Welcome to
THE ROJAK PARTy
makan (EAT)
make new friends
capture your B&W POrtrait
Share &
LEARN
The Rojak Party is a social event where attendees are encouraged to makan, share, embrace and learn from and with each other to explore what it means to be a united nation.
There was food to eat and friends to make. Our Rojak Photographer was there to capture all the 'Black & White' portraits while we collected information and stories for our experiment. All the B&W portraits were posted on The Rojak Projek's facebook.
We held our first Rojak Party in March 2015 in our own homes & opened it to public in Kuala Lumpur and Selangor areas from October 2016 until May 2017 on the 16th of every month to reinforce the idea of Malaysia, for all Malaysians.
We believe this concept can be mobilized for anyone who wants to create their own unity event. You can read THE DIFFERENCE between the questions asked during the PHASE 1 and PHASE 2 parties, down below.
Q: What is your favourite Malaysian food / drinks you can't live without? I can't live without Fish Curry, Rasam and Banana Leaf Rice.
Nasi Lemak __ "A friend to me has no race, no class and belongs to no minority. My friendships were formed out of affection, mutual respect and a feeling of having something strong in common. These are eternal values that cannot be racially classified. This is the way I look at race." ― Frank Sinatra
Nasi Kerabu __ What is your vision for Malaysia? “When we start to love one another without the feeling of tolerance to others.”
Q: What is your favourite Malaysian food / drinks you can't live without? I can't live without Fish Curry, Rasam and Banana Leaf Rice.
Questions we asked during our party
1) 'What is your favourite food that you can't live without?
Based on this question, we noticed our participants kept writing about each other's ethnic food. We concluded a majority of young Malaysians deeply valued each other’s food!
When we met new people from East Malaysia, they gave us food names that we'd never heard of. It slowly dawned upon us that we didn't know anything about their background and culture.
2) What is your vision for Malaysia?
Towards the end of 2015, we decided to give meaningful context by asking, 'What is your vision for Malaysia?'. Each participant had the freedom of expressing their personal perspective. By 1st January 2016, we posted each artwork on Facebook along with their description of their vision for Malaysia, and it went viral!
"I grew up eating non-so-Malaysian food but after attending boarding school, I fell in love with Malaysian food! Now I can't get through a day without eating Sambal belacan and tempoyok." - Muhamad Zairi bin Ibrahim, Student Culture(s) / Heritage(s): Malaysian Japanese, Indonesia, Chinese, Malay
"When I was a child, before I moved to KL for further studies and work… My mum used to cook all sorts of food like nasi lemak, capatti, roti canai, pizza, hotdog, asam laksa, sushi… We all, the family always finished all. My mum is a good cook." - Joselyn Chong, Administration Culture(s) / Heritage(s): Malaysian Cantonese, Hakka, Malay, Indian, Indonesian
"My best memories would be when I went to Penang the first and had gone to all the stores at Georgetown and ate till we just slept the whole day." - Aveena Devi Krishna Kumar, Painter Culture(s) / Heritage(s): Malaysian Ceylonese, Malyalee, Chinese
"I grew up eating non-so-Malaysian food but after attending boarding school, I fell in love with Malaysian food! Now I can't get through a day without eating Sambal belacan and tempoyok." - Muhamad Zairi bin Ibrahim, Student Culture(s) / Heritage(s): Malaysian Japanese, Indonesia, Chinese, Malay
The information we gathered this time was interesting. We had forms to ask about their personal information (names, email, mobile) to asking questions like what is your ‘culture/ heritages’ instead of ‘race’.
When we looked at the names or faces, we were astonished that it did not match their perceived race.
For example, when one looks and is thought to be Malay, we found that they are actually Chindian or Eurasian. A persons look really doesn’t reflect the identity of a person’s heritage or culture.
We assumed that because we have a Muslim friend, he’s just Malay in Malaysia.
This was an important and surprising discovery we learnt through the Rojak Party!
Then when we assumed that this person is Malay obviously due to his name, nope! We were wrong again! They had a mix of heritages we’d never thought we'd notice!
When we met someone in Miri who was wearing a cross and had the name ‘bin’ and we thought ‘bin’ only represents Muslim. Nope. Wrong again.
Secondly, we noticed that there were cultures and heritages (Races) that we'd never heard of that were listed in our forms.
