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NST Online: StreetsJohor

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 10:44 AM PDT

2011/09/08
By Looi Sue-Chern

No shouting is required when buying fish at the Kuala Muda Whispering Fish Auction

KEPALA BATAS: Buying fish at the famous Kuala Muda Whispering Fish Auction at the Penang-Kedah border is an "intimate" affair.

No elbowing, pushing or shouting is required. Just by whispering is enough.

Fishermen returning from the sea carry their catches in baskets, trays or crates, and place them on the ground at the loading area for potential buyers to inspect.

Then, the bidding war begins in a very gentleman-like manner. The interested buyers take their turns to whisper their offers to the respective fishermen.

When the fishermen have decided on their preferred bidders, the catches are taken aside and the money is paid. There are no disputes.

The money is good, with the auction seeing thousands of ringgit change hands everyday from 10am until the last fishing boat empties its catches at about 2pm.

The whispering auction, according to the local community, has existed since the day of their forefathers and many claim that it is the only place in the country that featured such a unique practice.

Fishmonger Koay Beng Hock, 34, from Penang Island said he visits the auction every in the morning to get fresh supply of seafood for his stall in the Batu Lanchang afternoon market.

His family has been regulars at the auction for 30 years since the days of his father, he said.

"People come here from all over the state for the catches. You can get good bargains," he said.

The "whispering", he revealed, allowed each potential buyer to remain discreet about his offer and stand a better chance to get the catch but because most of the buyers there were regulars in the same business, they could each guess how much the other person was offering.

Most of the buyers are wholesalers and fishmongers. But the fishermen also sell their fish to restaurateurs and households in smaller numbers.

"That is why the fishermen never haul up all their catch at once, but break them up into smaller numbers to accommodate smaller groups of clients.

"This whispering arrangement benefits the fishermen as they can sell directly to their customers," said Kuala Muda Seberang Prai fishermen unit head Jasmin Saad.

He said there were some 250 fishermen operating on the Seberang Prai side of Kuala Muda while another 250 operated on the other side of the river in Kedah.

Durians — love them or loathe them

Posted: 08 Sep 2011 09:07 AM PDT

AT a recent fruit fest, the organisers generously provided some 800kg of durian for guests to enjoy.

The durian-tasting session was to start in half an hour but I saw a few die-hard durian lovers already at the fruit table and a line quickly formed behind them, snaking long and winding around the event area.

Once the D2, D13 and D24 durians were opened, these fans did not hesitate to pick up their share and even went back again and again to help themselves to more of the plump yellow-fleshed pieces of durian.

I was appalled at such selfish behaviour and much relieved when a staff stopped them from jumping queue and advised them to take their rightful turns for future helpings.

After all, there was a queue of people who had yet to savour their first morsels.

It was disturbing that these seemingly educated, civilised and matured-looking people were driven to behave in such an uncouth manner because of their desire for more durians.

At every season, it's common for unscrupulous durian sellers to take advantage of durian lovers, and I have heard tales of their greed to earn extra money through cheating by manipulating the weighing scales.

Or, by sleight of hand, they can switch a bag of carefully-chosen durians for rotten ones, so that by the time the unsuspecting customer discovers it at home, it would be too late or inconvenient to return the fruits.

This often happens at makeshift stalls because they know that customers cannot find them again at that same spot.

One devious durian dealer may never forget that day when he used this trick on my Uncle Roland, who did not take such dishonesty lightly.

My uncle was going from Johor Baru to visit relatives in Malacca and stopped along the way to buy some buah tangan (gifts that you take when visiting friends or relatives). How embarrassed he was when the durians he bought turned out to be rotten.

Now, every season when we come across any dodgy-looking durians, this incident is retold because we can never forget how my uncle went looking for that dishonest dealer.

Another favourite family durian anecdote involves Uncle Arthur who, as a boy, had the misfortune of being hit on his head by a falling durian.

At that time, the family lived in an area around a pond in Johor Baru, close to what is now known as Jalan Quek Keng Kang, where there were many durian, ciku, rambutan and starfruit trees.

When it happened, my uncle was momentarily stunned but thankfully had no lasting injury. He's a father of two and recently celebrated his 69th birthday.

With the durian season in full swing, I'm receiving invitations to durian plantations for durian feasts, but my first question is, "Do you provide helmets?"

They think I'm joking and just paranoid, but I don't fancy getting a thorny fruit falling from a height onto my head as that can cause serious damage. And I don't have a head as resilient as my uncle's!

Last week, when the topic of durians came up in conversation, my friend Linda confessed that she and her husband can skip a meal and substitute it with just durians.

If there was any excess, it would be packed and refrigerated, ready to be eaten for breakfast.

Unlike them, who have each other to share their durian craze, my Uncle Victor, the family's durian king, ironically married a woman who doesn't like fruits.

Maybe that's a good thing, since whenever his children were away, he would then bring his durians over to enjoy with us instead.

The other night, Uncle Victor brought a stash of the choicest kampung durian to share with us, and I observed how skillfully he opened the fruits and neatly split open every uneven wedge.

When a wedge that had worms was opened, he proved to be a fearless connoisseur who helped himself to whatever was in it. A lesser enthusiast might just discard whatever was worm-infested, but Uncle Victor made sure nothing was wasted.

Durian fans are aware of the fruit's "warming properties", so they counteract it by consuming various remedies believed to help cool the body system.

One way is to eat durian along with mangosteens. I was also taught the traditional method of mixing salt water in an empty pod to drink and wash my hand. Amazingly this will not only remove the pungent smell from my hand and mouth but will also discourage any throat infection.

During the season, some fans will buy fresh durian and pack them in deep freeze so that it can be taken out, thawed and slowly savoured whenever they had a craving for its delectable custard-like taste.

It's interesting that once you get past the smell, there's so much to enjoy and I take my hat off to foreigners with an adventurous palate who have acquired a taste for this fruit which is banned in many places because of its smell.

It's been described to smell like garbage, dead meat and dirty socks but love it or loathe it, durian is clearly here to stay.

Kredit: www.nst.com.my

Jumaat, 9 September 2011

NST Online: StreetsJohor

NST Online: StreetsJohor

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