Latest news with #Penang-born
The Star
3 days ago
- Politics
- The Star
King appoints Muhammad Shahrul Ikram as Malaysia's new ambassador to the US
PETALING JAYA: His Majesty Sultan Ibrahim, King of Malaysia, presented the Letter of Credence to Tan Sri Muhammad Shahrul Ikram Yaakob as the new ambassador of Malaysia to the United States on Tuesday (June 3). The Penang-born Muhammad Shahrul Ikram received the Letter of Credence at a ceremony held at Istana Negara on Tuesday. Also present were Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister Datuk Mohamad Alamin and Wisma Putra secretary-general Datuk Seri Amran Mohamed Zin. MORE TO COME
West Australian
24-05-2025
- West Australian
Italian flavours add to Penang's famed street food variety
What can you tell me, an Italian, about our street food, that's not the typical square cuts of pizza you may have enjoyed at any of the panettieri (bread shops) you found while travelling to Rome, Florence, Venice or Milan? That's all good — it's delicious. But let me tell you, as a northern man from Lombardy, that the yummiest street food in my native Italy is found south of Rome — for example in Apulia, a beautiful region of cerulean seas and white-tinged cities like Lecce and Bari, which however still remains incredibly under the radar. I wouldn't be surprised if you admitted that you know nothing about its yummiest quick bite, the panzerotto. A bit like a mini calzone but deep-fried, not baked, panzerotti are divinely fried half moons that may remind you of an Argentinian empanada, but softer and filled with delights ranging from a classic pizza-like tomato and mozzarella to more elaborated concoctions spanning anything from seafood to sliced nuts and boiled eggplant. Dismissed in the gourmet menus of Italy, the panzerotto decided to travel to shores that are oceans away from mamma Apulia: believe it or not, you can now taste this southern Italian treat in Penang, Malaysia, thanks to Gianluca (Luca) De Biasi, a long-time resident and former restaurant manager at Java Tree, the classy bistro of the island's historic Eastern & Oriental Hotel opened in 1884. 'The panzerotto is new to Malaysians, but they appreciate it,' says Luca as I meet him inside Luca's Panzerotti, his new venture on the northern end of Carnarvon Street, set right on the busy corner of George Town's main tourist thoroughfare, Chulia Street. 'In Malaysia, roti means bread, and I tell my customers that this is simply a bread with a panza, which is Italian for a belly,' quips Luca. Assisted by his Penang-born wife Phoebe, after taking a much-deserved break to travel back to Italy and southern Europe to check out the local street foods, Gianluca and wife decided to return to the local hospitality game by opening this mom-and-pop store on the ground floor of a central Sino-Portuguese shophouse. Compared to his lush former employer Eastern & Oriental Hotel, small Luca's Panzerotti is a homey bistro with a shiny red Vespa parked out front and only a handful of wooden tables and stools set against the walls — a very casual and different set-up from the rest of Penang's Italian restaurants such as Il Bacaro, Via Pre and Nero Nero, which focus on the gourmet, high-end spectrum of Italian cuisine. 'Let's say that Penang is famous for street food — Chulia Street's hawker stalls are right in front of our door — and I wanted to do something different on my own terms, not be the umpteenth typical Italian running yet another general Italian restaurant,' says Luca as he passes a hot Panzerotto Classico — the Apulian staple fried pouch filled with melt-in-your-mouth mozzarella and fresh, lava-like tomato — from the frying pan onto the plate in front of me. I know better, but a poster on the wall candidly instructs how to best enjoy the Apulian fried dough: by biting off the top corner, letting the steam come out and inclining the head and torso forward to avoid spilling the hot insides of the belly bread on yourself. An technique born standing on the street, stuffing the mouth with panzerotti while traipsing down an alley. Luca's Panzerotti has a simple yet varied menu on offer. Besides closed staple panzerotti like the Classico — priced