Keropok leko terpanjang

PROLOGUE

From the NST:

KUALA TERENGGANU: A 400-metre long keropok lekor, weighing more than 2,000 kg made at the Dataran Shahbandar here yesterday went into the Malaysia Book of Records as the longest in the country and probably the world.
The mammoth effort was part of the attractions at the state-level Bank Rakyat Cintai Alam carnival.

Bank Rakyat managing director Datuk Kamaruzaman Che Mat said the giant keropok lekor gave a unique local touch to the carnival.

"It is also fitting as the previous record holder, a 300m keropok lekor was also made in Terengganu in 2006," he said.
The keropok was then cut up, boiled and sold to the public.

Kamaruzaman said the proceeds will be given to various welfare organisations.

The keropok was made with 1,200kg of fish and 850kg of flour.

The flour and fish paste mixture was put into the blender for two hours before being kneaded into shape.

Industri Keropok Warisan Sdn Bhd managing director Mohd Zaman Muda headed the team of 25 keropok lekor makers and about 100 university students to knead and shape the dough.

"We used a diesel-fuelled burner specially brought from our factory to boil the keropok lekor after it was certified to be the longest in the country by the Malaysia Book of Records."


Read more: Longest 'keropok lekor' http://www.nst.com.my/nst/articles/28kero/Article/#ixzz1QOD3TD8p

My take on this:

Honestly I applaud it, but at the same time I am appalled that the longest is only 479 m (beating the old record of 300 m that has been the record in the Guinness Book of Records).

I really do applaud the effort by Bank Rakyat and Warisan Terengganu in making this the longest yet.

In fact, I can't wait for this time next year, and really hope they will go out of the way to ensure it would not be beaten ever again.

Why stop at 479 m then?

I really hope that they would make long enough that it would reach Kuala Lumpur - that's nearly 380 km from Kemaman. IN fact I believe it is long enough to reach my home in Cheras, all the way from Kuala Kemaman.

What does that means to me?

I would be getting fresh leko, right here in Klang Valley. It means that I would not have to travel to Kuala (Kemaman) to get my monthly dose of leko

And why not? - I think the biggest market is here in the Klang Valley and not necessarily in Terengganu. Let's not forget that!

EPILOGUE

Actually as usual, I am being sarcastic here.

I have no idea on how doing the longest leko would get us anywhere, especially on attracting tourists to like the leko so much so that they would want to import leko fresh from Kuala Kemaman to Europe and Japan on a daily basis.

I have been thinking a lot about this everytime I would buy leko in bulk on my monthly trip to Kerteh.

How can we expand the leko market?

I don't know if the Malaysian market is expanding, and expanding fast enough. We need to be thinking big, and not limit the market to the Klang Valley or even just Malaysia. We need to go international. We need to think on how to ensure that the Japanese would need a dose of leko for their tea ceremony, the Brit during their afternoon tea, or even replace their fish and chips national dish to fish and leko instead, etc etc.

Fish and Leko is definitely healthier than Fish and Chips!

I am thinking that we need to have different flavours of leko for the different markets, and we need to freshly air-flown leko to the various markets. As it is, I don't think we can make an impact with the various taste-buds, so I am suggesting some modifications to the flavour of leko:

1. Wasabe Leko for the Japanese market
2. Cheesey Leko for the western/European market
3. Tomato Leko for the italian market
4. Curry Leko for the Indian Market
5. Salsa Leko for the Mexican market
6. Kimchi Leko for the Korean market
7. Soto Leko for the Indonesian market
8. Tom Yam Leko for the Thai market

I think you got my drift, right?

I am beginning to count my millions. Hmm...should I start changing my lifestyle? ;-)