NATIONAL HERITAGE DEPARTMENT TO PROMOTE LOCAL FARE

KUALA LUMPUR, March 16 (Bernama) -- Malaysia will step up promotion of local
food overseas as a step to attract more tourists, said the Commissioner of the
Department of National Heritage, Professor Emeritus Zuraina Majid.

She said some 500 local recipes listed under national heritage had been
picked for promotion.

The recipes also cover various types of mixed food like Malay-Chinese food,
Malay-Indian fare, Malay-Thai delicacies and the like in the country.

"Listed food includes 'laksa'(popular spicy noodle soup) , 'nasi lemak'
(rice served with cucumber slices, small dried anchovies, roasted peanuts, stir
fried water convolvulus (kangkong), hard boiled egg, and hot spicy sauce and
'teh tarik' (hot tea) which are synonymous with the image of Malaysian society.

"All the listed food would be put on the department's website in Bahasa
Malaysia and would be translated later into other languages including English,"
she told reporters here Monday.


Zuraina said this July her department will begin the promotion programme in
selected restaurants and hotels in London.

Zuraina said the same promotion would be done on Malaysia Airlines'
international flights.

"We are preparing pamphlets on the foods so that foreigners can know the
nutrients in each serving," she said.

Zuraina also said the Department of National Heritage would step up efforts
to familiarise Form Two students, especially in rural and interior areas, on the
country's history through the Heritage Club programme.

The programme that was started two years ago has 18 branches with eight
started in 2007.

"We want all our teenagers to know the country's history as this way we can
instill the spirit of independence and love for the nation," she said.

--BERNAMA