My Morning with Mr Yeow

Mr. Yeow

Mr. Yeow is an institution at Pulau Tikus.  You might remember this little part of the island from a previous post. In English Pulau Tikus means Rat Island. I am not even going to ask how it got it’s name, none-the-less this little market is quite popular here on the north side. The Malaysian island of Penang is known for its amazing variety of food, most of it hawker food, bought and eaten right on the street. The Chinese dominate the hawker scene here on the island. Mr. Yeow is one of those hawkers. He has been making his living selling fresh steamed Chee Cheong Fun on the back of a bicycle at the same location for over 40 years. Chee Cheong Fun is a tasty steamed rice noodle dish served with a choice of sauces and sprinkled with sesame seeds. Yesterday, I decided to spend my morning with Mr. Yeow. Mr. Yeow could not understand why I would take his photo[1. you can see the EXIF data by holding your cursor over the image]. He wondered what I saw in him and his mobile kitchen. I saw dedication and hard work. I saw persistence in something that has developed for forty years. How rare is it for anyone in the west to do the same thing for forty years, let-a-lone in the same location and on the back of a bike! I saw heritage. I saw Penang.