A CASE OF THE RUNS ...

I got an interesting comment the other day from an ex-Penangite who now lives abroad. He visited Penang recently and, like all visitors, probably went overboard on our hawker food, but with unfortunate consequences: a case of the "Delhi Belly" or rather the "Penang Poos" ... in other words, the runs. Talk about, "Hey Ho, Skip to the Loo" ... !!

According to him, Penang stalls leave a lot to be desired when it comes to food and personal hygiene, even in the council-run hawker centres and food courts. Personally, I agree, and feel he has a very valid point. Some stalls are situated in the most undesirable spots - just take a look at the state of the walls behind this Chee Cheong Fun stall. Yet it has one of the best CCF around! And this is just a small example. At least he's wearing gloves and the work top is relatively clean and clutter free. But he's one of the minority.

The fact is I think we have grown immune to it, both literally and figuratively. Our bodies are used to it, and we no longer notice it and can eat at even the most slovenly stall or kopitiam.

There is no doubt that our hawker stalls could do with a bit of re-education when it comes to cleanliness and hygiene, although I don't think it's just Penang which lacks good standards. Many other places, all over Malaysia and indeed I would venture to say Asia, are just as bad, and when it comes to ISO - forget it! We wouldn't stand a chance.

However, the Hokkiens have a saying, "Labsab chiak, labsab tua" which literally translates to, "Rubbish eat, rubbish grow" - even when one has a less than ideal diet, you will still grow. Take it a bit further and actually a few germs are not that bad cos our bodies get used to it. In fact, sometimes when our diets are too "clean", a small amount of the not so clean can fell us quite easily as our immune systems have grown lazy.

And I feel there are two kinds of tummy upsets: one is when one has got out of the habit of eating hot spicy food and reacts, and the other is the REAL bad attack of bad bacteria! I used to suffer from it myself every time I returned to Penang on holiday, but it soon wore off after a day or two. Luckily, I never had the really bad attacks.

That's not to say that we shouldn't try and raise the standards of cleanliness at our hawker stalls and some restaurants, especially in view of the current H1N1 problem, but the question is, "HOW?"

After all, that is one reason why hawker food is so popular - it is cheap and cheerful, and if you were to sanitise it, it would lose a lot of its appeal, and raise the price considerably - rubber gloves, bleach, hot water and good washing-up liquid all cost money. That would be reflected in the cost we end up paying. And the oil price hike before and economic recession recently have already taken its toll on these stallholders: there are fewer people eating out now. In Penang to even raise the cost of a bowl of noodles by 30 sen is already an unpopular move. Can they afford to hike it up again?

It's a sensitive issue, and not one easily resolved. After all, that is one reason why cost of living in Malaysia is still relatively low compared to other countries which have strict hygienic regulations which are regularly and rigidly enforced.