Rocking oysters

The Star

Story and photos by LOH FOON FONG 

foonfong@thestar.com.my

A simple dressing of lime juice and Ah Chuan’s homemade chilli sauce is all that is needed for this raw oyster.

These molluscs come big and fresh in Sekinchan.

BEING a sucker for raw oysters, I was thrilled to hear that we could get fresh oysters in our backyard.

Not one who knew about oyster species, I decided to check it out anyway in Sekinchan recently. At Station 15 in Bagan Sekinchan (bagan means fishing village in Bahasa Malaysia) where the oysters were served, I was greeted by Loo Lee Chuan, or Ah Chuan, as he’s known, at his makeshift eatery.

Ah Chuan, 43, said that people knew Station 15 as the only place that currently offers raw oysters in Sekinchan.

The oyster feasting den fronts a pier where fishing boats dock. As half-naked men went about finishing their work for the day, Ah Chuan tapped on an oyster shell before prising it open. It was meaty.

He then washed it under running tap water and served it with lime and a homemade chilli dip.

Ah Chuan said that workers would go in small boats to rocky sites with an axe to harvest oysters.

“They can only collect the oysters during low tide,” he said, adding that harvesting could only be done 14 days a month and workers could reap around 3,000 oysters during that time.

The oysters were supplied by his fishermen friends and would be served within the day.

“The biggest oyster that fishermen here have come across weighed 3kg,” said Ah Chuan.

Ah Chuan showing oysters that have been prised open at his shop.

A normal-sized oyster weighs around 200g, which is considered small, while a medium one weighs 400g to 500g, he said. It takes four months for an oyster to grow to 200g, while the big ones are more than a year old.

The small oysters are priced from RM3 to RM6.

Ah Chuan served me one the size of half my fist, which was double or triple the size of the imported oysters I had eaten before.

I had never seen one that big for consumption. As I scooped the oyster into my mouth and bit into it, one portion of it felt luscious like abalone mushroom while another part was a combination of sorts – it had a seductive cheesy cream texture with a tinge of bitter, tangy and fresh sea flavour.

In short, glorious.

Ah Chuan, a fruit seller, said he started offering raw oysters and seafood dishes 11 months ago. For my dinner, he had also whipped up big prawns fried with black sauce, curry crabs (kum heong) and lala mee sua soup.

For me, the best way to enjoy the sweetness of fresh seafood was to eat it raw, as with the oysters, while the other items could either be boiled or stir-fried with a little seasoning. Ah Chuan’s dishes met my needs.

The flavour of the noodle soup was unusual and it took me a while to appreciate it. It was sour and a little salty, and reminded me of a balsamic vinegar dressing in salads.

Ah Chuan said that he had chosen the best mee sua he could find and it was from Rawang.

“The mee sua doesn’t expand and become soggy,” he said, adding that the noodles were already salted, so there was no need to add any salt.

This was also the first time I had seen lala on the shell compared to the often shrunken ones served in the city, which was a sign that they had been frozen for sometime.

The meal for two came up to a decent RM40, a price that I would certainly not find in Kuala Lumpur.

Ah Chuan said that people should call before coming to the restaurant to ensure there was enough fresh supply of seafood.

“I want people to take their time and enjoy the best here.”

Besides the dishes, Ah Chuan also sells prawn crackers which he fries himself.

Ah Chuan gives out his business card and said people could treat it as a “membership” card to his outlet. He also distributes the cards at Pantai Redang where he sells fruits.

In recent years, Sekinchan has been noticed as a holiday destination offering fishing villages, padi fields and bird watching as its attractions.

Sekinchan state assemblyman Ng Suee Lim has taken a personal interest in promoting tourism there and in the last five years, tourist numbers have increased.

Restaurants have sprouted up and busloads of tourists have been arriving in the small town. Ng said that he had also prepared a booklet on Sekinchan.

STATION 15
15 Lorong 10
Bagan Sekinchan
Sekinchan
Selangor
Tel: 019-644 7494

Health Ministry: No travel restrictions to Saudi Arabia over coronavirus scare

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

Health deputy director general (Public Health) Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaiman.

PUTRAJAYA: No travel restrictions have been imposed by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on travel to Saudi Arabia following the recent Middle East Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus (MERS-CoV) scare but the Health Ministry is taking the needed precautions.

Health deputy director general (Public Health) Datuk Dr Lokman Hakim Sulaimansaid that the Health Ministry was taking the necessary precaution by increasing communications with travel agencies for the Umrah and potential Haj travellers.

"We are ready for the Ramadan season," he said in a press conference after its excellent service awards ceremony here on Tuesday.

Dr Lokman also said that the Ministry had also enhanced its surveillance capacity and increased the capacity of its laboratories to detect the virus.

On June 5, the WHO issued an update to its travel recommendations for MERS-CoV previously published on May 20.

Since September 2012, more than 50 cases of MERS-CoV have been identified globally and about half of these people had died.

All cases identified so far have had either a direct or indirect connection with the Middle East.

GE13: Sekinchan farmers proud of their annual padi yield

The Star

By LOH FOON FONG

foonfong@thestar.com.my

Photos by AZLINA ABDULLAH

 

Local rice bowl: Sekinchan is made up of vast tracts of padi fields.

 

THE Sungai Besar parliamentary constituency is made up of padi fields and fishing villages.

In the Sekinchan and Sungai Panjang state seats — under the constituency — vast tracts of padi fields are visible, with egrets digging into the muddy ground.

Sekinchan was originally a fishing village in the 1920s. In 1953, the British segregated the villagers from the early Malayan Communist Party insurgents and sites A, B, C and Bagan were formed.

In the last decade or more, the constituency has been acknowledged for having the highest padi yield in the country.

This is the result of the farmers’ innovative spirit, diligence in adhering to standard operating procedure on land management and their use of mechanised farming methods.

At 8.5 tonne per hectare yield, it has produced an average 2.08 million tonnes of padi each year since 2006, making up almost 70% of the country’s local rice supply.

Almost half of 9,642 active farmers working on more than 19,000 ha of land in Selangor are from Sekinchan.

The area also has many orchards, with mangoes being one of the main crop, besides ciku, jambu air and jagung, which are sold at stalls lining the road leading into Sekinchan.

The Sungai Besar constituency is also known for its fishing villages — Bagan Sungai Besar and Bagan Sekinchan. With more than 2,000 fishermen in Bagan Sungai Besar and another 350 in Sekinchan, the Sungai Besar parliamentary seat has the highest number of fishermen in Selangor.

Seafood restaurants can be found everywhere and are known for their Teochew cooking style.

This is not surprising as almost all the fishermen in Bagan Sungai Besar and Sekinchan are Teochews.

