A taste of M’sian food and culture

THE launch of Negri Sembilan Week at the Malaysia Pavilion at Expo 2025 in Osaka was a joy to witness. The Yang di-Pertuan Besar gave a speech highlighting His Royal Highness’ state as a ­destination for investment, tourism and culture.

Indeed, successful and growing Malaysian companies were ­represented alongside eager Japanese counterparts, while our resorts and landmarks were given prominence.

The cultural dimension was exemplified by the performance of tarian piring by dancers from the National Department for Culture and Arts (JKKN) and a musical showcase by students of the Noghori Arts School (SMK Tunku Ampuan Najihah) – some of whom I have previously ­performed with in Seremban.

It’s a fitting return to Japan for Negri Sembilan. At Expo 1970 in Osaka – Malaysia’s first official participation in a World Expo (though individual states had joined earlier World Fairs) – the Malaysia Pavilion stood out with its Minangkabau-inspired roofs from Negri Sembilan.

The same design language was carried ­forward, even more ­dramatically, at Expo 2010 in Shanghai.

At the current Expo – the third time Japan is hosting it after Osaka in 1970 and Aichi in 2005 – the bamboo-adorned Malaysia Pavilion is among the most well known.

According to the hardworking team managing it, 10% of all ­visitors to the event come to our pavilion (thus about three million people over the six-month period, if the overall target is met), with the roti canai being a best-selling food item across the entire venue.

I can understand why: the ­acrobatics of the artisans from Kedah easily rival those of any pizzaiolo, and the resulting flatbread is perfectly crispy, fluffy and buttery.

However, the curry seemed to be slightly adapted to Japanese tastes, which is fair enough.

Indeed there was an ­unmistakeable Japanese flavour to the whole Expo: from the ­circular layout and traditional sustainable materials, to the ­efficiency and politeness of the officials, and of course, to the sheer number of locals attending.

On each of three days I visited, queues snaked past the perimeter defined by the flags of the world along the circumference of the site.

This was the most obvious ­difference to me from Expo 2020 Dubai, where, for simple ­demographic reasons, it was much harder to find Emiratis.

Four years ago, I was an ­ambassador for the Malaysia Pavilion’s #MyButterflyEffect ­campaign, which emphasised ­societal achievements from ­people ­creating change c­­ollectively.

Looking back, humanity’s desire to rebound after the ­coronavirus pandemic was ­definitely given further resilience by Expo 2020.

Sadly, the world continues to face man-made challenges today, with consensus within some countries seemingly breaking down. Like Dubai, though, there is a very thought-provoking ­variety of themes represented by the country pavilions.

Some are clearly investment-­focused, others are all about ­tourism, and some do their best to advertise geopolitical heft ­softened by cute mascots and friendly robots.

Inevitably not every country is successful: some are quite lazy, without a coherent story to tell, and in a couple of cases, it seems that the team responsible for the country’s pavilion is out of step with the political narrative ­emerging out of the country itself.

Not every country spends ­generously on their own pavilion though – many rent booth space within common areas.

One such example is Palestine, offering a very modest display compared to the lavishness of other Arab countries. Its director was grateful for our visit, ­decrying the genocide of course, but still valiantly assuring visitors that the beauty of Palestine is in fact ­accessible to international ­travellers.

I marvelled at his stoicism, though other pavilion directors were equally passionate about what they had to offer. Food was the usual charm offensive: the Saudi Arabian lamb haneeth was the winner for me.

Obviously no country ­advertises their own human rights failures, and other ­pavilions navigate ­awkward ­diplomacy: I had to bite my tongue at one country’s ­celebration of bilateral ties, ­conspicuously omitting the 1930s and 40s in a timeline that began with Renaissance-era ­interactions!

I thought it would have been better to include acknowledgement of a destructive time in domestic and world geopolitics from which we should learn.

Despite all these pitfalls and difficulties in accurately ­calculating the tangible benefits, I remain on the side of making our ­presence proudly felt at these expos.

Often little intangibles can bring huge economic and ­diplomatic benefit: already, social media is full of young Japanese curious about Malaysia as a result of visiting our pavilion.

Maybe a Japanese teenager who ate the roti canai will go on to establish a huge technology company that will bring millions into Malaysia in the future.

It’s not too late to visit!

Negri Sembilan Week at the Malaysia Pavilion lasts until Oct 5, while Expo 2025 Osaka ends on Oct 13.

Tunku Zain Al-‘Abidin is founding president of Ideas. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.