Penang

Penang is a unique city with vestiges of British ways tucked under more predominant layers of Chinese and Indo-Malay influence. This is seen in Penang’s architecture where many civic buildings have a British neo-colonial look, and old shops and many housing units have a distinct old English feel mixed with Malay construction.

But the food in Penang is decidedly Asian. Locals use ’belacan’ made from fermented shrimp which is ground into a paste with hot peppers, garlic, et al. Belacan finds its way into most dishes, it has a powerful, unmistakable taste. Food in Penang is super spicy, I remember returning to Hong Kong and needing a few days for my digestive system to cool down.

Chen was very helpful, showing me around and suggesting how to conduct a test market. We were going to place a modest stocking order; the last thing I wanted to do was create a situation where a distributor going out on the limb would be stuck with un-sellable inventory. However, we’d place a larger order for samples to let as many smokers as possible try the product.

I started visiting Penang more often as we geared up for the test market, and along the way I became friends with a local named L. Teoh. His family was in the seafood business, including sharks’ fin, which in those days sold for about $90 a bowl in Hong Kong. The test of quality was simple: dip your fingers in the stock, if they became sticky, you knew it was the real deal.

Teoh had a great circle of friends, and they made sure I experienced Penang properly. Karaoke bars, clubs, and small concerts - there was never a dull evening in Penang.

One evening Chen asked me to accompany him to entertain some customers and he warned me they were triad customers. I could tell Chen was not looking forward to it and could use some company. We went to what I’d describe as a grey market restaurant/club and ate at large round tables that sat about 15 people, there must have been at least four tables full of triad members, all dressed in black with the same devious eyes.

Maybe it was my choir boy appearance, but no triad members engaged me in conversation. They had a local fellow who seemed to be their local guide of sorts, he chatted me up but not too much. I asked Chen where they were from and he vaguely said, “over the border” which meant Thailand, but I suspected their home turf was Burma (Myanmar). What brought them to Penang was cognac, Chen’s company distributed one of the top brands of cognac in the world and Asians, especially triads loved cognac. I’m sure they made a big purchase.

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The Golden Triangle consists of Myanmar, Thailand, and Laos - and Cambodia should be included now. Since the 1960s, this region produced more than half the world’s heroine and opium, but more recently the region has become a major producer (and exporter) of synthetic drugs like crystal meth and “yaba.” The Chinese military plays a big, secret role in Myanmar, I know this from numerous conversations with Chinese about their brothers or friends serving in the military in Myanmar. China has carved out a significant presence in the country and tries to keep things quiet. By using triads and United Front agents in these countries, China gets to have their hand in all sorts of ‘projects’ while maintaining plausible deniability.