Since Sekinchan has large padi fields and is near the coastal area, it is also a place for migratory birds sightings.

Sweet success: Aside from padi fields, Sungai Besar is home to many fruit orchards.

According to www.sekinchan.org, migratory birds could be sighted along Lorong 5 and Lorong 6 at Bagan Village.

Sungai Besar, the coastal town, is the centre of administration for Sabak Bernam district with many government offices and local authorities located there.

The Sungai Besar parliamentary seat (P93) falls in the Sabak Bernam district while its state seats are Sungai Panjang (N3) and Sekinchan (N4).

The Sungai Besar parliamentary seat was newly created for the 2004 general election. It was formerly a state seat, which no longer exist.

The two-term incumbent, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Noriah Kasnon, is said to be working hard to keep her seat.

Noriah is expected to defend her seat against a PAS condidate.

For the Sungai Panjang seat, Sungai Besar Umno Youth chief Budiman Mohd Zohdi is said to be a likely candidate.

The incumbent Dr Mohamad Khir Toyo, former Selangor Mentri Besar, was found guilty of graft in December 2011 and has been sentenced to a year’s jail.

Sungai Besar PAS chief Ustaz Mohd Fadzlin Taslimin is said to likely put up a fight for the seat again. He lost to Dr Khir in the last election by more than 5,000 votes.

For the Sekinchan seat, incumbent DAP deputy secretary for Selangor, Ng Suee Lim, who speaks fluent Javanese is popular with the Malays there, is likely to defend his seat.

The names of potential candidates from Barisan Nasional include Sungai Besar MCA division chairman Kek Seng Hooi, Sungai Besar MCA Public Complaints Bureau head Law Kok Chai and Sungai Besar MCA Youth deputy chief Pua Lai Hoon.

Village C Sekinchan farmer Ng Oon Chai, 50, said farmers in Sekinchan were very experienced and produced the highest padi yield in South-East Asia, on par with the Taiwanese and South Koreans.

He said they were also able to produce high quality fragrant rice but the main challenge was that they were not able to sell higher than the price capped by the Government at RM1.15 per kg.

“The high quality fragrant rice that we produce can fetch RM5 to RM6 a kilogramme,” said the father of five children.

Ng said the price should be left to the open market and industry monopoly should end as it stifled its potential to do better and reap higher income.

He said the Taiwanese government encourages their padi farmers to improve their skills and reap better quality yield, and this should be emulated here as well.

Meanwhile, Parit 2 Sungai Haji Dorani village head Safie Zakaria said the drainage system at his village was inadequate.

“We don’t have enough water for the padi fields, especially during dry season. If there is adequate water, the yield can be increased,” he said.

Safie said farmers also felt that the padi price set at RM1,200 per tonne was too low and hoped it could be increased to RM1,500 as the cost of managing padi fields was increasing despite government subsidy.

“The farmers prefer that the price of rice follows the open market,” he said.

He also said the amount of spoilage of 18kg out of 100kg that was removed from their payment by Bernas should be reduced to 15kg as many of them produced good quality rice.

Safie added that there was a lack of tourism promotion for his area although the potential was great. Unknown to many, fireflies can also be sighted in Sungai Panjang.

Federal village head committee (JKKKP) chairman for Bagan Sungai Besar, Chia Hiyok Cheng, said most of the fishermen in his area were categorised as Zone B fishermen.

Chia said they wanted the Government to allow them to hire foreign workers so they could expand their business.

Currently, only Zone C fishermen with boats weighing more than 40 tonnes, are allowed to hire foreign workers.

He also said the Chinese burial land in Sungai Besar was getting scarce and in need of upgrading.
Azman Mohd Hanafiah, 39, and his wife Norasyikin Kamaruzaman, 20, who operate a sugar cane stall by the roadside in Jalan Sungai Panjang, said they were contented with life there.

“We have everything here, including Chinese and Tamil schools. We have libraries, too,” said Norasyikin.

Azman, who shares a 1.2ha padi field with an aunt, said the water supply in his area was adequate but the drains were small.

His only grouses were that the roads were riddled with potholes while the nearest hospital, Hospital Sabak Bernam, lacked specialists.

Check out The Star's Elections Guide For Newbies

Bandung conundrum

The Star

By LOH FOON FONG

foonfong@thestar.com.my
star2travel@thestar.com.my

Rumah Ebo, on No.27, Jalan Imam Bonjol, Bandung, has a garden filled with various plants, including durian trees.

What do you do in Bandung – read a book? Perhaps there’s more to the place than meets the eye!

THE dreadful, uncivilised early hours of the day that I had to wade through to fly to Bandung was quickly usurped by an unexpectedly glorious Sunday morning on Jalan Dago.

While on the way from the airport to the Rumah Ebo guesthouse near Jalan Dago, the taxi driver said that the road was closed on Sundays to allow Bandung folks to hold activities for relaxation.

Once at the guesthouse at 9am, I left my bag at the reception and headed straight for Jalan Dago. Street bands occupied every other corner of the street, and ballads and rock music filled the fresh cool Bandung air. People were walking and cycling, and some were giving acrobatic performances and selling finger food and drinks.

The place was a hive of activities, and one young man even handed me a leaflet, asking if I would like to share stories about my profession to inspire children from poor economic backgrounds to dream of a better future. I almost said yes, but had to tell him that I was Malaysian and was on holiday.

Tired of taking photographs and walking the long stretch of road, I made a pit stop at Sam’s Strawberry Corner, where I ordered a bowl of mie baso (noodles with beef balls), a small glass of fresh strawberry smoothy and a local tapioca dessert wrapped in banana leaf. The meal, which came up to around RM12, was very satisfying – the noodles dense and beef balls tasty, the dessert with rich coconut milk heavenly, while the strawberries, locally produced, were generously blend-packed in the small 150ml glass.

After lunch, I hit the factory outlets along Jalan Dago. The Tintin reporter in me gravitated towards the sturdy Lacoste wear. A polo dress and three polo T-shirts surprisingly came up to only 540,900 rupiah (RM180), possibly one-third of the price back home.

Tired, I went back to the guesthouse and took a nap and showered, before going for dinner at Cabe Rawit around the corner. The Sundanese nasi timbel (30,000 rupiah/RM10), comprising rice wrapped in banana leaf, a local ulam with sambal, a piece of choice meat and softtempe, were delicious.

It was a cool, windy and chilly day when the writer visited Kawah Ratu crater.

And of course, in Bandung the other drink that one must have besides a strawberry blend is the alpukat (avacado) smoothies.