at a very affordable $3.60, 'cheaper than Italy,' says Luca — there's mushrooms and potatoes, the tuna and eggplant-based taras and the Luca, a deliciousness of smoked tomato, mozzarella, fried eggplant, basil and aged goat cheese. There are also gourmet panzerotti prepared open on one side like a fried sandwich, or a Belizean fry jack. I try the smoked salmon, garnished with Atlantic salmon, melted mozzarella burrata (a creamy specialty of Apulia) and sprinkled with fresh arugula. It's as authentic as those I tried on the sunny streets of southern Italy. I top my lunch with a slice of focaccia with dried tomatoes, a thick yet soft slab of bread that Luca prepares with masterful skills. Luca Panzerotti's also has a few sweet-tooth treats that go down especially well with their homemade, slow pressed juices that infuse tropical fruit like mango, coconut and nutmeg, a local spice. Besides sweet panzerotti filled with chocolate and a homemade dried fig jam, 80 per cent dark chocolate and nut crumble, there are hearty little boxes of Italian-style tiramisu. It's served either halal style for local Muslims, or drenched in a thick layer of rum, which you will really feel. 'In my region, if you take tiramisu with rum, then there must be rum, not drops,' says Luca, as I feel the heat of the alcohol mixing with the spongy chocolate and coffee-based sweetness in every spoonful. For having opened only six months ago, Luca's Panzerotti has already rounded up a tight-knit following of local Malaysians and higher-profile international Chinese and Indian tourists who want to go for something simple and street-savvy, but are still afraid of trying the local Penang street food that's often cooked and served out in the open. 'We give them the street food they crave for in a little more refined space, yet right in the thick of George Town's central food offerings,' says Luca, who takes care of everything himself and, following his past managerial acumen, anticipates that he may consider expanding into a little franchise after at least another year. 'I'll teach them everything, how to make panzerotti from scratch — but as these are some of my grandmother's original recipes, they'll have to love them as I do, or the magic of the best bread with belly won't happen.' For now, the best place to have authentic panzerotti on this side of the world is from Luca's hands, here in George Town, Penang.
New Paper
07-05-2025
- Sport
- New Paper
Smart duo join Lim's Elite band
When we hear the word "elite" it is usually referring to something special. Like, top of the class or, the cream of the crop. Well, on the morning of May 6, the cream certainly rose to the top at the trials run off at the Selangor Turf Club. Elite Captain took the opener in dominant fashion and Elite Prince followed suit when he stole the show in the second hit-out of the morning. The wins from the two Elite horses owned by Mahalinggam Palanisamy must have given their trainer Richard Lim a bit of a spring to his step. The jockey-turned-trainer has endured a rather quiet time of late, having returned empty-handed from his last six race meetings. Boomba was the last winner - and ninth for 2025 - the former Kranji-based trainer led in on April 12. Lim had three runners involved in two of the four May 6 trials with his third racer - Legend Sixty-Three - taking second to stablemate Elite Prince in Trial No. 2. The Penang-born conditioner is famous for riding King And King to victory in the Queen Elizabeth II Cup, more notably, thereafter shaking hands with the British monarch, who was at Kranji to witness the race. Well, that was then. This is now and Lim is slowly but surely making his mark as a trainer. Back to the trials and Elite Captain and Elite Prince did not just win their trials, they clobbered the opposition into submission. Elite Captain took the first trial by 3¼ lengths while Elite Prince won by 2½ lengths in the second, but they also ran time. Both of them broke the minute-mark for the 1,000m trip. The "Captain" clocked an impressive 59.53sec while the "Prince" stopped the clock at 59.79sec. In the first trial, Elite Captain, who had Uzair Sharudin in the saddle, jumped out from barrier