Survival Travel Food - The Ubiquitous Fried Rice

Took from the buffet line of One World Hotel Hi-Tea. One of the best fried rice ever!

Fried rice has been around since the eureka moment when moms tried to find ways to recycle their left-over rice. Each Chinese family up to as late as 2 generations ago would cook more rice than can be eaten. It is mainly because of superstition and for good luck. The leftover is a sign of abundance in the family and signify that food will never run out.

Mom would heat up the wok and drizzled some oil on it. She would then throw in some chopped garlic. It will be fried till brown and with the fragrance wafting through the air. The “yesterday’s” rice went in followed by generous sprinkling of soy sauce. The final product would be a plate of good food where the main component used was not fresh. What an irony!

I like my fried rice with the grains loose, fluffy and non-starchy. This can only be achieved with yesterday’s rice. It has a way of making the rice much less starchy. When fried it will not lump together but rather each grains will be separated from each other. With a strong fire it will be aromatic and have a strong wok-hei. It can be enhanced by putting in some crunchy diced vegetables and a ‘ton’ of fresh prawns. Topping it with a fried egg or cracking an egg on the wok and stirring the rice in will complete great comfort dish.

In many Cantonese restaurants dishing out fried rice is a skill that is hard to master for the apprentice. An equivalent in the western kitchen may be in the making a great omelet. So easy, yet so hard! The final frontier is how to get the egg into a wok of piping hot fried rice and by stirring, to lightly coat every single grain of rice! Of course, I am exaggerating but then that’s the goal to shoot for the Chinese chef.

Fried rice is a comfort food for many in Malaysia. As a frequent traveller, I go for fried rice for a quick psychological boost as it reminds me of home-cooked food. This gives me an “endorphin rush”. Honestly, there is nothing like having a full stomach of my familiar food in a faraway land.

It is also easily available as it is easy to cook. Any little shack of an eating joint can fried one up. It may be dilapidated and run down from age or built up from a patch up work of discarded materials. I just loved it sitting down in the heat of the day and sweating in some place far away like Mae Chan working on a project and still get my plate of fried rice.

One of the first words I learned in a foreign language will be fried rice. Language learning begins with food that I like. Progress will find its way from then on. Once you can say nasi goreng and khao phad, you won’t starve in at least 6 countries! An Indian friend of mine learned these magical words, “chow fan” and he is able to order his food like a pro in the Chinese Tai Chow in the 80’s, where food habit is still very much provincial and insular.

Finally, fried rice is always a clean food. As it has to be eaten immediately, there is no chance for flies to land on the hot plate of rice. Flies will only be dangerous they have a chance to do their thing on the food. It means cold food and left unattended. I have eaten fried rice in stalls with lots of flies and came out unscathed. Just remember, focus on ordering and eating just off the wok/pot/pan hot food.

How about flies landing on the plates, bowls and cutlery? My rule of thumb: generally flies land on food and drinks and not on bare utensils. Check and see if their dishes are clean, dry and not greasy. Then proceed with ordering your food. So don’t freak out! Go enjoy your fried rice!

Haze over Malaysia - June 2013

Clear blue skies after the haze's scare - 29th June 2013

Haze was something new to me as a greenhorn in the city. I guessed the same went for the rest of the KLites on that one fine day in 1983. The haze came in thick. It smelt acrid. None knew what it was all about. Perhaps this marked the onset of the critical mass for slash and burn practices. In the past, it was localised, this time the smoke and ash were carried across boundaries. Sad to say, thirty years later, we are still having these smoke and ash blown to our land on a regular basis.

I personally experienced the damaging effects when these micro-particulates were breathed in and subsequently lodged in the lungs. On different occasions in Malaysia and in North Thailand, I had to put on the N95 mask. Failing to do so will induced wheezing and red-eyes. My heart goes out to those who can't afford medical care especially in countries where free government medical services is non-existent. Really these poor folks cannot afford (pun intended) to fall sick.

In 1997, satellites’ photos pointed out conclusively the source of the haze. Despite the evidence, concerns raised by the affected countries were brushed aside. The politicians from where the haze came from made cynical remarks some were bordering on idiocy.

Forest burning in times past had limited impact even as these shifting cultivators practised the slash and burn method when they moved on after exhausting the nutrients on a particular piece of land. Their land was small and these were subsistence farmers. Still the results are there to see in Sarawak, Malaysia in the mid-80's and Mae Suay and other districts in North Thailand in early the 90's. Hills after rollicking hills were denuded.

