Malaysian celebrity Chef Wan was in Dubai recently to feature the rich cultural and tourism highlights in the Middle East for the Ramadan series of the Kembara Chef Wan television show he hosts.
Prior to arriving in Dubai, Chef Wan and his crew filmed in Iran for the travel series that will be aired on Malaysia’s Astro Oasis and Astro Go during Ramadan. Sponsored by the Tourism of Iran, Astro, and Qatar Airways, the series aims to highlight Iran’s tourism, attractions, cuisine and culture. The Middle East series of Kembara Chef Wan had made its final stop at the Malaysia Pavilion in Expo 2020 Dubai.
During his visit, Chef Wan reflected on the ‘sustainability theme of the recently-concluded world expo, and made a timely call on everyone to be sustainable in food consumption and avoid food wastage in this holy month of Ramadan.
“Food sustainability is a combination of elements including how the food is produced, distributed, packaged, and consumed. We often see how much food is wasted during the month of Ramadan and this contributes to pollution in the end.
“Fasting is about self-control, and we should be wary when it comes to food consumption to avoid wastage,” he added.
Chef Wan also advocates nurturing the people from young to be sustainable consumers and food consumption is one of the most important parts of sustainability.
“We should encourage schools to educate the younger generation to reduce food wastage and to grow our own food, starting with the importance of preservation of our food supply. In the future, these children will be inspired to find meaningful solutions for food sustainability,” he added.
Chef Wan also commended the UAE for hosting a successful expo and noted that each pavilion had interpreted the expo theme “Connecting Minds, Creating the Future” uniquely.
“The Malaysia Pavilion, for example, is quaint in size, but this is a projection of Malaysia: We are a small country but collectively we can make an immense impact especially towards a sustainable future.”
As Food Ambassador of Tourism Malaysia, Chef Wan encourages the preservation of culinary heritage as well.
He quipped that Malaysia’s diverse cuisine tells of the unique and rich cultures that exist within one nation. “It is up to us and the future generation to preserve the heritage of our forefathers, or it will gradually fade through time.”
On his contribution to preserve Malaysia’s culinary legacy, Chef Wan shared about his plans to open up more restaurants in various parts of Malaysia and to train 100 chefs in Malaysian cuisine.