Resting in cool weather and reading Bob Buford’s HalfTime to begin a slow, year-long journey of contemplation about the next stage of life were top of my to-do-list this holiday while enjoying local cuisine as well as cultural and geological sites. In between activities, I happened to notice that the Bakmi Jowo DU67 on No.67 – on Jalan Dipatiukur, not too far from Rumah Ebo – was crowded with locals when I took a walk in the night alone (Bandung, I was told, is generally safe).

Seated in a nicely set-up warung-like shop, I ordered bakmi goreng(20,000 rupiah/RM6.40) and guava juice without sugar (8,000 rupiah/RM2.50). Although the bakmi goreng flavour was mild and decent, I could not help comparing it with our own char keow teow. The bakmi was no comparison.

On one of the four days, I hired a driver and a vehicle for 445,000 rupiah (RM142) to travel out, and Rumah Ebo supplied me with driver Pak Sukirman and a Toyoto Avanza for a 12-hour service. The vehicle could fit seven passengers and is economical for a family trip, and the cost is the same whether you are alone or in a group.

The journey to the active volcano, Gunung Tangkuban Perahu, 30km north of Bandung city, took an hour, and the rain in the early dawn made the weather even cooler, which was nice. The cost of hiring a driver and a van for a whole day may be affordable but the many other fees one has to pay along the way are generally a bit costlier than at most Malaysian destinations.

The entrance fee to Tangkuban Perahu is 65,000 rupiah (RM20) and it costs another 300,000 rupiah (RM100) just to hire a guide to walk you 1km down to Kawah Domas crater where you could dip in a mud pool.

Pak Sukirman had warned me to ignore the peddlers who were prone to overcharging. As I was not interested in buying any of the trinkets, it was not an issue.

Anyway, the name Tangkuban Perahu (meaning “flipped over boat” in Sundanese) was derived from a legend about a young man, Sangkuriang, who was banished by his mother. He wanted to marry her and so built an ark but was thwarted in his plans. In a fit of anger, he overturned the vessel.

It was around 17°C at Kawah Ratu crater, and it was windy and chilly. The site was beautiful and worth the trip out.

A hive of activity: Jalan Dago in Bandung is closed off to motorised vehicles every Sunday to allow the local folk to hold various activities for relaxation.

My next stop was the Kavling Stroberi farm. We drove past lovely rows of plant nurseries which Pak Sukirman said were supplied to Bandung folk. Entry to the strawberry farm was 16,000 rupiah (RM5) but at least it came with a cup of fresh strawberry smoothie.

It was nice picking strawberries on a weekday as the crowd had done their share during the weekend, but the downside was that there were fewer strawberries left to be picked. At the store, the strawberry dodolcaught my attention, and I bought a few packs.

Lunch was a choice between Kampung Daun and Sapu Lidi restaurants. While the meals in the former are served in a lush forest in Kampung Daun, those in the latter are served amidst paddy fields. Both have lovely surroundings.

I chose Kampung Daun and ordered baso malang campur and alpukat. Although pricey, the meal was worthwhile as the dishes had such refined flavours and were the best I had sampled in Bandung.

Pak Sukirman then drove me to Jalan Setiabudi and Jalan Riau for a two-hour shopping trip. But the clothes there were no different from those sold in our shopping malls, and I preferred the shops in Jalan Dago. At 2.30pm, Pak Sukirman drove me to Saung Angklung Udjo, for anangklung (musical instrument made from bamboo) performance by children two years old and above.

He said it was rare for Malaysians to ask him for anything cultural as almost all wanted only to shop when in Bandung. The offerings for the day included angklung performances by groups of various ages, Wayang Golek, a procession for a boy’s circumcision and cultural dances.

We were also taught to play the angklung to the tunes of Burung Kakak Tua, Michael Jackson’s We Are the World, Teresa Teng’s The Moon Represents My Heart and Elvis Presley’s Can’t Help Falling in Love, among others.

The coordinated rattlings from individuals, each holding an angklung of a note and altogether completing a melody, was an exhilarating experience. If you have no knowledge for the angklung, you may just fall in love with the soothing tune and calming effect.

The session ended with senior students performing classical music with many sets of angklung in front of them. The emcees said they had performed in Washington DC before an audience of 3,000, and they would do it again before an audience of 5,000.

At the end of the show, we were invited to dance with the children. I politely declined a couple of them until an adorable little boy age around age three came straight at me and stretched out his hand.

How could anyone turn him down and dampen his spirit for life?

I took his hand and marched down to the performance floor. The little gentleman was as focused as a Buckingham palace guard in performing the folk dance, and took charge in initiating steps so I could follow. So serious was he that he did not answer me when asked for his name twice.

For dinner, Pak Sukirman introduced me to Karamba Bistro, and I hadnasi liwet, more similar to Malay food than nasi timbel. Unfortunately, my stomach did not take too well to the sambal belacan there. The following day, I decided to return to Sam’s Strawberry Corner again for the pangsit babak and ceret and alpukat juice again.

Not understanding the locals’ explanation of the dishes, I took the chance to try them anyway.

The pangsit babak turned out to be noodles with finely flossed chicken that tasted like wantan noodles, and a bowl of soup filled with some animal stomach parts and two dumplings with fillings that tasted like beef.

They were delicious.

The day before, Pak Sukirman had pointed out that I could buy some local cakes from Kartikasari on Jalan Dago. Although not a fan of Indonesian layer cake, I bought a box home as a treat for friends.

I had chosen Bandung as a holiday destination for its cool weather and was pleasantly surprised by the nice food and people. I could not proceed with HalfTime after a few chapters, as it posed some very hard questions, such as what to write for one’s own epitaph and how one wanted to be remembered before one charts the next stage of life.

There are surely more questions to come, and Bandung is a place where I feel very comfortable in on this leg of my journey.

After the quake

Weekender, The Star
Story and photos by LOH FOON FONG

Japan is still recovering from the earthquake and tsunami in March, but the people are unbowed and continue to exude warmth and generosity.

THE crowd at the Universal Studio in Osaka was only a quarter of what I had expected. The numbers had not returned to “normal” since the earthquake in Sendai on March 11.

Business was still slow three months after the tsunami.

Not one to thrive on crazy rides, I hesitated at a roller coaster ride but then thought I should experience it now before I was too old to do it anymore. I shut my eyes the moment the coaster moved high up and started plunging downwards and side-ways, speeding up and down mercilessly.

I dared not open my eyes, and just when I could not bear it any longer, the ride ended. Phew! Feeling like a nervous wreck, I shuddered at the thought of another ride. But then after lunch, the Spiderman 3-D adventure beckoned, and we couldn’t resist. Hopping on board, we saw Spiderman swinging and fighting the bad guys high in the air as our jeep escaped the attacks of strange huge creatures and from falling from midair.