We used to joke in the mid-90’s that if we were to bring these folks over to the green forests over our side they will be grinning from ear to ear. Imagine, once again they can hunt and plant. I recalled these tribal people were so willing to sell their traps as they have no more animals to hunt. In North Thailand, reforestation and education help and stiff fines convey the message clearly. Forests are once again thriving through concerted tree planting campaigns by government and NGOs. The greening of the land is happening.

Today, we are dealing with mass land clearing and burning. Thousands of hectarces of land are alienated at a go and given to agricultural conglomerate. The burning usually takes advantage of the dry season and all and sundry want to do it at the same time. Hence the environmental, health and economic disaster! USD9 billion was estimated to be lost during the 1997 haze season. The days of localised impact caused by shifting cultivators is over. And now the joke is being taken out on us by those who have learned their lessons well.

And for those who trusted ASEAN to solve the problems were in for a shock. Sixteen years on and the same issues are still on the diplomatic table: stop the burning, prevent a recurrence and deal with companies and individuals that practice open burning. There will be better action if only the Asean way of doing diplomatic business is done away with, at least for the sake of the populace’s health in these 3 countries. The practice of non-interference and consensus decision-making must be suspended and concrete action taken so that the saga of dangerous suspended particulates is eradicated once and for all.

Is that too much to ask?

King of Fruits - Durians

Enjoying a few arils of durians when it is in season is a popular past-time when I am in any of the South East Asian countries. Known as the king of the fruits here, there are many ways to say durians in these countries but all of them ring the same! Vietnamese – sau rieng, Thai – tukrian, Khmer – touren, Lao – thulian, Malaysia, Indonesia, Tagalog, Singapore and Brunei – durian.

We have fun especially calling on westerners who have just landed in South East Asia to have a go. Many contort their faces while having it. This riddle will be abundantly clear after they have tried it? What taste like ice-cream and smell like sewage?

To me the best durians in the world must be from Balik Pulau. There are so many varieties in smell, colour, size and texture. Generally Malaysians like the arils soft but having body and texture, strong smell, sweet with a hint of bitter and come with a small seed.

Every Malaysians, me included, want to believe we have an extensive database of durians’ knowledge. All culled from good and bad buys! And mind you bad buys are more than good buys. That’s where we learn. So imagine a local posing this question, “How do you pluck a durian?” It was almost sarilegious and go to show a lack of knowledge. You never pluck a durian in Malaysia. It is allowed to drop on its own at night and then rushed to the market by mid-day

I had enjoyed durians in Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Vietnam, Thailand. In the last few years I have seen more Thai varieties grown & sold in these nations. Thais like their durians hard (kaeng), we prefer them soft (nim). But whatever texture we want the seller with experience would be able to select the fruit in accordance to our preference. I used to get soft Chanee & Monthong at fraction of its price in Bangkok as it is considered spoilt goods!

We may boast of the best durians but it is un-exportable compare to Thai varieties which can be easily found in markets around the world. Durians in Thailand are plucked off the trees. Yes it's not ready to be eaten. But then it can be shipped around the world. Sellers use a slender stick to hit its shell to find out if it is ready to be consumed.

SS2 police station road will be packed with durian lovers big-spenders when it is in season - one for RM50 for a guaranteed fruit. Or for convenience, durian fixes can be administered at Giant supermarket especially after 9:30pm where these packed in Styrofoam trays can be had at 50% off.

Beyond eating it fresh, I like the sticky rice durian dessert. Thai sticky rice steamed to perfection. Top off with durians flesh cooked with coconut milk and lots of sugar. Off course we have durian puffs, ice-cream, doughnut etc and the redoubtable durian cake (dodol) made from less than desirable and rejected durians. The 'bad' durians (not ripe enough, over-ripe and with worms) are put in a huge wok & cooked in slow fire where it goes from gooey till firm enough to be rolled into cylinder shape.

And to the final frontier - Is there a market for genetically modified durian – a variety without thorns? Will it be a money losing venture? Durians without its thorns are unthinkable. “Duri” means thorns – in all its glory. So I can't imagine not donning gloves in splitting up the fruit. It is almost a ritual and this difficult exercise makes the eating of durians even more appealing. Bon appetit!

