Wouldn’t it be good…

I stopped by one hawker stall here in Sibu the other day. It was located outside a coffee shop right next to the SESCO/Tenaga Nasional bill collection office in the vicinity of the Sibu Civic Centre.

I took a photo of the coffee shop but the people inside saw me doing it and were giving me some cold and unfriendly stares, so I deleted the picture right away. Actually, I was impressed by the way they kept everything covered like in some bakeries in town…

…and they had arranged it all nicely, so it looked very neat and presentable. Even the hot dogs and burgers appeared somewhat enticing…

Come to think of it, wouldn’t it be good if all the stalls around here do that  as well? Many, I’m afraid, do not bother to cover up the food at all. Of course, we can’t expect everybody to buy such nice plastic display cases like this one but the least they can do is to get a plastic sheet or use cling-wrap to keep any flies that may be flying around at bay.

A number of economical fast food outlets here keep the dishes in glass cabinets with mosquito-netting sliding doors on the inside which is a good thing. But in some of the places in the country that I have visited, I find all the food displayed in the open, totally exposed and imagine if a customer has a cough or a flu and lingers around the food, chances are the food would be contaminated and the germs would surely infect anyone patronising the place if his or her resistance happens to be low at that point in time.

It is usually quite bad in some of the towns that I’ve been to. In one of them, for instance, they have these miserable looking stalls by the roadside and should you happen to drop by there, I wouldn’t be surprised if you are so put off by the multitude of flies that swarm around the food that you would not have the appetite to eat anymore. I really wonder what the town council and the health authorities there are doing. Surely they do not need to wait for some severe disease outbreak before they bother to do anything?

Getting back to this particular hawker stall, I did buy a few items to sample but not the burgers and hot dogs as I am not really into those stuff. I bought the tapioca cake (kuih bingka bandung)…

This was 50 sen a piece and I had it cut into quarters. It was not too bad but a bit too sweet and I think they should add a bit more flour as it was too soft and sticky. Other than that, I also bought these…

The fritters (top) were nice but the sweet potato slices were a bit thin compared to those sold at the stall at a coffee shop in town (facing Chung Hua Primary School near Universal Stationery Shop/City Book Store). They’re selling them at only RM1.00 for three which is a bit cheaper than some other places, I think. Also in the photo are packets of glutinous rice (pulut) with gula melaka/apong-flavoured grated coconut on top and wrapped in banana leaves, also sold at 3 for RM1.00.

All in all, I found them pretty all right and I would not mind stopping there to buy some more, should I be passing that way again. For one thing, at least, they take the trouble to try and keep everything clean. …And wouldn’t it be good if everyone makes an effort to do the same too?