Standing tall: The Statue of Liberty and the Rainbow bridge in Odaiba snapped from the Aqua City Mall.

The ride, filled with special effects including fire and water targeted at us, made us feel like we were in the thick of action.

We had landed in Osaka on June 5 for a tour organised by Apple Vacations & Conventions and immediately commenced our tour of this river city with many bridges before we ended up at Universal Studio. Come dinner, we had fugu (puffer fish) – raw, fried, as well as syabu-syabu style (steamboat) – at the Zuboraya on Dotonburi Road.

I liked the fried version best. Raw puffer fish is chewy and without much flavour. However, the porridge was what surprised me the most. Watching the waitress adding overcooked rice and raw eggs into the steamboat soup with fugu and vegetables in it did not impress me, but I took a scoop anyway. It was surprisingly delicious, and I ended up eating two bowls despite being full.

We took a walk after dinner and came across live puffer fish in an aquarium at the Genpin Fugu restaurant. The restaurant has apparently been around for 30 years and has more than 100 outlets throughout Japan.

Genpin uses Tora fugu (Tiger puffer), reportedly the best puffer fish there is. We were taking pictures of the fish when an employee came out and started speaking to our guides in Japanese. Wary, I stopped taking the pictures but then he scooped out a fish to show us.

“The bigger fish can blow up to as big as a basketball,” said Shinya Nakamura, 30, the restaurant manager.

When I asked for permission to take a picture of him, Nakamura ran into the restaurant and came out with a gift bag containing a few stalks of carnations, a bottle of Japanese sauce and sparkling drink.

Genpin Fugu restaurant manager, Shinya Nakamura, with a puffed-up fugu.

Stunned, I refused but he insisted. His appreciative gesture and business skills floored us. The difficult economic situation had not hampered the Japanese generosity – I saw this throughout my six-day stay here.

We put up the night at Cross Hotel Osaka, a combination of modern furniture and zen-like atmosphere. It served the best breakfast of the trip – extremely fresh and crisp salad, and sausages and bacon that were top-notch.

The following day, we headed for Kyoto, 50km away, stopping first at Kiyomizo Temple, a Unesco Heritage site with a lovely view. Founded in 798 and rebuilt in 1633 by the third Tokugawa shogun, Iemitsu, the temple occupies a high point on Mt Otowa, with its main hall constructed over a cliff.

We then made our way to Gion, an ancient district in Kyoto famed for its traditional hut-like structures and the geisha who we could occasionally glimpse on the street. After that, we hopped on the Shinkansen (bullet train) from Kyoto to Hamamatsu.

The journey took us one hour, instead of three by bus. At the Hamamatsu train station, we stepped into Tonkatsu Wako for dinner. The food served looked like over-fried meat but we were told it was good. Indeed, I was surprised by how the pork cutlet coated with breadcrumbs was so delicious and crispy. It was succulent on the inside, with excellent meat flavour and texture.

Their tonkatsu sets came with the standard rice, miso soup, pickles, and tea, and were priced between 1,100 yen (RM42) and 1,600 yen (RM60).

At the Okura Act City Hotel in Hamamatsu, rooms department manager, Hideki Matsuura, said we were the first Malaysian tour group he had encountered after the earthquake. He said the hotel had only recovered 10% of their customers since the tragedy.

“All 50 tour groups from Malaysia that were supposed to turn up for the cherry blossom season in May and June cancelled,” he said, adding that Malaysians made up 18% of the tourists at the 45-storey hotel.

As the hotel catered to many local businessmen travelling between Osaka and Tokyo, Matsuura said he had not expected business to be very bad, but he was wrong.

An old trade in Kyoto.

“Now, we don’t know when they are coming back,” he said, explaining that local business travellers now did day-trips instead of staying overnight because business was bad.

At Owakudani, a volcanic valley with active sulphur vents and hot springs in Hakone, Kanagawa Prefecture, we enjoyed the scenic site despite the sewage-like odour. We had eggs boiled in the hot springs. The eggs had turned black and smelled slightly sulphuric.Apparently, eating them increases longevity.

Lake Ashi was our next stop, and it was rather deserted. At the Izu Hakone Railway station, sales and marketing manager Uematsu Kazuo said his area usually received 70% of the annual two million visitors to Mt Fuji, but for a month after the earthquake, no visitors came.

“It was a big loss for us,” he said. Fortunately, locals started to return a month after that and foreigners two months later.

“There’s no point for our government to say Japan is safe. People are not coming back, but foreigners who have come and seen for themselves and told others make a big difference,” said Kazuo, who generously treated us to lunch, refusing payment and even packing gifts for us.

Later in the evening, our bus stopped at the Factory Outlet in Gotemba for us to do a bit of shopping. After that, we made for the Fuji Mihana Hotel, where rooms were designed à la ryokan with futon on a tatamimat.

The highlight of our dinner was the huge Tarabagani crab (Alaska crab), which cost RM800 per crustacean, and assorted sashimi.

After dinner, we ran into a Malaysian tourist at the hotel.

It was the first trip to Japan for Raymond Gan, 47, and his family. Gan said he was impressed with the cleanliness, efficiency and friendliness of the Japanese. He said he did not worry about coming to Japan after the earthquake, but was concerned about food contamination.

A Japanese-style barbecue with fresh mushrooms and chillies, and crab brain (right).

“There are so many people here and they are not worried about the food, so I thought, why should I worry?” Gan said, adding that he then decided to snap up the deals on offer.

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) is among those that are offering attractive deals to Japan. It’s currently offering promotional fares starting from RM899 to support Malaysian tour operators, said regional vice president for Malaysia, Azman Ahmad.

Azman said prior to the tragedy, MAS flights to Japan were at 80% full or more, but after the tsunami, this went down to 20%.

“Currently, it is still low, and that is why we are offering the promotions,” he explained.

At the Fuji Mihana Hotel, owner Setsu Shintou said the number of lodgers from March to June were only 10% the number from the year before. He said 30% of Taiwanese, who made up half of the visitors to the hotel, had started to return, followed by the Thais and Malaysians.

Shintou, a former professional baseball player from Taiwan and a naturalised Japanese, said his two hotels and a restaurant were closed for one-and-a-half months after the quake, with huge losses incurred.

The following day, we headed towards Tokyo. The tour took us to Asakusa Temple and later, a walk around Ginza, where those with deep pockets could shop for premium items and the nicest things money could buy. In the evening, we had a train-ride from Shinjuku to Okubo station where we savoured seafood barbecue at the Fresh Seafood BBQ Restaurant.