Banana – Food from God!

Well, Maria Sharapova bit into her banana at every break during the French Open. I for one like to have one for breakfast, lunch and dinner. While overseas, having a hand of banana in my room would be nice. Each bunch will have about 10- 15 hands yielding 200 bananas. Banana is grown all over the tropics, from Australia to Bangladesh and is shipped around the world.

Eating bananas take different art forms in different cultures. Some peel just a third and start eating - working the peel downwards till the delectable fruit is completely devoured. Some peel till mid-point others till end before they start eating. We're used to peeling from top. However, some break it in 2 & peel. Some break/split the skin from the middle and peel sideways i.e. to the left and right thus exposing the banana for consumption.

There is one culture that is hospitable to a fault. They peel the bananas and handle it with their bare hands and place it on serving plate. Of course many find it objectionable.

The Thai infants have banana as their first solid food. Thais believe that they will grow strong with this initial diet. They will be fed until they reject it. My favourite local bananas are the local Pisang Mas', Berangans and Rastalis rather than the Montels, Cavendishes and Doles. It is packed with potassium and is an energy-boosting fruit!

Banana can also be baked and fried. We have caramelised and savoury chips. When fried in oil it makes a great snack. In fact it is one of the favourite snack in South East Asia. If you are in Bandung lookout for Pisang Molen. My favourite is in the form of a Thai dessert. The bananas are sweetened and cooked with coconut milk and sago. Absolutely divine!

I consider the banana to be a really special food from God especially in the missions field. It is hygienic, nutritious, easy to eat, readily available, and tasty. Perhaps a very important factor is hygiene. It did not need any preparation thus would not need to compromise its natural state. It can be eaten by removing the protective peel. When I am travelling with group to the interior, I may buy a bunch. With a shelf life of at least three days and ready-to-eat familiar food, it promotes confidence when venturing into the unknown.

Dare to Dream

Abraham was called to enter into his Promise Land.

“Brothers and fathers, listen to me! The God of glory appeared to our father Abraham while he was still in Mesopotamia, before he lived in Harran. ‘Leave your country and your people,’ God said, ‘and go to the land I will show you.’ (Acts 7:2,3).

Following paths of least resistance, settling into the comfort zone and desire to be near the family will not deliver the promise of God (Gen 12:1). There is safety in numbers and birds of the same feather flock together but uncommon valour is seldom common commodity there.

Terah and King Uzziah

It is sad that sometimes Terah (Gen 11:32) and King Uzziah had to die (Isaiah 6:1) before we can continue on our journey to the Promise Land.

Dare to dream and live your life, not somebody's. Follow your dream or follow mediocrity.

Reasons and Excuses

Translating our dreams into the Promise Land requires sound reasoning. Abraham has to reason with his family and household to follow him (Gen 12:4,5). Coaxing, cajoling & persuading are leadership skills & not traits exclusive to the ladies' club. A sure winner when backed by great dream.

How else can we put that dream into practice? Let our reasons be persuasive and move hearts to a greater goal & good. Let reasons not be a camouflage for excuses to deflect, deny & delay.

Quantifying the Dream

Quantifying a dream is the first step to size down a gargantuan task into manageable portions. Without it expect complaints and discouragement. Quantifying will also provide a logical and proportionate response in resource and energy.

Do a work study. Check out the industry standard. How many units of resource is required? What kind of resource and when? Derive the units per hour or cost per hour etc.

Resoluteness and Discouragement

Discouragement is one of the greatest stealers of that dream. Entering this door will bring poverty of the spirit, creativity & joy. We need all these to navigate the various paths leading into the Promise Land.

Finally, resoluteness is a powerful intrinsic motivation to continue the journey no matter how difficult it has become. It is the desire to press on to the very end i.e. reaching the Promise Land. Resoluteness is not used just to face adversities only but also in the face seemingly irresistible temptations/distractions.

Nothing must detract us to secure that Promise Land the God of glory has given to us! (1 Cor 15:58).

Hope of the Church - The Gen - Y

Your people will volunteer freely in the day of Your power; In holy array, from the womb of the dawn, Your youth are to You as the dew. Psalm 110:3 (NASB)

When God in its sovereignty starts a movement there will always be an army of volunteers. They will volunteer freely and God's movement will never suffer lack and will have a dynamic positive inflow of workers. The army will serve with youthful vigour and will bring refreshing, like the morning dew to the movement as well as to those who are impacted by it!

