Char kuay teow is a hawker favourite that has become a staple in Malaysian restaurants around the world. The origins of this dish reveal a lot about who emigrated from Malaysia and why.

The post-independence years in Malaysia were tense and race riots would trigger another State of Emergency in 1969. To quell civil unrest and alleviate poverty, the Government announced the New Economic Policy. Not everyone was happy with this new political trajectory and many left to build lives elsewhere.

Celebrity chef Julie Lin and her mum Lang Macleod share family tales on life in a Scottish-Malaysian household.

Resources and References

A History of Malaysia (2016), Barbara Watson Andaya, Leonard Y. Andaya

Borneo: The History of an Enigma (2026), Olivier Hein

Embedded Myths of Malaysia’s New Economic Policy, Christopher Choong Weng Tai, London School of Economics blog, 4 April 2022 https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/seac/2022/04/04/embedded-myths-of-malaysias-new-economic-policy/

Putting the Malaysian diaspora into perspective https://cs.stanford.edu/people/eroberts/cs181/projects/2010-11/BrainDrain/Malaysia.html

Credits

Hosted by Dr Noby Leong and Philip Gibson

Produced by Dr Noby Leong and Philip Gibson

Sound Design by Jack Barr

Satay? Okay! is produced by Kopi Productions Limited and supported by the Golden Chopsticks Scholarship, by the Oxford Cultural Collective Trust

Hawkers are the life blood of Malaysia's cuisines and custodians of some of the nation's most iconic dishes. Yet few realise the important role that hawkers played in the post-war years when the fledgling nation was on the brink of starvation.

After Japan surrendered and World War II ended, Britain regained control of Malaya. Calls for independence grew, yet Britain did not want to let go of its most economically-important colony. And so, conflict continued and an Emergency was declared.

Academic Kar Yern Chin is the author of Modern Pangs. His research into the politics of food and hunger reveal the enormous challenges in feeding a starving population after Malaysian gained independence.

Resources and References

A History of Malaysia (2016), Barbara Watson Andaya, Leonard Y. Andaya

Borneo: The History of an Enigma (2026), Olivier Hein

Modern Pangs: The Politics of Food & Hunger After Merdeka, 1957–1969 (2025), Kar Yern Chin

Malaya - Britain's forgotten war for rubber, Mark Curtis https://www.ehm.my/publications/articles/malaya%E2%80%94britains-forgotten-war-for-rubber

How Britain fought a guerrilla war during the Malayan Emergency, Imperial War Museum https://www.iwm.org.uk/history/cold-war/end-of-empire/malayan-emergency/how-britain-fought-a-guerrilla-war

British Malayan capitalism, 1874–1957: An economic-historical perspective, Dr Elsa Lafaye de Micheaux https://www.ehm.my/publications/articles/british-malayan-capitalism-1874%E2%80%931957-an-economic-historical-perspective

Clairmonte, Frederic F. “Malaysia: Development for Whom?” The Malaysian Economy: Structures and Dependenceby Khor Kok Peng. Economic and Political Weekly, vol. 19, no. 29, 1984, pp. 1146–49. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/4373434. Accessed 23 Aug. 2026.

Revealed: how Britain tried to legitimise Batang Kali massacre, Mark Townsend, The Guardian 6 May 2012 https://www.theguardian.com/world/2012/may/06/britain-batang-kali-massacre-malaysia

Relatives lose fight for inquiry into 1948 Batang Kali 'massacre', Owen Bowcott, The Guradian 25 November 2025 https://www.theguardian.com/law/2015/nov/25/relatives-lose-fight-for-inquiry-into-1948-batang-kali-massacre

Credits

Hosted by Dr Noby Leong and Philip Gibson

Produced by Dr Noby Leong and Philip Gibson

Sound Design by Jack Barr

Satay? Okay! is produced by Kopi Productions Limited and supported by the Golden Chopsticks Scholarship, by the Oxford Cultural Collective Trust

Nasi lemak is the national dish of Malaysia. Does this humble rice dish encapsulate the story of Malaysian independence?

The early 20th Century saw all parts of Malaya and north Borneo under some form of colonial control. But with the advent of World War II, the invasion by Japan would upend the lives of locals once again.

Cookbook author Kalsom Taib is older than the country of Malaysia. She was born during the occupation and shares what it was like in the years before, during and after the war. She also recounts how food has transformed over the decades, for better or worse.

Resources and References

A History of Malaysia (2016), Barbara Watson Andaya, Leonard Y. Andaya

Borneo: The History of an Enigma (2026), Olivier Hein

Druce, Stephen C and Nani Suryani Haji Abu Bakar. 2023. Brunei and the World Since 1984. Routledge Handbook of Contemporary Brunei, pp. 100-117. eds. Ooi Keat Gin and Victor T. King. London: Routledge.

"Scorched Earth" Policy Hansard Volume 377: debated on Thursday 8 January 1942 https://hansard.parliament.uk/commons/1942-01-08/debates/06602dd3-6929-4a8a-b4da-0c30b4427c9d/ScorchedEarthPolicy

SCORCHED EARTH POLICY IN MALAYA, The Canberra Times, 16 Jan 1942 Page 1 https://trove.nla.gov.au/newspaper/article/2585976

Operation Sook Ching by Stephanie Ho, National Library of Singapore https://www.nlb.gov.sg/main/article-detail?cmsuuid=cc4da337-3bcd-4f96-bdc6-5210646bdd90

Credits

Hosted by Dr Noby Leong and Philip Gibson

Produced by Dr Noby Leong and Philip Gibson

Sound Design by Jack Barr

Satay? Okay! is produced by Kopi Productions Limited and supported by the Golden Chopsticks Scholarship, by the Oxford Cultural Collective Trust