Huge clams and crab brain (Kanimiso Kola) were certainly new to me. The crab brain has a creamy cheese texture and was tasty, but a bit too sweet for my liking. My favourites were the tuna, mildly baked in black pepper, butter and garlic, and the simple but tasty grilled mushroom and green chillies.

Restaurant owner Takeda Mitsuhiro said 30% of Taiwanese tourists had returned to his restaurant, and Thais and Malaysians had begun to return, too. He said he lost 20,000 tourists for a whole month after the earthquake.

Mitsuhiro, who is of Vietnamese ancestry, said the Japanese were very thorough when it came to food safety. They would not feed people food that was not safe.

After dinner, I decided to meet up with two Japanese friends.

Yuko Ito said they had so many aftershocks that many people felt dizzy and nauseous.

“A lot of Japanese are avoiding the beaches in Tokyo, Kanagawa, Shizuoka and Chiba this summer for fear of a tsunami,” she said.

Asahi Shimbun staff writer Daisuke Igarashi said the streets in Tokyo were quite deserted after the tragedy.

“There were hardly any foreigners for a whole month after the earthquake,” he recalled.

At Tokyo Disneyland the following day, we could see that the turnout was not great.

Tsutomo Takeuchi, from Tokyo Disneyland’s marketing department, said the March quake was the worst he had experienced.

“We could not even keep standing,” he remembered.

Tokyo Disneyland is hopeful that the summer promotion from mid-July to August would see a return of the crowds.

In the evening, we stopped by Aqua City Mall in Odaiba to capture a picture of the Statue of Liberty replica with the Rainbow Bridge in the background. Business at the mall had clearly not been spared. The prices of clothes prices had been slashed, and so for the first time in five visits, I bought clothes from Tokyo. Fancy that.

On this visit, although some of the sites were already familiar to me, I found the variety of Japanese food to be a pleasant surprise. However, what stood out the most was the warmth and generosity of the Japanese people in the midst a national tragedy.

Healthy, friendly Japan

The Star

The Japanese are known to have the longest life span on earth, and that has not happened by chance. The Star had a glimpse of their mindful and purposeful healthy living practices that amazingly permeates all aspects of their lives.

Japanese school lunch programme

By LOH FOON FONG

MANY have wondered and even examined the diet and lifestyle that contribute to the long life span of the Japanese.

With life expectancy a high 82 years, they are the most long-lived people in the world and it is widely known that the low-fat traditional Japanese diet, made up of rice, some meat, various vegetables and soy-based products, has a lot to do with it.

“The longevity that the Japanese enjoy today is the result of their consumption of traditional Japanese food, although that may not be the practice now,” said Futami Daisuke, senior managing director at the Japan Dietetic Association in Tokyo recently.

The Japanese government provides healthy lunches to almost all public schools to encourage children to eat healthily.

Today, Japan battles with obesity and lifestyle-related diseases like any other advanced nation.

According to the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare’s National Health and Nutrition Survey, the proportion of obese (BMI 25 or more) Japanese men in 2005 increased, with one in three men between 40 and 60 years old affected.

Ironically, among its women, one in five between ages 20 and 30 are too thin (BMI 18.5 or below), resulting in low birth weight babies, said Daisuke.

Will the growing obesity problem shorten the lives of the Japanese?

Daisuke said it is unlikely.

“In fact, with better diet, it is possible for our life expectancy to increase by another three years,” he said.

Knowing the benefits of the Japanese traditional diet is one thing, but maintaining the good diet can be a challenge amidst burgeoning fast food and pre-packed meals.

In this respect, the Japanese do not take things lying down but continue to beef up healthy diet efforts.

In schools, for instance, despite more than half a century after World War II, and with most Japanese no longer poor, the Government continues to provide healthy lunch meals at a highly subsidised rate in public schools.

“Almost all public schools have lunch meals based mainly on the traditional Japanese diet. This is to encourage good diet and healthy eating habits,” said Daisuke, one of the speakers invited by Yakult Honsha to give foreign journalists a talk on the Japanese health status.

More than that, in recent years, a national registered dietician is put in every school. Besides planning for the children’s diet, they now teach children about balanced and healthy diets, he said.

“This is an unprecedented initiative in the world,” he said.

Before, only one dietician takes charge of several schools to ensure proper meals are planned for the children.

The Japanese’s longevity is not just based on good diet but also supported by a good health system and government initiatives that promote healthy living, said Daisuke.

Their health efforts received a greater boost in mid 2005 when the Syokuiku Promotion Law (that draws out the basic philosophy for dietary education and legal framework) was introduced.

“Syokuiku Promotion is necessary for living and is considered an intellectual, moral and physical education necessity,” said Miho Kawano, assistant counsellor at the Food Promotion Cabinet Office.

It is a national movement that nurtures people into practising a healthy lifestyle, she said in her talk Formulation of Basic Syokuiku Promotion Law and Syokuiku Promotion.

(The Syokuiku Promotion Law is currently voluntary for the people and organisations to implement.)

The Syokuiku Promotion is not only about improving diet but also about deepening understanding and appreciation of food, continuing traditional food culture practices and considering diet that takes advantage of regional uniqueness,” she said.

That is because, just like other advanced countries, Kawano said there is concern in Japan about dietary change due to lifestyle changes, increase in nutritionally unbalanced or irregular foods, increase in obesity and lifestyle related diseases, increase in extremely thin women, outbreaks linked to food safety, dependence on food from abroad and loss of traditional culinary culture.

Children are having dinner with the whole family less frequently, and there is an increasing trend for people to eat out, eat pre-prepared foods and skipping breakfast, she said.

There is also a trend towards taking excessive amount of fat and less vegetables, she said.

More than 16.2 million people or 1% of the population are suspected of having diabetes, and one in two men or one in five women between ages 40 and 74 are suspected of having metabolic syndrome, she said.

To increase health awareness, a handbook on dietary education is distributed to families, nurseries and schools, she said.

“There was an aggressive introduction of local cuisine into school lunches and schools are encouraged to use food ingredients from their own prefecture. This is to encourage them to appreciate local produce,” she said.

National registered dieticians, chefs and cooks are stationed in schools to beef up health awareness and create a healthy diet, she said.

In the larger community, communication is encouraged between manufacturers and consumers and farmers are encouraged to rejuvenate environmentally sound practices in the agriculture, forestry and fishing industries.

The promotion of these practices are done through hands-on activities for children such as cutting rice and working in a dairy farm while city folks are encouraged, through green tourism, to visit agricultural villages.

Besides governmental efforts, the business community too is very involved in promoting health food.