But then let's take a look from another fresh angle, God's "youthful" and "dewful" people may just formed a God's movement with a Godly purpose and vision. The same way as when God started the movement, here the army of God seems to take the initiative. The brought what they have as well as who they are and parlayed it into a powerful movement.

The word "youth" here is more of a figure of speech referring to the motivated army of God (of all ages) serving with youthful enthusiasm and strength. But then it won't be difficult for me to have a literal interpretation of the word "youth". The young people especially the Gen - Y (aged between 18 and 31) can easily fit into the phrase, "Your youth are to You as the dew." All young people are important to any movement. They are the energy and the encouragement. And it is so easy for any church to miss this generation if we are not intentional in our efforts.

Gen - Y are characterised by at least these 5 common traits and we better leverage them for the Kingdom's sake.

1. They are digital natives.

They are the generation with the most tech brains and inclination to handle the tech tools of this age. Gen - X and the Boomers have to learn and navigate through these difficult waters in order not to come out short. Honestly, if we feel threaten by them and suppressed them it will be of no use as they will be able to open other doors of opportunities with or without our help given their skills and talents.

Engage them where they are. Use and showcase their innate talents and skills. The church will definitely need their talent in the sound, light, music, social media, communications etc etc. They are out there. Open doors for them to serve. Removed our stuffy and suffocating management, procedures, work styles and structures. Think digital scalability and opportunity rather than physical encumbrance and lack of resources.

2. They are trusting and optimistic. 

Who is not when they grew up well-provided and the most educated. When they are first thrust into the job-market they are idealistic and are ready to change the world with the best tools in hand. These tools are scalable digitally meaning there is no physical limitations and the sky is the limit. Let us build warm, trusting and genuine relationships with them. Don't take advantage of them and ride them as a donkey for they will wise up and we will lose that chance of a great relationship.

Policies of containment, curtailment, glass ceiling will drive these Gen - Y away. Dream with them. Open doors and believe in them. They best we will offer to them is to try to understand and learn they language of their tech and hearts and from there we will be able to surf with them through the complexities of today's world and learn to solve them together. It is not without the generation gap but at least a steady bridge is built to accommodate a two-way flow of trusting communications.

3. They are quick learners. 

Those that take their opportunities and work hard will move fast in matrix and project-oriented organisation. They don't want climb corporate ladders. It is only one route with one ladder. They rather spread their influence and burnish their reputation through quick take-up of new technologies and ability to function as a team. They can handle multiple responsibilities and answer to more than one superiors. The more web space (I mean spider matrix web) they have the better they will showcase their talent.

The  Boomers who understand them will appreciate these Gen - Y and will promote them faster and give them quicker and better raises. This will raise the ire of the Gen - X especially for those who are in the 40's and have become a deadwood and a liability to the organisation. This is compounded by the top management who is mostly boomers seeking to oust these Gen - X and replaced them with Gen - Y.

4. Google is their coach. 

Manuals are their instructors. Observe the Gen - X and Boomers. They talked a lot about trainers, mentors and coaches. These Gen - Y don't need any of these human detractors. They get on with it quietly learning and upskilling. Another obsolete work for the word for Gen - Y is the word term "course". The older generation will go for a course for anything new that requires learning and as usual they are more concern with fighting for a worthwhile "cause".

These Gen - Y may not be comfortable with the old buzzwords but we can rally them with "causes" and grandiose ideals and provide group mentoring and discipleship so that they have strong fundamental and platform for a long and lasting ministry.

5. They are communitised through the social network.

They tweet, we chirp (or cheap). They humanised themselves through social media while we hide through our masks. They rally in causes they believe in and quickly mobilised thoughts and signatures while we sit back and blamed society. They moved as a community and are very mobile. They jumped from causes to causes as our complex and sophisticated society comes out with more and more problems and issues.

We need to come out of our provincialism and insularity to engage them on societal wide issues and even issues of a global perspective. We can't hide in the walls of the church and play church while the world is changing and these Gen - Y want to engage the world and change the world through communitised efforts. Is the church having causes that are worthwhile and fulfill these criteria? Sometimes it is in the language our projects are couched in that need adjustment or maybe it is patronising attitude towars the younger set that drives these Gen - Y away.