No. 4 in that field of eight, and rather easily found the lead. After taking a four-length lead from Stop The Water (Laercio de Souza), the son of Brazen Beau opened up in style to win with a leg in the air. Then in the second, Uzair again found himself being legged up on a winner. A son of Bon Hoffa, Elite Prince settled in third spot until the 150m mark when he went after the leader, Golden Thirty Six. Given a flick of the reins and a dig in the ribs, Elite Prince responded and skipped clear to win as he liked. Stablemate Legend Sixty-Three came on like a good horse to claim second spot. Another horse to turn heads at the trials was Combustion, who, incidentally, was until recently prepared by Lim (in Singapore as well), but has now moved to Lim Shung You's (no relation) yard. With jockey Lim Shung Uai up and starting from barrier No. 3 on the sand track, the El Roca five-year-old quickly settled into the slipstream of Good Star and Raising Sixty-One, who were one-two at the 600m mark. Given rein at the furlong marker, he did what his stablemates had done in the earlier trials. He let rip and gave his rivals no quarters, winning that hit-out by 3½ lengths easing up. Combustion, whose two career wins in Kranji were over the longer 1,600m and 2,000m, clocked 1min 2.29sec for the trip. Yes, it was a great day at the office for Lim, even if trial wins do not change stats or bank balances. What those mock races, however, do is give trainers an insight of what the future may hold, especially for horses who are still relatively unexposed to racing. In Elite Captain, Lim has a good one in the making. A one-time winner in Geelong (1,230m) when known as Bracarde, the four-year-old ran fourth on debut in Kuala Lumpur on April 27 and his showing at the trials tells us that he is on the improve. As for Elite Prince, he is a three-year-old and the trial was his second morning hit-out. He finished runner-up to Kitsune in his first one on turf at Kuala Lumpur on April 8. That first one was a decent showing and the latest had a bit of that "wow" factor. If Elite Prince, who arrived as an unraced from Australia, can bring that trial form to the races, he could turn useful for Lim. brian@
New Straits Times
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New Straits Times
#SHOWBIZ: Syazwan Zulkifly: I have a history of making Sharnaaz angry
KUALA LUMPUR: A key scene in the hugely popular action movie Blood Brothers: Bara Naga shows hot-headed hero Ghazwan smashing goofy private investigator Jaki's head on the table of a nightclub. Fortunately, actor Sharnaaz Ahmad who plays Ghazwan did not really bash Syazwan Zulkifly who plays Jaki and inflict nasty injuries to his head. Nevertheless, Syazwan said in a recent interview that he did have a history of getting "hurt" by Sharnaaz and that was a decade ago, during the filming of the Juvana movie series. Fortunately, it was not a physical injury, but a scolding from the dashing Penang-born actor who has admitted to being strict and hot-headed. Syazwan said in a session of podcast Borak Kaypoh that while he was filming a fight scene with Sharnaaz on the set of Juvana in 2013, he had to push Sharnaaz into a large water container and when Sharnaaz fell, he hurt his foot by accidentally kicking the container wall. "Sharnaaz shouted at me saying 'I said don't push me' and he looked really angry," said Syazwan. "Later on the set I apologised to him, but he gave me a stern warning not to repeat my mistake." Since then, Syazwan became a little scared of working with Sharnaaz and when he learnt that he would appear with Sharnaaz in Blood Brothers, he felt uneasy. "Sharnaaz turned out to be a lot nicer than I expected and thank God for that. And he did not hit my head hard on the table, I did it myself, and suffered my own minor injuries which healed fast," said Syazwan. "Nevertheless the scared look on Jaki's face when he first sees Ghazwan was very real!" Syazwan admitted that Sharnaaz did not talk about their "fight" in Juvana and had chosen to forgive and forget. "We are Blood Brothers now I guess!" said Syazwan. Blood Brothers has now collected RM70 million at the box office after 20 days of screening.
