Muhibbah Feast For Admm Officials

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Malaysian pride: Maran (left) and his chefs de partie showing the Muhibbah set that will be served during the ADMM Retreat at Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa in Batu Ferringhi, Penang. — CHAN BOON KAI/The Star
GEORGE TOWN: After a long hard day of discussing regional and international issues, officials at the Asean Defence Ministers Meeting (ADMM) here can expect to enjoy multi-ethnic meals that they may not have encountered before.
The officials can be served, among others, roasted spiced chicken (Indian), sweet and sour grouper fish (Chinese), beef rendang (Malay), fried prawns and among the side dishes will be satay, char kuey teow, pasembor, ice kacang and other local delights.
It will be a feast of such a motley ensemble of cultures that expresses Malaysia’s multicultural pride, said Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa’s executive chef Maran Mariapin.
He said numerous internal tasting sessions and a separate tasting session with the Defence Min­is­try’s representatives were held to finalise the menu.
“It will be served as a Muhibbah set with various dishes while there will be stall stations set up outside with the char kuey teow, satay and other delights to give the officials an immer­sive experience.
“We want to promote our Malaysian cuisine throughout the three days, and no dish will be repeated for any of the three meals they will be served,” he said at the hotel in Batu Ferringhi yesterday.
The ADMM Retreat will be held here from Feb 25 to 27, with over 10 Asean countries participating.
Shangri-La Rasa Sayang Resort and Spa’s communications director Datuk Suleiman Tunku Abdul Rahman said the hotel will be catering to a total of 118 rooms taken up at Shangri-La Rasa Sayang and 84 rooms at Shangri-La Golden Sands next door.
“There will be over 300 police and military personnel stationed at the hotels for security purposes. There are delegates from 11 countries and close to 200 media representatives.
“This is a high-profile event, so they (the ministry) are handling the props while we cater the food, venue and rooms.
“They will be occupying all 14 of our meeting rooms during the event,” Suleiman said.
Meanwhile, on the ground, locals are going about their lives although they are aware of the ADMM.
Soon Hock Lai, 64, who operates a taxi stand in Batu Ferringhi, said having the event at Batu Ferringhi will not make much of a difference to taxi drivers.
“Usually the guests come with drivers or designated cars and the others will call for e-hailing services.
“During events like these, they do not have much time to travel but the place might see more traffic.
“It is the off-season now and we do not have much of a crowd, so I expect it to be like any other day for us,” he said.
Zafrul Aziz, 32, who works at a local eatery selling nasi kandar and roti canai, said he is hopeful the officials might want to try some local food if they get bored with the dishes at the hotel.
“We are open till late at night, which means if someone is craving for some nasi kandar, they can just walk over.
“There is also a chance that the police personnel will drop by our stall,” he added. - Star

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