SEBERANG PERAI, Jan 26 — Nasi kandar has become synonymous with Penang, so much so that some people swear that it tastes different when eaten elsewhere.
While most of the famous nasi kandar stalls are based on the island, there are also rather good ones in Butterworth.
This small town in central Seberang Perai is quite the haven for local food and this is one of the more interesting features Think City is spotlighting through its urban regeneration project of the area.
In fact, this quiet town is the birthplace of the Pelita nasi kandar chain.
Pelita has 28 outlets now and last year, on October 26, it was listed in the Malaysia Book of Records as the country’s largest nasi kandar restaurant chain.
It has also branched out into the hospitality industry with the opening of Hotel Palm Inn first in Ampang Point, Kuala Lumpur and then Bukit Mertajam and Butterworth.
Malay Mail Online spoke to one of Pelita’s directors, Datuk K.K. Sihabutheen, to find out more about its past as well as its plans for the future.
Pelita Nasi Kandar
It all started with a small nasi kandar stall in a corner coffeeshop in Chai Leng Park, Prai back in 1995.
Three friends — Kirudu Mohamed, Kaliq Jamal and Datuk D. Murugan, popularly known as Datuk Ramesh — started the stall which was simply known as Pelita; Kaliq was in charge of the recipes.
Kirudu had been in the food industry for over 40 years at a nasi kandar stall in Lorong Tamil next to Chowrasta Market while Kaliq had been cooking nasi kandar for 34 years.
“My father knew the business and all the spices for nasi kandar as our family has been in the food industry for generations,” said Sihabutheen who is Kirudu’s son and one of Pelita Samudra Pertama (M) Sdn Bhd’s directors.
Kirudu traces his culinary heritage back to a village in Ramnad District in India that is well-known for its food industry.
Before long, the small stall started to gain a name for its delicious nasi kandar, particularly its nasi dalcha, crunchy spiced fried chicken and fish head curry.
The very next year, they opened other outlets but all under different names, some Pelita, some Pertama and some called Samudra.
“When we started planning to open in Kuala Lumpur, we decided to change all the outlets’ names to follow only one single brand name and we chose Pelita,” he said.
The chain underwent a rebranding exercise then and continued to open more outlets nationwide in Penang, Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Negri Sembilan. They also ventured overseas and opened their first outlet abroad in Chennai, India.
Going into hospitality
The company went into the hospitality industry almost by accident; they need to fill the space of a four-and-a-half storey building they had bought in Ampang.
“We bought the whole building and only needed the ground floor for the restaurant so we were wondering what to do and decided to turn it into a hotel since we were already in the service industry,” he said.
That saw the beginning of the Hotel Palm Inn, managed under the same group as Pelita Samudra. Another Palm Inn in Bukit Mertajam and a third one in Butterworth followed.
“We already have the properties so it was easy to turn those into hotels but later, we noticed that there are many other budget and boutique hotels opening everywhere so we decided to stop at three,” he said.
Later, Sihabutheen, his brother Datuk K.K. Uswath and Datuk Ramesh decided to team up and build a higher-end hotel, outside of the Pelita group.
This saw the birth of The Light in Seberang Jaya. The original plan was for a three-star hotel but due to Sihabutheen’s architecture background, it slowly evolved into a luxurious five-star hotel. Today, The Light is the only five-star hotel in Seberang Perai.
Though he felt one luxurious hotel was sufficient, Sihabutheen said they might consider partnering with another company on a joint venture to build a hotel elsewhere.
“It is very costly and time consuming to get our own land, plan it out and build our own hotel but if any reputable companies want to JV with us, we are open to discussions,” he said.
Serving nasi kandar to the world
Since the Pelita group, chaired by Datuk Shamsuri Ahmad, has “slowed down” its hospitality side, it refocused on its core business — nasi kandar.
“We will not rest as we want to continue to grow and expand so we are looking at going international, other than India,” Sihabutheen said.
They first considered going to Europe but the strict employment regulations proved a challenge so they looked for another place and decided on Saudi Arabia.
“We want to open in Jeddah, Mecca and Madinah because most Malaysians will go for their pilgrimage in these cities,” he said.
He said manpower will also not be an issue as there are a lot of Indonesian, Bangladeshi and Indian workers in Saudi Arabia they could employ for the outlets there.
“I’m going for final meetings there to arrange the opening of these outlets and we hope to open three outlets there by this year,” he said.
Saudi Arabia will be the catalyst for Pelita nasi kandar to make a name internationally and Sihabutheen hopes they can venture into other countries too.
Despite the numerous Pelita outlets in Penang and Kedah, its original stall in Chai Leng Park, Butterworth — it grew and took over the coffee shop it was in many years ago — remains a favourite for many locals.
“Somehow, many of our patrons feel that the food here is better,” Sihabutheen said.
Pelita Nasi Kandar
54-56, Lorong Kurau 1,
Chai Leng Park, Butterworth
Tel: 04-3973018
Website: www.pelita.com.my
* Think City is currently undertaking urban regeneration programmes for Butterworth, George Town, Kuala Lumpur and Johor. Find out more about Think City and its projects at thinkcity.com.my.