Free Malaysia Today
05-05-2025
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Every inch of Sarawak was James Ritchie's home
Few knew the land and soul of Sarawak like James Ritchie, who earned the trust of its indigenous communities through decades of storytelling. (Firdaus Abdullah pic) KUCHING : Quintessential journalist James Alexander Ritchie didn't just report on Sarawak — he lived it, loved it, and preserved its stories. With an explorer's heart, Penang-born Ritchie became a great chronicler of Sarawak. Through decades of storytelling, JR or Sandy, as he was fondly known, forged a bond with the land and its people that few could match. At the launch of an exhibition in 2013 by Sarawak library entitled, 'JR the writer', Adenan Satem, then the Sarawak minister with special functions, paid a glowing tribute to Ritchie. He said: 'Even though he was born in Penang, over the years he has become one of us…he wants to be known as a Sarawakian. James Ritchie (second, left) with Penans at the Magoh forest reserve in Mulu. His kelabit name is Belaan Aran – the bringer of good news. (James Ritchie pic) 'He has a kelabit name Belaan Aran — the bringer of good news. In a way, it is appropriate because he is a contemporary historian. 'The things that he had written over the years will become history. 'In the years to come the generations that read his books will know what Sarawak was like in the old days.' In 2023, Ritchie produced 'The 'Legacy of Adenan Satem' six years after the leader died as the fifth chief minister of Sarawak. Goodbye Sarawak. His reporting was steeped in a profound knowledge of Sarawak's land and love for its people, earning him lasting trust. (Firdaus Abdullah pic) Ritchie wrote about 45 books, six on Taib Mahmud, the late Sarawak chief minister, alone. His Sabahan friend, Anuar Ghani said: 'Had he wanted to, he could have been a very rich man. But money didn't interest him. Stories did.' There will be a hundred James Ritchie stories told for quite some time, with the root that the soul of journalism resides in human connection. Ritchie, who died on Saturday aged 74, never forgot that every story, like every life, matters. Courage and integrity James Ritchie at a protest in London with British journalist and activist Clare Rewcastle Brown. (James Ritchie pic) As an investigative and campaigning journalist, columnist, author and mentor, Ritchie remained a living bridge to vanished times. His energy was irresistible in his advanced age as it had been when he first set foot in the rainforests of Sarawak in the 1980s. From the offices of chief ministers to the longhouses of the interior, Ritchie wore the mantle of generalist with pride. He moved easily between power and periphery, convinced that journalism's highest calling lay in telling the stories of the underclass, the downtrodden, and the dispossessed. 'Journalism is nothing if it's not about people's lives; everything else is glitter,' he often said. It was the credo he lived in every deeply reported article and in each of some 45 books he published on history, culture, political and tribal leaders, warriors, sporting heroes, and his own reporting adventures. Ritchie cut his teeth as a cub reporter in Kuala Lumpur before venturing to Sarawak. There, he would come to proclaim, 'I know every inch of Sarawak.' Not as boast, but as testament to decades spent forging bonds of respect and trust with indigenous communities from the Iban and Bidayuh to the Penan and Orang Ulu. He immersed himself in their world, learning among other things from their time‑honoured practices of sustainable management of natural resources. He explored the historical, spiritual and social keystones of Bornean life, and became an outspoken advocate for their rights. Ritchie's unblinking perspective and singular voice remained unbroken through crises both political and environmental. He exposed corruption in high places; he chronicled the loss of traditional lands to logging; he celebrated the resilience of people who, in his words, 'carry history in their hearts.' Last year, Ritchie was named Tokoh Hawana (journalism icon) at the National Journalists' Day celebrations in Kuching, for his work of long-lasting significance, clarity, fairness and innovation. It followed the Special Jury Award he received the previous year at the annual Malaysian journalism awards, and about 20 other prizes over the years. Scoops and heat from SB There are few things Ritchie would not do to get a story. He was after all a thrill-seeker and a tenacious reporter with daring. He gained fame for tracking down and writing about Bruno Manser, the Swiss environmentalist who led the