THE Penang government yesterday made it mandatory for all hawker fare to be prepared only by cooks who were local or had permanent resident status.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, in announcing the decision by the state executive council, said hawker stalls and centres would no longer be allowed to hire foreign cooks.
“The local councils have the right to revoke the hawker licences of those who hire foreign cooks.
“The decision is made to ensure that we retain our unique Penang and Malaysian flavours, he said.
However, the hawkers have been given a year to comply with the new ruling.
Speaking in a press conference here, yesterday, Lim said the ruling would apply to hawker centres, stalls and coffee shops, but not restaurants.
He said these outlets would also be required to display a standard sign that said only local cooks were employed on their premises.
The sign is in the process of being designed.
It is all right, however, for the hawkers to hire foreigners as kitchen helpers or servers, Lim added.
Meanwhile, the results of the survey, conducted from July 25 to Aug 31 to gather public opinion on whether foreigners should be allowed to cook hawker fare, showed that majority of the people approved of the ruling.
State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow, who announced the results of the survey, said 14,810 people on the island took part.
The respondents were mainly Penang folk and local tourists, aged from 20 to over 60.
“The face-to-face and online interviews found that 12,606, or 87.45 per cent, of those surveyed, were of the view that local fare must be prepared by local cooks.
“Also, 12,741 of the respondents agreed that the Penang Island Municipal Council should revoke the licences of those who engage foreigners to cook local dishes.
“Those who disagreed thought that hygiene and food handling practices should instead be enhanced, among other feedback received,” he said.
The same survey carried out by Seberang Perai Municipal Council drew 1,591 respondents. The results were also similar, with 85.3 per cent of the respondents saying no to foreign cooks and 85 per cent saying yes to the revocation of licences for failure to comply with the ruling.
Lim proposed the ruling earlier this year, which was subsequently backed by Tourism and Culture Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz and Pulai MP Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed.