HE is well-known to all the distinguished personalities, including past and present Penang governors, state assemblymen, media practitioners and security personnel.
For the past 15 years, Jamal Damanhoori has been serving them a variety of dishes for breakfast and lunch as the main caterer at every State Legislative Assembly sitting.
“I’m very blessed and grateful. It’s an honour to serve the people. I can tell you that all the YBs (assemblymen) here are truly humble. That gives me a lot of joy, to know them and becoming friends in the process.
“In this food business, you get different feedback from your clients. And we try our best to serve to their satisfaction,” Jamal, who will turn 67 in August, told Buletin Mutiara in an interview at the State Assembly Building in Light Street today.
The catering business comes quite naturally to him, as he follows in the footsteps of his mother, Umi Sekha. His mother, now aged 88, started the business 55 years ago and was one of the caterers at the State Assembly. After 40 years doing catering, she passed it on to Jamal, who has been at the helm for the last 15 years.
Jamal has vast experience as a caterer. From 2004 to 2010, he served as the former chief operating officer of Tabung Haji Travel. During this time, he was primarily responsible for ensuring that the kitchen in Mecca ran smoothly while serving over 30,000 pilgrims during the haj.
Out of his four adult children, only his second eldest – Hassan, 30 – is helping him in the business. His eldest, Lyyana, 32, is pursuing a PhD in psychology in Glasgow, Scotland, while his two other children, Mohammad, 26, and Hussain, 25, have different careers Mohammad is a physical trainer, and Hussain works as a mechanical engineer.
“Although my second son (Mohammad) has a diploma in culinary arts, he is currently more interested in being a physical trainer. Maybe one day, he may join the catering business,” Jamal said.
Before Hassan became the third generation in the Umi Sekhar Catering, he studied accounting and finance at Cardiff University in Wales where he also picked up some cooking skills. Upon returning, Hassan worked as an auditor in Kuala Lumpur before switching to catering in Penang after the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I also learned some recipes from my mother and grandmother. When I meet chefs in hotels, I exchange knowledge with them. Mostly, I learn a lot from watching YouTube programmes, like MasterChef and Hell’s Kitchen.
“My grandmother started the catering business in 1969. She had also worked on board a ship as an assistant chef before she ventured into the catering business. She is a Chinese adopted by a Malay family during the Japanese Occupation.
“We specialise in northern cuisine, and our speciality is Arabic biryani,” said Hassan, who has 11 full-time staff members.
Umi Sekhar Catering also handles quite several other functions, such as the State Annual Awards, Merdeka celebration, Minggu Saham Amanah Malaysia PNB, North Zone Madani Rakyat, and other corporate events involving factories.
“We treasure feedback from our clients. We listen to all views, good or bad. If all is good, we won’t know what is bad. If something does not taste right, we will have a meeting in the kitchen and improve it.
“I feel happy and proud to serve the people at the State Legislative Assembly meetings. All of them are welcoming and have no airs.
“I am happy to see their happy faces after they have enjoyed our food,” said Hassan, a Chelsea football fan.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Law Suun Ting