“Kayan, Kenyah, Kelabit, Lumbawang, Lundayeh, Kadazandusun, etc..”
We’re like, what’s that?!
That became our slow process of realizing that, gosh, there are so many cultures out there that we have obviously not noticed in our country.
16TH
VENUE SPONSOR 16'-17'
WHY the 16th? because many MALAYSIANS were and are still
UNAWARE about MALAYSIA's DAY (16th September 1963)
Click on the sponsors logo below to know what we did during the parties (2016-2017)
PARTY '15
The Rojak
Where we ate, mingle and took black and white portraits of our friends all over!
I) OUR 1st ROJAK PARTY, 2015
Faye Lim met Jon Cool on 31st December 2014, the last day of the year to share her thoughts on a possible experimental journey. He came with his cool leather jacket and agreed to take that leap of faith together.
We first conducted a ‘Rojak Party’ which started in March 2015 and invited our friends and friends of friends to come over to eat, mingle and capture their B&W portrait because the trend back then was to be "colour-blind". We had all together three rojak parties at our homes and when we couldn't find more mixture, we searched for our brothers and sisters outside of our circle (Special thanks to Vinnitha Vennoo's family and SIB Church which helped us to capture our Orang Ali (indigenous people) including our East Malaysian brother's and sisters). Working together with co-founder and photographer Jon Cool, we found 30 Malaysians who participated in the first Rojak Party where participants were photographed by Jonathan while being treated to – what else – rojak.
II) OUR ARTWORK PROCESS (BEHIND THE SCENES)
This was the fun part! No one knew what we were doing behind the scenes for 2015. During the parties we told them that we’ll be making an artwork, and all we could tell them was to trust us and that it was going to be colourful - which they did. When the few of us met up, we took long hours to figure out the best practices. One of the first few artworks we worked on was Char Kuey Teow, Nasi Lemak and Roti Canai.
BEHIND THE SCENES
@ THE ROJAK PARTY (2015-2017)
#2016
SINARAN TTDI, MAY 2016
After we showcased the artworks on the first day of 2016 on Facebook which went viral, we realized that we weren't even close to scratching the surface of discovering and understanding Malaysia.
This led us to continue 'The Rojak Party' and the first round for 2016 was held at SINARAN TTDI. The party was still conducted privately among friends and friends of friends. This was also our first time experimenting on doing video interviews and creating our new structure of forms to fill to understand further about our culture and heritage.
Special thanks to Ahmad Faliq Fauzi, Rachel Lee, Jon Cool, Ken Lim, Belveen Singh, Kimberly Yong, Sarah Yong and many others who brought their friends over and participating the best they can in the rojak parties.
HARI GAWAI & KAAMATAN @ CHARLIE'S CAFE, MAY 2016
We met Sonny & Debra, the Sabahan family at Charlie's Cafe. The relationships between Charlie's Cafe and The Rojak Projek started when Co-Founder Faye Lim was with her friends to eat some Sarawak Laksa. Being there the first time, she asked Debra which part of Sarawak is she from? (Innitially thinking if you sell Sarawak food, it means you most likely are from there).
She then said, she's from Sabah! Looking back at the menu she then proceeded to ask where is your Sabahan food? Astonished and challenged, the first thing she gave Faye Lim to try at home was a packet of 'Tenom Kopi'. She also let Faye Lim tried her 'Bambangan dish', which she'd never seen before!
Months later when she found out that Charlie's Cafe was celebrating Hari Gawai and Kaamatan (a festival none of us have experienced before), she decided to ask permission with Debra and shared with her the journey and showed the artworks we made. When she saw it, she couldn't stop talking about Sabah food! When she head back home, she had a discussion with her husband, Sonny.
This is what he told her to inform Faye Lim, she is more than welcome to do her project. That's when we also met Anderson Kalang, when he introduced himself as a Kelabit, that's when we went, "HAR? You are a what ah?"
Special thanks to Jon Cool, Movimento production and Tabitha Xavier for helping during this process. We captured many portraits with information that made us realise, OMG... what is that? What are we?
And when our friendship bloomed, through having 'conversation' that's when we found out that the entire time we (Semenanjung), were celebrating Merdeka Day, East Malaysia celebrated Malaysia Day. Another moment to go, what is Malaysia Day? That's how bad our ignorance and blind-sightedness was back then.