A whopping 703 food products have been given the Foshu (Food for Specified Health Uses) approval, said Toshiaki Kitsukawa, director of Food for Specified Health Uses Department at the Japan Health Food and Nutrition Food Association.

The market size of Foshu products in 2005 amounted to 630 billion yen, similar to that of over-the-counter drugs in Japan, he said.

The Foshu mark, introduced in 1991 by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare in Japan, is for products that have positive mild effects on a person’s health such as foods for special dietary uses, foods with health claims (such as Foshu) and foods with nutritional function claims.

“The Foshu system came out of an increased health awareness among Japanese and their demand for positive use of various food functions to improve public health,” said Kitsukawa in his paper Foods for Specified Health Uses (Foshu) and the Claims regulation in Japan.

With such highly visionary and responsible practices, one need not wonder why the Japanese continue to enjoy healthy long lives.

The writer was in Japan for 10 days, enjoyed Japanese food, and was happy to have lost 2kg excess fat without dieting. She also did not suffer from shoulder aches and breathlessness as she often does when eating out.

Gut knowledge

Friendly bacteria is vital for good gut health.

By LOH FOON FONG

MOST Malaysians may know that beneficial bacteria are good for their gut, but not many know that Yakult was the first company in the world that came up with fermented milk drink containing beneficial bacteria.

Senior managing director of Yakult Honsha and head of International Business Department Naomasa Tsuritani said Yakult has been ahead of the times in contributing to the health of the Japanese people.

In 1930, professor at Kyoto University in Japan, Dr Minoru Shirota, discovered a resistant strain of the Lactobacillussubsequently called Lactobacillus casei Shirota.

Three years later he became the first in the world to succeed culturing a fortified strain of lactic acid bacteria beneficial to human health, said William R. Henning Jr, public relations coordinator at the International Business Department of Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd.

Yakult, a fermented milk drink that deliversLactobacillus casei Shirota strain to the intestines alive, was introduced to the world in 1935. The name originates from the Esperanto word “Jahurto”, meaning yoghurt.

“Then, Japan was not a wealthy nation and medicine was only thought of as therapeutic medicine and Shirota’s main concern was to help people in rural areas who have little access to healthcare,” said Henning during a Yakult familiarisation trip in Tokyo for journalists.

Hence, to best explain how Yakult benefits people’s health, direct communication was necessary and Yakult hired women to promote the products directly to the people.

Until today, Yakult Ladies delivering the drink is the mark of the company.

Senior managing director of Yakult Honsha and head of International Business Department Naomasa Tsuritani said besides the excellent healthcare and diet that had contributed to the Japanese longevity, Japan has for a long time made proactive efforts to embrace foods which are considered to be healthy and probiotic products has firmly been established in the Japanese diet for many years, he said.

Moreover, building on the idea of using one’s diet to prevent lifestyle-related diseases, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has established the Foshu, the mark for foods for specific health uses, while new societal approaches, such as the movement for consumers to personally think about engaging in a healthy lifestyle, are being promoted.

“In this context, we at Yakult have been ahead of the times in contributing to the health of Japanese people,” he said.

Senior Research Fellow Dr Masaaki Watanuki of Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research in Tokyo said all of Yakult’s 34 functional food products have the Foshu (Food for Specified Health Uses) mark approved by the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare.

In his presentation Probiotics and functional food, one health claim approved by Foshu is – the L. casei Shirota strain reaches the human intestine alive to effectively increase the population of good bacteria living there while reducing bad ones. This improves the intraintestinal environment and helps maintain the proper functioning of the digestive tract.

From studies shown, there is a reduction of E. coli after consuming Yakult products for three weeks, said Watanuki.

The gut is kept healthy when the good bacteria suppress the production of harmful substances released by intestinal bacteria and help with digestion and food absorption, synthesise vitamins and enhance immunity and resistance, he said.

When there is an imbalance in the intestinal flora, it causes intestinal putrefaction, producing mutagenic/carcinogenic substances and toxins, he said.

There are more than 300 species of bacteria living in a normal healthy gut and most are harmless but some potentially harmful, he said.

“Of all the Lactobacillus strains, the Lactobacillus casei Shirota strain has the highest resistance against gastric juice and is able to reach the intestines alive and improve the balance of intestinal flora to positively affect our health,” he said.

Lactobacilli and Bifidobacteria are the most significant bacteria that contribute to a healthy gut flora, he said.

Besides fermented milk, Yakult also produces cosmetics and pharmaceuticals.

Yakult’s cosmetics, mainly skincare products containing lactic acid bacteria and bifidobacteria and their metabolites, such as hyaluronic acid, and antioxidants, are ranked 31st in the Japanese cosmetics market, said Nakajima Kaoru, a staff member from Yakult Honsha Cosmetics Department.

They are only sold in Japan, with some in Brazil, and are delivered house-to-house by Yakult Beauties, she said.

On whether there is a limit to the number of bottles one could consume, Yakult Central Institute for Microbiological Research senior research fellow Masaroro Osamu said based on studies required by Foshu standard, people in the studies drank three bottles a day for two weeks and there had been no side effects.

Yakult probiotic drink is ideally consumed within two weeks from the time it arrived at the supermarket. However, when kept in the fridge, it can last 45 days, he said.

“It is best stored below 10 degrees Celsius and the drink should be discarded if it has been left outside the fridge for more than half a day,” he said adding that babies after six months old could also take the drink.

On whether there has been any mutation of the Yakult bacteria strains, he said product character and stability had been checked and they are found to be stable.

In natural sources, probiotic food are dietary fibre (such as whole grain), pectin and guagum while prebiotic food are food that contains oligosacharrides, he said.

“Both probiotics and prebiotics are useful for health,” he said.

Delivery ladies

A look at the Yakult Ladies of Honsha Co. Ltd, one of the leading fermented milk drink suppliers in the country.

By LOH FOON FONG

IT was drizzling heavily on the morning we, journalists, set out on bicycles to observe the work of women delivering Yakult fermented milk drink and yoghurt to their neighbourhood in Japan.

There are 593 Yakult centres in Tokyo itself and it takes 180 Yakult Ladies and 60 staff members to ensure smooth delivery of their products to a million customers daily, said Hitoshi Sasaki, president of the Yakult Touto Sales Co.

Whether rain, shine or snow, the Japanese can be sure that a Yakult Lady will be there at their doorsteps supplying the probiotic drink. Yakult has been a household name in Japan for more than 70 years.

The Japanese believe that besides a healthy traditional Japanese diet, it is important to keep the gut healthy by consuming probiotic (food containing beneficial bacteria) and prebiotic food (food for beneficial bacteria).

The streets in the Edogawa district, Japan, were quiet and tranquil, since most adults had gone to work and children tucked away in schools.

