearly 30 years, shares this sentiment.
'I believe at least 80% of the stall owners prefer to stay. Business is good and this location is familiar and convenient for our customers.
'There is vacant land behind us that can be turned into parking lots, and improving the drainage and facilities here isn't difficult,' she noted.
Yeoh says the food street is steeped in heritage.
While acknowledging that relocation may eventually be inevitable, Ong hopes that the authorities will reconsider.
'This place has history, and we have built a loyal customer base here. I truly hope we are allowed to stay,' she added.
On the other hand, some vendors see the relocation as an opportunity.
Claypot chicken rice seller Chee Leck Chang views the move to the new complex as beneficial.
'I have a lot of cookware, and I hope the new place with designated lots will offer better security against theft.
Ong says at least 80% of the stall owners prefer to stay.
'A newer place will also provide better hygiene and convenience to customers, as I am certain it will be more organised,' said Chee who has been running his stall for over 20 years.
A drinks seller, who declined to be named, shared similar sentiments about the challenges faced by hawkers.
'Since the Covid-19 pandemic about five years ago, many traders, including myself, have resorted to using disposable utensils for ease and hygiene.
'Whether it is rice, noodles or other dishes that used to be served with reusable utensils, they now come in disposable packaging even for dine-in customers.
'Although the local council discourages this practice and despite the drawback in dining experience, it is more convenient for many of us to just dispose of everything after use,' she said.
'I do hope that the new complex will offer improved washing facilities, to reduce reliance on disposables,' she added.
Ponnudurai says the new food complex will offer better facilities.
Another hawker, who wished to be known only as Ong, 40, voiced his frustration about the ongoing lack of proper toilets.
'There is a toilet, but it belongs to a fellow hawker and it only opens when he is operating.
'If he is off, the toilet is locked and inaccessible.
'We often have to walk a long way to use the restroom at nearby coffeeshops,' Ong said, adding that the new food complex would offer upgraded facilities to vendors and customers.
Familiarity vs new facilities
Patrons of the food street are also divided over the impending move, torn between the charm of the existing street setup and the promise of better facilities at the new complex.
Office clerk Usha Ayyappan, 56, who visits the hawker stalls about once a week, prefers the convenience and familiarity of the current location.
'The ambience here is relaxing and cosy, which is perfect for winding down with family after work.
Usha fears the new food complex would charge higher rental, forcing hawkers to increase prices.
'Although parking is limited, the roadside bays are conveniently right across from the stalls.
'Right now, food prices are still reasonable, but a new complex might bring parking fees or higher stall rentals, which could affect prices,' she said.
Retired civil servant N. Ananda, 72, who lives nearby, appreciates the central and visible location of the stalls.
'The whole stretch of hawker stalls is strategically located along the row and is easily seen by passersby, making it convenient to stop for food.
'I often drop by for a herbal drink, but if it moves into a food complex, it will be a hassle,' he said.
Technician Alan Teh, 45, who was dining with colleagues, believes the current site is long overdue for a revamp.
'Over time, the floor and infrastructure here have deteriorated.
'Poor drainage and lack of proper facilities make it hard for hawkers to maintain cleanliness and difficult for customers to clean up after meals,' he noted.
Teh, who has been frequenting the area since childhood, said that if the hawkers could not upkeep their present business premises, the new food complex would serve as a fresh start.
'Many hawkers have lost their original spark for cooking authentic local food and are now hiring foreign helpers.
'The vibrant and local atmosphere is already fading, so they may as well move to a modern, systematic location,' he said.
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The Star
7 days ago
- The Star
No Cantonese, no career? Can Hong Kong do more to help ethnic minority groups?