Hence as to why, we decided to continue the rojak party on every 16th of the month leading to Malaysia Day 2017 despite 16th falling on different days of the week. We promised to give it a try and kept going.
Despite Malaysia Day being less popular as compared to Merdeka, a day we only treated recently as a holiday, we still kept moving forward. Guess who decided to open their hearts, venue and sponsor the first public rojak party?
Look below ;)
#1 (16.10.16)
About our
venue & food
sponsor!
Charlie's Cafe at Taman Desa Kuala Lumpur serves not only good food, but a good cause as well. While you should try their best chicken chop, Sarawak Laksa, and D24 soft serve ice cream in town, you can also pay it forward: pay for someone's meal(s) and stick the bill on the Pay It Forward wall.
THANK
YOU
for
sharing
the event
out!
THE ROJAK PARTY #1
THE ROJAK PARTY #1
The Rojak Projek just held our first public Rojak Party on Sunday (16/10/16) at Charlie’s Café in Taman Desa! The night started with our first guests arriving at 6pm for registration, kick starting a night filled with fun, memories and of course, Malaysian love and unity over food.
There were a few activities happening throughout the night, this includes an introduction to The Rojak Projek by Faye Lim and Rachel Lee. The guest then moved on to makan and mingle while Jon Cool with Movimento Productions set up to capture video stories of the Rojak Party guests and their Black and White portraits. There was also Makan Mana sheets distributed throughout the tables of Charlie’s Café where the guest were encouraged to share unique and muhibbah places around Malaysia for us to explore during our Phase 2 journey of Rediscovering Each Other.
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Charlie’s Café generously sponsored both the food and venue for this event!
They prepared a variety of food which included Sarawak Laksa, D24 Durian Soft Serve Ice-cream, Hinava and pastries complimented with Chapatti and Indian Rojak. Charlie's Cafe also sponsored 500 satay sticks from Wak Gomok Sate for The Rojak Party!
The night unfolded into a buzz of activity and conversations throughout Charlie’s Café with guest making new friends, being engrossed in their Black and White portraits and laughing hilariously as they shared their stories in front of the camera. Food was abundant and tasted amazing as people munched their night away! Truly a night that was nothing short of Malaysian.
We were overjoyed to see and host fellow Malaysians who has helped us substantially along our journey since we started, they are in this message together with us, joining arms to love Malaysia more!
Join us for our next Rojak Party with a purchase of our #HungryMail! We will be conducting our Rojak Parties on the 16th of every month (until May 2017) to emphasise the importance of the formation of what we now call Malaysia. We want to be consistent in our message, that Malaysia Tak Sama Kalau Kita Tak Bersama (Malaysia is never the same if we are not together).
Who are we as Malaysians if not also defined by our other fellow Malaysian brothers and sisters.
PS: We would like that thank all those who came by to help us make this Rojak Party happen; Lim Sheng Feiyan (Faye), Rachel Lee Ju Wei, Jon Cool, Ahmad Faliq, Belveen Singh, Kimbery Yong, Wening Cheah, Amelia Ho, Adam Subki and Joyce Chin and Matt La Brooy.
Razif Hashim, Faye Lim, Syed Sadiq Albar (Projek57) and Luqman Hafidz.
Dr Rahim Munna and Luqman Hafidz
Razif Hashim, a few of the Rojak team with team Astro ('Kami Anak Malaysia' documentary) and Razif Hashim
Razif Hashim, Faye Lim, Syed Sadiq Albar (Projek57) and Luqman Hafidz.
Thanks again for all who came and thanks to team Astro who recently featured us in their 'Kami Anak Malaysia' documentary; Zarina Omar, Dr Rahim Munna, Luqman Hafidz from Ola Bola, Projek57 and Razif Hashim for coming by to show your support!
#therojakprojek
#hungrymail
#celebrate16th
#2 (16.11.16)
About our
venue & food
sponsor!
About our
venue & food
sponsor!
Pickle & Fig offers healthy fresh gourmet panini, sandwiches and smoothies. They don't just boast a balanced hearty palate but also prides itself as a nice cosy neighbourhood laid-back joint.
Creative handcrafted panini and smoothies varieties. It’s all about how flavour, open-mindedness, and improvisation can lead to something fresh, new, and absolutely mouthwatering.
About our
spicy snack
sponsor!