Kimiko Okuda, 36, cycled with a 30kg load of products kept in ice in a special storage box at the back of her bicycle and in the front basket.

Everyday at 9am, from Monday to Saturday, Okuda, like all Yakult Ladies, goes to the Yakult Centre near her house to collect the stock for pre-ordered products as well as store up for those who wish to buy the products on the spot.

By 1pm, Okuda returns to the Centre, returns unsold products and keeps an account of the sales she has made for the day.

“I decided to take on the part time job to earn some money while the children are at school,” said Okuda who has two children in elementary school and one in kindergarten.

Of all the products that the women distribute, the most popular products are the Lactobacilli fermented milk drinks, said Okuda.

Yakult Lady Kimiko Okuda, 36, in a raincoat, delivers fermented milk to Katsuko Kobayashi, 71, in the Edogawa district of Japan.

Other products distributed are the Lactobacilli drinkable, hard and soft type yoghurts, Bifidobacteria fermented milk drink and beverages with health benefits such as the sugar free tea Bansoreicha containing guava leaf polyphenols that helps moderate absorption of sugars.

At one of the homes, Katsuko Kobayashi, 71, who looked twenty years younger than her age, said she started consuming the drink more than 40 years ago.

“Now my grandchildren are also drinking it,” she said. She orders 20 bottles every week and gives them mostly to her grandchildren.

Hiroyuki Wada, 56, owner of the Marumoriya Restaurant in Edogawa district, said he had been taking the drink for six years for they made him healthier.

Car parts yard owner, a paraplegic and retirees were among those we encountered while trailing Okuda in her journey in that morning.

There are 593 Yakult Centres in Tokyo and it takes 180 Yakult Ladies and 60 staff members from 15 Yakult Centres to ensure smooth delivery of the products to a one million population daily, said Hitoshi Sasaki, president of the Yakult Touto Sales Co.

Its managing director Kouichi Nakayama said more than 60% of Yakult products in Japan are distributed by Yakult women while the rest are marketed through supermarkets, he said.

“Door-to-door sales through the Yakult Lady system is more profitable than supermarkets sales,” he said.

Women interested in the job can be high school or university graduates and there is no age limit, he said.

Yakult Honsha Co., Ltd International Business Department’s public relations coordinator William R. Henning Jr said 35% of women in Japan deliver the products by car, 31% by motorbike, 28% by bicycle, and 3% each by walking and push cart.

The Yakult Lady system started in 1963 and as of March, there are 43,753 Yakult women in Japan and 35,336 overseas, he said.

“Everyday, more than 25 million people consume Yakult. The recommendation is for people to drink one bottle a day,” he said.

In Malaysia, 31 Yakult women have been hired in Ijok, Kuala Selangor and Rawang, said Hideki Kawasaki, sales and marketing director of Yakult (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Japan-listed Yakult Honsha Co Ltd. established in 2002.

“They only cover areas within their own neighbourhood. This helps ensure their safety as they are familiar with their own area and are within their own community,” he said.

Yakult products were introduced to Malaysians in 2004. Currently, only its Lactobacilli fermented milk drink Yakult Ace is available in Malaysia.

All of Yakult’s 34 functional food products have received the FOSHU mark, Japan’s recognition for food with specific health benefits.

Maker of awesome automobiles

The Star

By LOH FOON FONG
foonfong@thestar.com.my

Stephan Schulte, VW’s managing director for sales and marketing in Dresden.

We arrived at the Braunscheig-Wolfsburg Airport in Germany in a private jet! It had been sent by the directors from Volkswagen (VW) AG to rescue us Malaysian journalists from being stranded at the airport in Copenhagen following an industrial strike, late last month. After that, we were whisked off in a couple of Volkswagen (pronounced as Folks-vagen, meaning the “people’s car”) vehicles to our hotel.

Riding in the premium-class and silent VW Phaeton – my first experience with a VW besides the Old Beetle – and travelling on the Autobahn (highway) with no speed limit, was an experience that could be compared with no other.

It was initially frightening when the driver accelerated up to 250km/h. During the 25-minute journey, a Bugatti, also belonging to the VW Group, whizzed past us. For a moment, I thought: “Are we on another planet?”

I was worried about safety until I had the opportunity to test-drive the VW Phaeton and the Golf GTI on the Autobahn from Wolfsburg to Dresden. At one point, when I was driving the VW Phaeton V6 TDI at about 180km/h and had to apply some emergency braking, I almost panicked, half expecting my chest to hit the steering wheel and the seat belt to pull so hard that it would hurt and the things in my bag to be strewn all over.

Nothing like that happened. The Phaeton was unperturbed and held me in confidence. It won my trust from that instant.

The Phaeton is handmade in Dresden, a town known for its artistic, cultural ambience and long tradition of distinguished craftsmanship in various skills. Phaeton car buyers get personalised service and get to participate in the building of their cars. They choose their own designs which gives each car its individuality and character, said Stephan Schulte, VW’s managing director for sales and marketing in Dresden.

“We use the point of production as a point of sales as well,” said Schulte who added that VW’s motto is Build every car as though it is your own.

Costing 100,000 euros (RM450,000) upwards, the Phaeton was introduced in 2002. Special additional features are notebook table, electric sunroof, solar cells, sunshade and a small fridge. Each car takes five working days to be completed.

Last year, 23,000 units of the Phaeton were sold in Germany, half of the sales volume of the Mercedes S class, said Schulte. Its production increased by 20% last year compared with the year before, he said.

The transparent factory in Dresden makes the Phaeton and the Bentley.

“We probably need three or four generations of the car before we can bring it to the level of the Mercedes. The Phaeton is doing well considering that they are produced in a more competitive environment than before,” he said.

Why do customers choose the Phaeton over other luxury cars?

“One customer thinks it is our openness. One biker on a motorbike tour dropped by our factory and saw how we made the cars and he decided to buy a 12-cylinder Phaeton. Others like the interior and skilled craftsmanship,” he said.

Driving on the Autobahn is the ultimate driving experience; it is no wonder that German cars are known for their precise engineering and craftsmanship. VW’s tagline – For the love of cars – describes the attention that goes into the making of its cars and the amazing qualities that make driving them a safe and enjoyable experience.

The Volkswagen Group (Malaysia) was established recently and had invited the Malaysian media to visit its factories in Wolfsburg and Dresden to test out their cars.

The Golf GTI, although a much smaller car than the Phaeton, is stable even at a speed of 200km/hour. The Touareg, an intelligent sports utility vehicle, can “climb” stairs, go on hilly slopes of up to 45° and over rocky roads and logs. It can also wade through 60cm-high snow. It has an automatic braking system when going downhill so drivers do not need to step on the brakes.

