ANY ban on foreign cooks at private food premises depends on public feedback and deliberations by the relevant committees, says Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk A. Rajendran (pic).
He said at this stage, such enforcement only applied to hawkers operating under licensing conditions at MBPP premises.
"At this stage, we do not need to introduce a bylaw. The restriction can be imposed as part of licensing conditions during annual renewals, which allows action to be taken if there are violations," he said during MBPP's ordinary council meeting in George Town on Tuesday (Jan 6).
He said the council would only move towards formalising any proposed ban through a bylaw once the review process, including feedback from the public and committee-level discussions, is completed.
Labour market conditions would also be a factor in any decision, he added.
"Finding workers is already very difficult, and sectors such as hotels and cafés still require certain expertise," he said, adding that business operators' views would also be taken into account.
He also said hawkers at MBPP premises could still hire foreign workers for non-cooking roles.
"Foreigners are not allowed to cook any type of food at such stalls. Hawker businesses are small-scale and (the council expects them) to be operated by the owners," he added.
He said restaurants, unlike hawkers, may require additional staff and specialised skills, but stressed that local workers are capable of preparing a wide range of cuisines.
A previous report said MBPP identified 13 hawker dishes that could not be prepared by foreign cooks at hawker stalls, food courts, or coffeeshops. They include asam laksa, kuey teow th'ng, Hokkien mee, curry mee, wantan mee, loh bak, char kuey kak and oh chien.
The ban does not affect cafes, restaurants, hotels, or franchises offering the same dishes.
Penang has banned foreign cooks from working at MBPP premises since 2016 to preserve the authenticity of its hawker cuisine.