Penan nomads to carry out blockades in the Baram region when their existence was threatened by relentless deforestation. For Ritchie, his investigative reports about the activities of Manser and the Penans involved days of jungle trekking to reach settlements that are only accessible by helicopter. He met Manser after a year at Long Seridan, a Kelabit settlement in Miri, and forged a relationship that is well known locally and internationally. In 1986, he found himself in trouble with the Special Branch (SB) after he arranged for Manser to be interviewed by RTM in the jungles of Long Seridan. On the same day his investigative report appeared in New Straits Times, the SB seized the three-hour long RTM interview footage. As a result, the exclusive interview over RTM was scrapped while he was almost arrested under the Official Secrets Act. It was Ritchie's tip-off that led to the arrest of Manser in 1999 following his paraglider stunt over the chief minister's residence in Demak Jaya. Manser flew around the residence of Sarawak's most powerful man with the message 'Taib + Penan' plastered over his paraglider, appealing for dialogue between the chief minister and the Penan. The officials were baffled as to how Manser, declared persona non grata by the state government for his anti-government activities in the 1980s, could have entered undetected. Ritchie reported that Manser had entered Sarawak using a fictitious name 'Alex Betge'. That episode aside, Ritchie often related how he went to the aid of a Penan student whom he met at the scene of Manser's stunt. Ezra Uda, from Long Lamai, was carrying a file and wanted to complain that he had passed his STPM two years earlier and had applied to study at University of Malaysia, Sarawak, but was rejected. After the immigration director Robert Lian Saging and his team left with Manser, Ritchie rushed to the chief minister's office with the boy. He later gained admission to the university, thanks to Ritchie's humanity. Ritchie's first encounter with the police was in 1976 when he was asked to explain an article he had written on communist activities in Gua Musang, Kelantan. Apparently, the SB wanted him to make a statement that Samad Ismail had influenced him to write against the government, and had rewritten his copy. Ritchie, the son of John George Ritchie, Sarawak's first Malaysian commissioner of police, took full responsibility for the article. His first scoop as a crime reporter was on the passing of Malaysia's second IGP Mohamed Salleh Ismael on the night of January 31, 1973. Ritchie, who was then on hospital rounds recollected: 'Tun Salleh, who was a colleague of my father, had been rushed to the general hospital by family members after a heart attack. 'As he was in sarong and did not have identification papers, the clerk on duty would not admit him until I vouched for him. He passed away soon after.' Ritchie Junior Everybody loved James Ritchie, seen here in a light moment with the former king and queen at the Sports Flame event in 2023. This man has looked deep into the eyes of many orangutans and seen a special wisdom he believes could help us become better people. Ritchie would say they are patient, loving, independent and capable of complex thought. In 1989, he was on an assignment to write about an Iban longhouse in the Batang Ai dam area when a poacher offered to him a baby orangutan. He was ushered to a spot under the longhouse where the 18-inch debilitated primate had been squeezed into an 18-inch square cage. Ritchie gave the poacher a telling-off, paid him RM100 and rescued the orangutan. The primate was taken by forestry officials to the Semenggoh Wildlife Centre, and the then state secretary Hamid Bugo christened it 'Ritchie'. At Semenggoh, 'Ritchie' fathered at least 10 orangutans. We'll meet again Dreamy crooner James Ritchie singing together with his daughter Rebekah (left) and wife Helen (right). (James Ritchie pic) Just as Ritchie was zealous behind the yellow tape at a crime scene, he was formidable as a golfer and rugby, football, hockey and cricket player, and adorable as a pianist-singer. How many of us can claim to have the qualities of an accomplished writer, sportsman and entertainer at the same time? Everyone who has ever met Ritchie for even a fleeting moment will feel the deepest possible sense of loss at the terrible news he has been taken from us. Ritchie is survived by his wife Helen, daughter Rebekah and granddaughter who was born on Easter Sunday. *The wake for Ritchie is at the multipurpose hall B, St Thomas Church, Kuching, and the funeral service will be held at the same church tomorrow at 9am before cremation at Nirvana.