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'I thought coming to Hong Kong might uplift my career to the next level,' he said. 'But these past four months have been the biggest downfall of my life.' If a better job did not come along, he added, he might consider returning to Pakistan. Despite progress in education and income, Hong Kong's ethnic minority communities remain plagued by problems that prevented earlier generations from climbing the socioeconomic ladder. NGOs and researchers have said that deep-rooted issues over education, language – proficiency in Cantonese in particular – racial discrimination and integration in society remain unresolved. John Tse Wing-ling, executive director of the Hong Kong Initiative for Diversity and a long-time advocate for ethnic minority rights, said these communities still had a long way to go. He highlighted that many earned low incomes from being in low-skilled jobs, such as cleaners and in food preparation and delivery, which official data refers to as 'elementary occupations'. The proportion of South Asians in such jobs dropped from 30.2 per cent in 2016 to 25.8 per cent in 2021, but was higher than the 18.2 per cent for the whole population. By industry, men with Nepalese or Pakistani backgrounds were more likely to be working in construction than in any other field in 2021. 'These are dead-end jobs,' Tse said. 'They don't even have a glass ceiling; they just have a ceiling. That's it.' Tse said that discrimination and unequal outcomes in education and employment remained serious issues to be addressed, particularly in education. Hong Kong had nearly 620,000 residents from non-Chinese ethnic minority groups, or 8.4 per cent of the population, according to the 2021 census. Filipinos and Indonesians, mainly foreign domestic helpers, made up about half, while Hongkongers of Indian, Pakistani and Nepalese descent made up most of the rest. Others, domestic helpers excluded, included Indonesians, Thais and Filipinos. Non-Indian South Asians continued to underperform against their peers in terms of education, with only 25.1 per cent of Pakistanis and 22.2 per cent of Nepalis having attending post-secondary education as of 2021, compared with 34.6 per cent for the whole population, according to the census. Only about 10 per cent of students from ethnic minority groups who studied the local curriculum secured a place in a government-funded public university between 2020 and 2024, according to official data. The figure was well below about one in four Chinese-speaking students who secured places. In a recent survey of 171 people from ethnic minority groups, Tse's organisation asked respondents to rate a number of issues that needed attention. 'Education reform for inclusion' came out on top. Part of the problem lay in what he described as 'de facto segregation' in schools. Hong Kong used to have 'designated schools' that took in mainly non-Chinese speaking students. Although the term was abolished by the Education Bureau in 2013, some schools still have a large concentration of students from ethnic minority groups. During the 2022-23 school year, 28 per cent of non-Chinese-speaking primary pupils and 21 per cent of secondary students attended schools where more than four-fifths of their classmates were of a similar ethnic background, according to a report by the Legislative Council Secretariat. 'They got rid of the term designated schools, but in practice, they're still there,' Tse said. Being in a school with a high concentration of students from ethnic minority backgrounds was not conducive to learning Cantonese, which was needed for jobs, and it did not help the pupils integrate fully into society either, he said. 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The Star
26-07-2025
- The Star
Gua group aims to bring legacy restaurants from small-towns in Malaysia to KL
It is 11am at Kedai Kopi Xiong Wor in Taman Tun Dr Ismail in Kuala Lumpur and tables are heaving with customers. By 12pm, every single available table is taken up and the eatery's signature curry noodles are precariously close to being sold out – as is often the case. What is interesting is that this scenario is a replication of what usually happens on a daily basis in the original outlet in Kuantan, named Teng Haw Coffee Shop (its name in Hainanese). Teng Haw was established in 1966 and is named after the patriarch of the family who first started it 59 years ago. For many Klang Valley denizens who call Kuantan their hometown, the curry noodles at Teng Haw are a must-have on a trip back home and consequently, one of the dishes they miss the most when they're back in Kuala Lumpur. Thankfully a few months ago, a fledgling restaurant group called Gua Group successfully convinced Jayden Ong, the fourth-generation owner of the restaurant, to bring the brand to Kuala Lumpur, where it now sits under the banner of Kedai Kopi Xiong Wor, its Cantonese name. What is even more interesting is that Gua Group's founders – Danial Yik, his sister Mimi Yik and brother-in-law Keanu Subba – are entirely focused on identifying and bringing heritage restaurants scattered throughout the country to the capital city. From left: Keanu, Mimi and Danial are on a mission to preserve heritage restaurants and recipes by providing an opportunity for younger-generation owners to open branches in KL. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star 'I had this thought of 'Isn't it a bit strange that you always have to tell your friend to go to Penang for the best char kuey teow or to Ipoh for chicken rice'? 'So the three of us had a discussion, and we thought, why don't we bring these heritage brands that are tried and tested and have a legacy to the Klang Valley? People love these foods, so why not have the same experience in KL?' says Danial. From those tenuous beginnings rose the kernel of an idea for Gua Group's core mission of building a repertoire of legacy restaurants in the Klang Valley. Driving tradition forward While Danial, Mimi and Keanu are relatively new to the F&B industry, they are not entirely untested, having established a healthy food eatery called Staple Eats just before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. The three come from diverse backgrounds – Danial studied architecture at the University of Melbourne but left before completing his degree, while Mimi is a political science major. Her husband, Keanu, meanwhile, is a former champion Malaysian mixed martial artist. It was always Mimi's dream to open a restaurant, so Staple Eats became the family's first F&B venture. When the restaurant closed after the end of the Covid-19 pandemic, the trio realised that the dishes that resonated most with Malaysians were Malaysian food, especially traditional foods that are still made the old-fashioned way. 