GOASIAPLUS January 2017
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
“Mr. Hiah’s shop<br />
supplies ingredients<br />
sourced from around<br />
the world.”<br />
Mr Hiah manning<br />
the cashier with his<br />
pipe and shelves of<br />
achievements.<br />
E<br />
very family has their Chinese dish staples<br />
during Chinese New Year featuring an array<br />
of interesting ingredients. These condiments<br />
are not only delicious to eat but have significant<br />
meaning to the Chinese like bringing good fortune<br />
and happiness as they bring in the New Year.<br />
To find out more, we visited Chinatown in Kuala<br />
Lumpur to one of the oldest Chinese ingredient<br />
shops in KL founded in 1958 called Kwang Yeow<br />
Heng. We met the owner, 92-year-old Mr. Hiah<br />
who handles the cashier like the boss he is, all with<br />
a smoking pipe in hand.<br />
He fled to Malaysia from China after the<br />
Sino-Japanese War and learned the ways of shop<br />
keeping from his brother-in-law who owned one.<br />
In 1958, Mr. Hiah branched out and opened his<br />
own shop in Petaling Street next to Central Market<br />
where he would personally transport his stock via<br />
trishaw, a story of struggle he told with teary eyes.<br />
Now 58 years later, Mr. Hiah’s shop is supplying<br />
to restaurants and hotels while serving his regulars<br />
with top notch ingredients sourced from around<br />
the world. We’re talking about sea cucumber from<br />
South Africa, abalone from Mexico and cashew<br />
nuts from India.<br />
32 · WWW.<strong>GOASIAPLUS</strong>.COM