A Malaysian praises Taiwanese for being approachable and wish to promote the taste of her hometown in Taiwan

In cooperation with IC Voice FM97.5 【New Students Registration-We are in Taiwan】, a series of exciting stories about new immigrants in Taiwan is launched. This episode features a new immigrant from Malaysia, Cai Yu Ling (蔡玉玲).

She served as a guide for a cooking course organized by the New Immigrant Family Service Center of Hsinchu City, hoping to promote Malaysian cuisine to more people.

Three dishes introduced by her are nasi lemak, kaya toast, peanut. The highlight of the first dish - Nasi lemak is the rice cooked in coconut milk and sambal sauce. The second dish is the national breakfast of Malaysia - Kaya Toast. It will be served with butter cubes, and the melted butter oozes out of the bread when you have a bite. The third dish is peanut that is made of cold potato and shrimp paste. This dish helps to reduce cholesterol, blood pressure, the heat of the body, and detoxify.

【Taiwan Immigrants' Global News Network】presents this episode in 5 languages including Chinese, English, Vietnamese, Thai and Indonesian, enabling more readers and listeners to explore Cai Yu Ling’s experience and her wonderful journey.

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The most famous landmark in Malaysia is "Petronas Twin Towers". (Photo / Retrieved from the Pixabay)

Cai introduces the local customs of Malaysia to readers. The population is composed of Malays, Chinese, Indians, and aboriginals. The cultures of all ethnic groups are integrated with each other but at the same time, they still possess their own characteristics. As for the landmarks, the most famous landmark in Malaysia is "Petronas Twin Towers". The tower has a "Sky Bridge" on the 41st floor, which allows you to freely shuttle between the two buildings. It is also an important international trade center.

Cai promotes Malaysian cuisine, hope to let foreigners have a taste of her hometown. (Photo / Retrieved from the Pixabay)

Cai’s family in Malaysia is doing a Food & Beverage (F&B) business. She mentioned that her grandmother is very good at making Chinese New Year's dim sum. The pastries made with coconut milk are collectively called "New Year Cakes" (年餅). Her mother also inherited her grandmother's strengths in cooking and opened a restaurant.

Cai emphasized that she was reminded by one of the elders that, even F&B business needs to be honest to the customers in terms of ingredients used. She mentioned that if she starts a business like her mother in the future, she will prioritize the promotion of Malaysian cuisine in Taiwan. At the same time, she hopes that there will be more and more Malaysian cuisine available in Taiwan, so that foreigners can have a taste of her hometown.

When she was a child, Cai had agreed with her friends to travel to Taiwan together. (Photo / Retrieved from the Pixabay)

Speaking about the reason why Cai came to Taiwan, she reminisces about a promise made with her friend to live in Taiwan one day. Her friend would be a singer and she would be her agent. Later, Cai applied to study in Taiwan, but her friend was unable to come with her. “I’ll live here with our dreams although there is no way to fulfill the childhood promise,” Cai says.

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Cai praised Taiwanese for being really friendly. (Photo / Provided by Cai Yu Ling)

Finally, she also shared her experience of studying in Taiwan with readers. At the start, she felt lonely living alone here. Fortunately, Taiwanese are approachable and very kind so that she could make good friends here. “In fact, no matter which country you go to, one is like a business card sent out by a country,” she mentions. Therefore, everyone is the country’s ambassador in a foreign country.