'A lot of these legacy foods are disappearing. We wanted to keep the legacy alive. I wouldn't say we are like custodians – I don't want to be too presumptuous but I would say that we want to have a hand in preserving local favourites that would be lost to time otherwise,' says Danial. Danial (right) says it was easy to convince Ong to come onboard, and the success of Xiong Wor has shown him that there is a gap in the market for heritage restaurants in KL. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star Part of this impetus was also prompted by the number of heritage restaurants dying out as younger generations are either not motivated to continue the business or have been encouraged by their parents to pursue other less physically laborious paths. 'There is a need for preservation of these dishes and there is a gap in the market to draw more of these heritage restaurants to KL and potentially expand their presence. Like with Jayden, for example, he was actually a mechanic before this as his family wasn't keen on him being in the business. 'So if he decided that he didn't want to continue making the curry mee, we won't be able to enjoy it anymore – nearly 60 years of culinary legacy would end with him. And you find this more and more with like famous chicken rice shops in Ipoh suddenly closing because the owner's son or daughter went overseas,' says Danial. Maiden venture Having discovered their true calling, Gua Group's founders wasted little time in recruiting their first heritage restaurant, setting their sights on a hometown favourite that they grew up with. 'Kuantan is my father's hometown, so I've been going to Teng Haw since I was a toddler. Every trip to Kuantan, we always woke up early to go there. 'It was part of the experience, you know. It was not just about going and eating the food – you also had to wait in line and hope it wasn't sold out,' says Danial. Xiong Wor's curry mee boasts nearly 60 years of fine-tuning and is the key reason Gua Group wanted to bring the heritage restaurant to KL. The process of getting Ong on board was relatively simple and fuss-free. 'Our negotiation was very simple. I said, 'Do you want to open your shop in KL?' He said, 'Yes'.' Once Ong agreed, everything else fell into place relatively quickly. Danial's father believed in his children's vision and invested in the restaurant group and having learnt their lessons with their first F&B venture, it took Danial and his team only three months to put together Kedai Kopi Xiong Wor. 'We were working with Jayden, who is the same age as us and knows his job very well and we had operated kitchens before, so we were very quick to identify what we needed,' says Danial. But turning an age-old restaurant in Kuantan into a city staple was not without its challenges. Even though everything came together quickly, the hurdles and obstacles were presented in different packages. 'The translation from a kopitiam to a restaurant with a different set of cleanliness standards and preparation standards was one of the challenges we faced. 'We wanted to make the restaurant more modern but we also wanted it to be safe and clean, because we find that a lot of kopitiams have been operating for so long that they don't want to change. But luckily, Jayden has been very open to change,' says Danial. Since it opened a few months ago, the restaurant has been perpetually packed. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star Gua Group's business operates on a profit-sharing model. Danial and his team finance the expansion of heritage restaurants like Xiong Wor in KL as well as provide consultancy services. They don't own or buy the recipes from the owners, so the recipes remain with their rightful keepers. 'We don't buy their recipes – they still hold them. What we do is actually empower this new generation of restaurant owners and provide them with a platform or a way for them to see that they can continue with the next generation and preserve these dishes,' explains Danial. Eyes on the future Having established their first heritage restaurant in the Klang Valley, Danial now knows that this model is very viable. 'The success of Xiong Wor has enabled us to confidently continue with this mission because now we know that our model does work. And we can use the first restaurant to convince other businesses who want to continue their legacy and heritage that there is a way to make money and beyond that, to continue the traditional format in a sustainable way,' says Danial. Identifying new heritage restaurants to work with will depend on a few key factors: how good the food is, how passionate the owners are, and the most pertinent part of this equation – is there someone in the younger generation who is hungry for growth and an opportunity like this? Kaya toast is one of the old-school dishes at Kedai Kopi Xiong Wor. — SAMUEL ONG/The Star 'The next restaurants we are looking at are places in Ipoh and Penang. But for this to work, we need to see that the owners believe in the mission, which is to preserve the legacy and heritage. If they're running a family restaurant just for the sake of doing it, we probably wouldn't choose them. 'We're looking for people who inject love into their recipes and most importantly, we require someone from the restaurant to be very active in continuing the mission,' he says. To finance the expansion of these heritage Malaysian restaurants, Danial says Gua Group has to grow more organically. Next in their pipeline is a legacy international restaurant, which the group will be establishing in Kuala Lumpur. 'The international branding is more of an expansion effort. So we need to bring in a bit more income generation so that we can focus on financing our actual mission of bringing in more heritage Malaysian restaurants to KL,' says Danial. As Danial himself is Muslim (his father is Chinese and his mother is Malay), part of his core goal is also to introduce heritage restaurants that are more inclusive and cater to all Malaysians. 'We want to make these restaurants pork-free and alcohol- free because, from a business standpoint, we will miss out on a whole demographic of Malaysians if we don't do this. And the idea is to bring these heritage foods to a wider audience,' says Danial.
The Star
22-07-2025
- The Star
KIP REIT gets unitholders' go-ahead for property acquisition, private placement
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