Halal Move Pays Off For Chan
IT was definitely not easy for Chan Tuck Seng when he decided three decades ago to have only halal food hawkers operating from his coffeeshop in Ipoh.
Some of the hawkers who have been operating since the shop opened in 1973 were not happy when he told them that they had to stop using pork in their dishes.
Chan’s instructions were simple: Use only halal items to cater to Malay customers.
When Chan made that crucial decision in 1978, there were not that many Muslims frequenting his coffeeshop.
“Nevertheless, I told the hawkers that if they wanted to continue to operate from my coffeeshop, they must change to the halal menu. It was a very challenging decision.
“But I insisted because I foresaw that to keep the business going for years to come, I needed Muslim customers in my coffeeshop,” says 64-year-old Chan.
As word spread that there was a Chinese-owned coffeeshop in Canning Garden serving halal Chinese cuisine, more Muslims started to drop by for breakfast, lunch and evening snacks.
Today, 30 years later, close to 80 per cent of those who patronise Chan’s Restoran New Hollywood in Canning Garden are Muslims.
Some of them, like businessmen Zahrul Azri, 36, Sabri Ahmad, 38, and Zainal Md Yusof, 48, have been Chan’s regular customers for years and in fact even conduct their business transactions at the eatery.
Zahrul, for instance, has been frequenting Restoran New Hollywood almost daily since his teenage years.
“I love Chinese cooking and this is the only place in town where Muslims can get their favourite halal dishes,” says Zahrul.
“In fact, the halal fried kuey teow, beef noodles and Hong Kong-style chee cheong fun are the best that I have tasted so far.” He says even his friends from Kuala Lumpur and other states knew of Chan’s coffeeshop-restaurant and would readily agree to meet at the eatery whenever they came to Ipoh for visits.
Sabri says the restaurant not only served fine Chinese dishes but was also clean, airy and had ample public parking space, adding that many of his friends with taste for Chinese food would regularly come to the coffeeshop.
There are 15 food hawkers, of which 13 are Chinese, selling various styles of noodles, roti canai, chee cheong fun, yong tau foo, soups and banana leaf rice.
Chan, who is helped by daughter Chan Guey Mei, 40, says the hawkers are divided into two shifts with half of them operating between 7am and 12pm and the others between 12pm and 5pm.
The coffeeshop opens daily except on the first day of Chinese New Year.
Due to his shop’s strategic location, many traditional Chinese food hawkers were prepared to pay a high rental to carry out their business there but Chan had to reject them because they did not want to sell halal dishes.
Asked if he planned to open more halal outlets, Chan says: “I am happy with the business now. I have loyal customers ranging from top-ranking civil servants and servicemen, politicians, members of the royal household, businessmen to the ordinary man and woman.
“And, I am happier when I think that I have contributed towards the enrichment of the Malaysian food experience by promoting Chinese cuisine among the Malays.
“That decision to go halal which I made 30 years ago has paid off in more ways than one.”
New Straits Times