THE ROJAK PARTY #2
THE ROJAK PARTY #2
Welcome to round 2 of our Rojak Party and this time we have Pickle and Fig to thank for providing us with their vast and comfortable space on the 16th of November 2016! Aside from space, Pickle and Fig, along with Chilli Pang Pang has also happily filled our grumbling tummies with amazing panini’s, salads, pasta, drinks, chips and dips for the party :)
The night started at 7.30pm where people started arriving and registering at the front where our beautiful volunteers were stationed. They were given forms to fill to share their thoughts about Malaysia and growing up around their own cultures, expanding this beautiful and diverse narrative of our great nation!
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PICKLE & FIG ttdi generously sponsored both the food and venue for this event!
Chili Pang Pang is a Thai inspired home-made relish guaranteed to perfectly complement your dishes, leaving you a gastronomic experience from a mild "Pang" to the spiciest "Pang Pang Pang"!
People started filling up the space and their stomachs with the yummy spread of food and by 8pm, the team started to settle people down for Faye’s introduction to the beginnings, present and future of The Rojak Projek. She talked about using the little that we have, and being exactly who we are and using that to lift Malaysia. Belveen joined her at the front, sharing about the seemingly little that he’s done that has created such a big (and hilariously Malaysian) impact to Malaysia and Malaysians – through meme’s. There is a lot of noise happening in the media, why not lighten it up with a pun and a laugh!
After the hilarious conversation learning about Belveen Singh and his puniness, Malaysians being Malaysians, continued eating! Throughout the night, Jon Cool and his Moviemento Production team took everyone’s black and white portraits with the video team setting up base outside of the café to capture the attendees’ stories growing up in Malaysia and stories with their friends. Nostalgia!
Everyone had a great time getting to know a whole bunch of new friends over food, games and simply just by sharing the same table! The night lasted till almost midnight as new and old friends laughed the hours away. Tummies and hearts filled as The Rojak Part #2 came to an end. What a beautiful night indeed.
We would like thank all those who came by to help us make this Rojak Party happen; Lim Sheng Feiyan (Faye), Rachel Lee Ju Wei, Jon Cool, Anderson Kalang, Ahmad Faliq , Belveen Singh, Kimbery Yong, Sarah Ann Yong, Tabitha Xavier,, Elizabeth Hui Clark and Rina Chew .
YTM Tunku Dato' Paduka Khadijah Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj
Che Puan Rosilah Nasrun and YM Tengku Mohd Nasrun
YTM Tunku Dato' Paduka Khadijah Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj
Thank you again for all who came and special thanks to our guest YTM Tunku Dato' Paduka Khadijah Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, YM Tengku Mohd Nasrun and Che Puan Rosilah for coming to show your support!
#therojakprojek
#hungrymail
#celebrate16th
#3 (16.12.16)
About our
venue & food
sponsor!
About our
venue & food
sponsor!
League of Captains decided to partay-it-up at The Den - League Of Captains HQ in Ampang! So if you are looking for an absolutely gorgeous bungalow space for any events, you should call;
Danial Naim: +6012-310 1492
Address: 5, Jalan 1, Taman Sri Ukay, 68000, Ampang, Selangor
About our
food sponsor!
Mdm. Susan Rem Bulan
(Orang Ulu food / Catering)
+6019-275 6499
OUR TUAK
SPONSOR!
Mr Awel (Tuak)
+6019-3380655
THE ROJAK PARTY #3
The final Rojak Party for 2016 was held at the League of Captains HQ in Ampang on the 16th of December 2016! This time round we turn it up a notch with culture and had a very Sarawakian night filled with Orang Ulu food, Sape rainforest music, All Aboard Community Gaming Centre brought their games chest for people to bond (or fight :p) over and some Kelabit aunties even brought some traditional jewellery to showcase and sell!
All our thanks and gratitude to League of Captains, Canvas Art Sdn Bhd, Mr. Awel, Mdm. Susan Rem Bulan (Orang Ulu food / catering), Wak Gomok Sate, Ms. Julia Maran (beads & handicrafts), Anderson Kalang and Saufi Aiman Sape'Star for providing us with an amazing venue, yummy food and mind-blowing story-telling and music through the Sape! Also to Jon Cool and Movimento Productions for being such an amazing photography and videography crew in documenting the whole party!