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Belacan

Migrant stories of yore from Malaysia by Farouk Gulsara

Ah Soh with Nand Lal, Saraswati’s son.
(Photo taken circa the early 2000s).
Courtesy: Farouk Gulsara
https://borderlessjournal.com/2023/08/14/belacan/


“There she goes again,” thought Saraswati as she cut vegetables she had never seen in her native country. “Here goes Ah Soh cooking her stinky dish again.”
Saraswati, Ah Soh and the rest of the pack are people commonly called fresh off the boat. They hail from various parts of China and India.

The loud beating of a metal ladle against a frying pan, accompanied by the shrilling Chinese opera over the radio and her shrieking at her children, need no guessing whose kitchen ‘aroma’ is coming from. Everyone knows Ah Soh is frying belacan, a fermented Malay shrimp paste.



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Location: Kampung Gunung Rapat, 31350 Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia

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