The VW Group has two brand groups for its passenger cars – Audi and Volkswagen. The Audi brand group reflects the sporty image and comprises Audi, Seat and Lamborghini while the Volkswagen brand group reflects the classic image and they are the Volkswagen passenger cars, Skoda, Bentley and Bugatti.

From three-litre to luxury class vehicles, each brand retains its unique brand image and operates as an independent entity on the market.

The whole Volkswagen Group is coordinated from its headquarters in Wolfsburg, where strategically important decisions and technical innovations are made. There, almost every passenger car that zips past is bound to be a Volkswagen.

Spanning 6.5sq km, the factory in Wolfsburg is the largest among its 47 factories spread throughout the world. It produces the Golf and the Touran.

Up to 98% of the production at the factory is carried out by robots, said Alex Dumitrescu, the spokesman from the group communication and visitors’ services unit at Volkswagen AG.

The different parts of cars are produced simultaneously and they are pieced together as one, said Dumitrescu who showed us how the Golf was made at the factory.

Huge coils of sheet metal are rolled out and stamp-pressed into car body parts; six steps are required to shape each body part – doors, side panels and rear flaps – and six machines work one behind the other. Green press tools for making metal parts are carried by cranes.

The Golf GTI is a powerful vehicle.

“Welding is done by laser. It is clean and strong and hence less material is used,” said Dumitrescu.

Each robot, which looks like a big mechanical hand, has a specific function: to attach car parts, tighten screws and nuts, make spot welds or put batteries and bumpers. Another robot views a car and makes adjustments to fit the back windscreen. Fifty robots work together to weld the side panels.

“They work faster than humans and with hardly any errors,” said Dumitrescu.

The factory’s 157km-long conveyor belt system transports cars from one assembly station to another.

Workers work in three shifts and 3,000 cars are produced every day. There are 5,500 bicycles in the factory for workers to move around on.

When the upper and the lower parts of the car are ready, a robot stamps the chassis number and the “wedding” occurs – the upper part moves downwards and the power train comes up on a delivery frame from the basement and is attached to the body.

It takes 18 to 22 hours to make a Golf. The most powerful Golf is the Golf R32, a 250-horsepower car, said Dumitrescu.

When the cars are completed, they are transported via a tunnel to two 48m high transparent glass towers, a visitors’ attraction at Wolfsburg, that can store up to 800 new vehicles.

The factory also produces parts for VW car factories in Mexico, South Africa and China. There are 50,000 employees: 20,000 in the administrative section and 30,000 in the production section. Many of them have worked in VW all their lives; some families have worked there for a couple of generations. There has been no industrial strike although 97% of the workers are unionised, said Dumitrescu.

Every day 500 to 600 customers (30% of customers) from within Germany and neighbouring countries travel to Wolfsburg to collect their cars. Most make it a daylong outing for the family. They collect their cars from the KundenCenter at Autostadt, a 250,000sq m complex that features two glass car towers, pavilions for various car models (Volkswagen, Bentley, Audi, Lamborghini, Skoda and Seat), a museum of automobile history, a hotel and a restaurant, and entertainment outlets amidst waterways, bridges, lakes and parks.

Cars are polished and checked for the last time before they are handed over to customers who get 40 minutes of advice on how to handle their new cars.

Each year, 1.2mil visitors go to the Autostadt to see the technology behind Volkswagen. Entrance fee is 14 euros (RM63) for adults and six euros (RM27) for children.

Related story:

Looking East

Axel Barth, managing director of VW Group (M) Sdn Bhd.

The Volkswagen (VW) Group is eager to produce cars for the Asean region and is still looking for a local partner to produce the cars with, after talks with Proton failed.

“We foresee a 35%-45% growth in the Asean car production market because consumer expenditure is growing. As a group, we want to achieve 12% of the market share,” said Kevin Rose, executive director of sales international for VW.

In order for VW to be a market player, it needs a manufacturing facility, said Gerhard Thöne, general manager of Asia-Pacific International Sales Division.

“We’d like to see what Asians want in a car. This topic is likely to come up when we talk about local production based on the needs of Asian people,” said Axel Barth, managing director of VW Group (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd. He said for the Asian market, VW cars made would be affordable.

The models that will be brought into Malaysia as completely built-up units in the next couple of years are the Polo, new Beetle, Touareg, Jetta, Golf, Golf GTI, Passat and Touran.

The VW corporate headquarters was officially opened in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur, recently.

The Volkswagen (VW) Group is the leading car manufacturer in Europe and ranked fourth in the world with more than 80bil euros (RM360bil) in sales revenue in 2004. It has established four regional markets – Europe, North America, South America/South Africa and Asia Pacific.

The Group operates 47 production plants in 11 European countries and another seven in the Americas, Asia and Africa.

Around the world, more than 343,000 employees produce over 21,500 vehicles or are involved in vehicle-related services on every working day.

The VW in Germany produces Volkswagen commercial vehicles and the Audi, while the one in the Czech Republic produces the Skoda. The Bentley is produced in Britain, the Bugatti in France, the Seat in Spain and the Lamborghini in Italy.

With seven brands producing more than 50 different models, the VW Group sells its vehicles in more than 150 countries around the world.

The beautiful Bugatti.

“There is quality guarantee regardless of where they are produced,” said Thöne, adding that the Skoda, for instance, has a good reputation although it is made in Eastern Europe, he said.

Even in difficult economic conditions, the Group managed to increase the number of vehicles delivered to customers in 2004 to 5.079 million units (compared to 5.015 million units in 2003), making up 11.5% share of the world passenger car market.

The Volkswagen story began in Germany in 1904 when engineers believed that the future of the automobile industry lay in the mass production of inexpensive small cars. Then, only the rich could afford a car. Adolf Hitler had also called for the production of cars for the masses.

Gesellschaft zur Vorbereitung des Deutschen Volkswagen mbH was established in Berlin in 1937. The following year, the Volkswagen plant was established. Later that year, the company name was changed to Volkswagen GmbH.

Between 1939 and 1945, the Volkswagen plant was reorganised for the production of armaments rather than civilian vehicles; the armaments were later produced mostly by foreign forced labour. The American troops put an end to the production of military equipment and liberated the forced labourers.

In 1945, responsibility for the company seized by the Allies was turned over to the British Military Government for administration in trusteeship and was returned to the German Government in 1949. The first Beetle was sold in 1948 at 5,300 German marks.

That cost an average worker 19 months’ salary. The lowestpriced Beetle – at 3,770 German marks – was sold in 1957 because sales volume went up during that period. Today, the average German spends six months of their salary on a car, said Thöne.