Let's pray today that in the day of God's power the Gen -Y is there to offer their youthful strength and dewful encouragement.

Reference and adaptation from:
Randy Conley - http://leaderchat.org/2013/01/24/four-considerations-in-building-trust-with-millennials/

Hot, Lukewarm and Cold

15 I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! 16 So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth.  (Revelation 3:15,16)

HOT
(10%, 0.7 billion)

Know Jesus And Want Jesus

• Great Commission Christian
• Pray, Give and Go
• Hot for God/ God chasers
• Resisted the devil and submitted to God
• Act on their faith / Bear fruits
• Passionate about their faith
 
Action: Win the lukewarm and the cold

LUKEWARM
(20%, 1.4 billion)

1. Know Jesus But Do Not Want Jesus

• Lost their first love / Back sliden
• Deny their faith / Gone rogue / Sleeping with enemy
• Post modern faith
• Conform to the world. Entice by worldliness. Rom 12:2
 
Action: Repentance and Revival

2. Do Not Know Jesus But Want Jesus

• Nominal / Professing Christian
• Christian out of habit/tradition/family practices / own set and structures of beliefs
• Want to know God on their own terms
• Can be real stiff-necked and stubborn
• Religiosity / Legalistic
• Faith is in their mouth not heart / Faith in their head and not heart
• Head/mind knowledge vs heart faith
• Missed knowing God by 9inches.

 Action: Renewal and some to be Born Again

COLD
(70%, 4.9 billion)

1. Do Not Know Jesus And Do Not Want Jesus
(30%, 2.1 billion)

• Heard the Gospel but rejected it
• They are lost, unsaved, irreligious, and cold.
• Stone cold dead and honest about it

 Action: Need evangelism

2. Do Not Know Jesus Because Have Never Heard of the Name Jesus 
(40%, 2.8 billion)

• Have not heard the Gospel
• Exposed only to Indigenous pagan faith
• No chance as yet as never heard the gospel

Action: Need Missions

World Population of 7 Billion in Missions' Snapshot

The world's population had passed the 7 billion mark in Oct 2011. If I may divide the 7 billion into 4 Groupings using standard statistcis made available by missiologists it will simply look like this.

• 40% Unsaved that needs missions (2.8 bil),
• 30% Unsaved that neeeds evangelism (2.1 bil),
• 20% Nominal and Lost First Love Christians that needs renewal and repenrtance/revival respectively (1.4 bil),
• 10% Great Commission Christains who will Pray, Give and Go (0.7 bil).

I have added under the Nominal Grouping another segment called the Lost First Love Christians. They need revival and repentance to move back into the Great Commission Christian Grouping.

Forming Successful Partnerships

Lasting, mutually satisfying and God-honouring partnerships are keys to the missions' harvest. Knowing the face and the place are crucial first steps toward establishing a partnership in the missions field. The first impression and careful preliminary observations will give the Missions Director a lot of clues as to the potential success of the relationship that is about to be formed.

Six crucial observations to be made:

1. Are we on the same page in terms of vision and ministry? If not keep looking rather than settling with one that is bound for breakdown along the way.

2. Are we comfortable with their Board, leadership team and structure? Look for transparencies, accountability in their structure and men and women of integrity of serve in it.

3. Are they honouring and taking care of the field workers?

4. Are they just interested in aggressive marketing of their ‘products and services’ without trying to understand our vision and philosophy of ministry? 

5. Take in a big picture of their past history as well as what they have in store for the future. In short check their background and also their outlook of the future. Some are long on past success but short on present projects.

6. And finally, is there a future for the partnership envisioned? Be honest as at times short-term interest overwhelms our philosophy and convictions.

How far we move beyond the initial meetings will depend on the above 6 questions. There is also the consideration of magnitude and depth of the partnership to be built. Some are one-off while others may be short- mid- or long-term. These will be translated into a budget which reflects the potential partnership.

Vetting will takestime. There is an exchange of confidence and friendship. It goes beyond the dollar and cents. So the best way to build up the partnership will be doing a small pilot project together to gauge and build trust and working relationship. We will quickly come to grips and reality of this partnership very quickly when we work together.

By working together on a pilot we allow issues to surface and we determine if this working relationships is workable or due to differences on vision, operational, leadership perspective etc it will not go far. Then finish the pilot on a high note and terminate partnership and move on.