FROM SEKINCHAN, SELANGOR TO SITIAWAN, PERAK

米香堂 (Mi Xiang Tang) - Puffed rice being fried by this formidable woman at the Rice Factory Mill area. The process of making this puffed rice biscuits for all to admire!

The hot puffed rice being pressed and cut into smaller pieces after being scooped seconds ago from the frying giant wok. Definitely need customized tool for this part of the process.   

An overnight trip to Sitiawan, Perak from Kuala Lumpur via Kuala Selangor/Sekinchan. Stopped by Sekinchan, Selangor to visit the Paddy Gallery which was crowded with people thanks to the Aidilfitri holiday weekend which extended into Monday. I was fascinated by the making of 米香堂 (Mi Xiang Tang) at the Rice Mill Factory area and had shopped for 1kg of packaged rice bags at PLS Group's shop. Villa Chee D’bendang seafood restaurant was nearby so we had lunch there before I continued my drive via West Coast highway towards Sitiawan. I’d recommend the clams with garlic & ginger sauce dish at D’bendang. The fried egg with crabmeat was mediocre as was the stir-fried sweet potato leaves dish. The Sekinchan Rice Mill factory is featured in a website which you can view HERE and the PLS Group Rice Mill Sekinchan’s website can be viewed HERE. 

Jade green paddyfields of Sekinchan at Villa Chee with a colourful house topped with balloons that looks like the one from "UP" (2009) the Pixar animated movie. 

A swing designed in the style of a Baya Weaver's nest at Villa Chee.

Kampung Koh chilli sauce in a bottle has always been available in every table of a dimsum restaurant, so it was timely that I visited the village when I reached Sitiawan.

King Kampong Koh is a registered trademark which expires in 2033. The trademark holder is Kampong Koh Sdn Bhd, registered it under Class 30 (Chilli Sauce) with the translation of the three Chinese characters appearing in the mark ‘Gan Wen Ke’ which has no meaning. I don’t see the label King Kampong Koh chilli being used anymore on these chilli bottles due to the possible issue that could arise over the name which it seems based on the trademark report for this company's application, it is facing a disclaimer proceeding under section 10(2)b of the Trademarks Act 1976 which under the new Act could be due to a condition or limitation imposed by the Trademark Registrar under section 30 (Voluntary disclaimer, condition or limitation) of the Trademarks Act 2019. The Trademark Registrar may refuse any trademark application if such application contains or consists of any matters not allowed under the absolute and relative grounds for refusal of registration under sections 23 and 24 of the 2019 Act. The name of the village being included as part of the trademark being applied for could be the problematic in the eyes of the Trademark Registrar. Meeting the distinctive criteria of the 2019 Act is not easy. From the looks of the company's website which can be viewed HERE, I gather that the company focused on the name "King" for their product instead. Mural paintings of the Foochow working class adorn the walls of shoplots, a very unique display of Misua "noodles" (as pictured below) including a giant bowl of misua noodles with red rice wine vinegar and chicken drumstick with chopsticks suspended mid-air (as pictured below) were all a sight to behold along the cultural lane at Lorong Budaya Setia Kawan, Taman Desa Aman in Kampung Koh. It is heartening to see the traditional cultural heritage of the Foochow community being preserved alongside this lane. The painstaking process of making Foochow red wine is an article by Mildred Voon published on 5th February 2021. Very interesting to read about the Foochow settlements in Sitiawan, Perak and Sibu, Sarawak and how they brough their farming expertise along with them when they immigrated to Malaysia, to escape war & poverty in China during the early 1900s. Her article can be read HERE. The Sitiawan Settlement Museum Facebook page can be viewed HERE - I would have dearly loved to visit this museum which is located within the grounds of a school and a Methodist Church. Alas, I could only marvel at the building outside (as pictured below) since the museum closed by 5pm. The Two Good Elephants cafe was the only establishment which remained open during that public holiday. The cafes and bakery of Sitiawan are featured in my next post. 

The pastor who became the leader of the immigrants from Fuzhou, China is given due recognition in this display on the history of Kampung Koh  

A fresh batch of Kong Piah being prepared the day before. I placed an order on-the-spot to avoid the Sunday morning queue.

Sitiawan Settlement Museum - closed by 5pm on that Saturday and open by 2pm the following Sunday. I had to settle for an external view of the museum building. 

The Kong Piah from Kampung Koh - I bought the savoury ones

Blast to the past - breakfast at Sing Hing, a single-storey kopitiam next to the Kong Piah bakery. I sat in one of the tables under a tree in which the common iora was singing away