Yeoh (second left), Fadlun (centre) and Wee (right) watch a stall operator prepare a dish as they tour the Kuching Festival Food Fair on Friday. – Photo by Chimon Upon
KUCHING (Aug 7): Kuala Lumpur is looking to draw lessons from the Kuching Festival Food Fair, with its successful concept and broader food ecosystem offering potential ideas that could be adapted for the federal capital, said Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Hannah Yeoh.
Yeoh, who visited the food fair today with Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Fadlun Mak Ujud and a delegation from Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL), said the visit provided an opportunity to observe the festival’s organisation and explore areas for knowledge-sharing between the two cities.
“This is my second time coming to the Kuching Food Festival, and we are being hosted by the Mayor here.
“When I took over the Federal Territories portfolio, I informed DBKL about this food festival and said we should come and have a look at how they actually do it,” she told reporters during the visit here tonight.
The delegation was hosted by Kuching South Mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng, who accompanied them on a tour of the festival grounds.
Yeoh said her first visit to the festival was during the Malaysia Games (Sukma), after her daughter discovered it on TikTok.
She said she was impressed by the festival’s vibrant atmosphere, youthful energy, cleanliness and wide variety of food offerings.
However, she said the latest visit was not merely to observe the food fair itself, but to understand how food culture could support a wider ecosystem involving various industries and activities.
“We are here today to look into the entire ecosystem, not just this food festival, but also from farm to marketing, and how you activate so many different industries based on one concept of promoting food culture,” she said.
Yeoh (centre) speaks to reporters, flanked by Wee (left) and Fadlun. – Photo by Chimon Upon
Yeoh said both Kuala Lumpur and Kuching, as diverse cities, had opportunities to learn from each other in areas such as outdoor dining, waste management, business licensing, community farming and farmers’ markets.
“There are a lot of policy ideas that we can learn from each other,” she said.
She added that the DBKL delegation included officers involved in licensing and event management, as Kuala Lumpur also hosts major events at venues such as Dataran Merdeka.
Yeoh said discussions were also held earlier with State Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Minister Dato Sri Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah on concerts and their standard operating procedures (SOPs).
“In KL, we also have electronic dance music concerts, and we are also streamlining the SOPs and processes into a one-stop centre,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fadlun said the Kuching Festival Food Fair represented a concept that was relatively new to Kuala Lumpur and was worth exploring.
“It’s a good experience. We are just halfway. After we finish, we can see the overall concept.
“Maybe we can learn from Kuching South to adopt this concept in Kuala Lumpur. Just congratulations to you all,” he said.
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