Former Laotian refugee Michael Ma has cooked up a winning recipe by turning rural fare from once war-ravaged Laos and Vietnam into chic cuisine.
Ma's first IndoChine outlet in Singapore opened in 1999, offering dishes like Tom Som Laotian green papaya salad and pho bo, a Vietnamese beef noodle dish, prepared by chefs recruited from the two countries.
It became an instant hit with locals and expatriates.
PHOTO: AFP
Since then, IndoChine has expanded to Kuala Lumpur and the German city of Hamburg, where it has a three-storey 1,620m2 waterfront outlet.
Plans call for openings in Jakarta and the Thai resort of Phuket in the first half of next year.
In Singapore, a multicultural city-state known for the variety of Asian foods available, IndoChine outlets are still packing in crowds who can't seem to get enough Vietnamese rice paper rolls, Sai Kog Laotian sausages and Laotian laksa, a spicy noodle soup.
Ma, 39, credits his success to an overwhelming desire to give his best in whatever he does, and says his hunger to excel stems from childhood experiences in Australia, where his family fled in 1975 after escaping the war in Laos.
Starting from scratch in a Western country helped toughen him, he says.
"Australia was a very racist country in the seventies, eighties ... In a way yes, you get tougher growing up in Australia," Ma said in an interview over lunch at the first IndoChine.
"I've heard every insult there is on this planet growing up in Australia," he said, adding he also had his fair share of fist fights and name-calling.
The abuse only made him want to prove that he was better, athletically and academically, than others.
"My point was, I really did want to show those guys that were really looking down on me in high school, in primary school that `Hey this little Asian guy can outdo you in everything you want to do.' And I did." Ma said.
Ma was a commodities trader in Singapore before he decided to enter the restaurant business, armed only with an economics degree and his knowledge of what constitutes good Laotian and Vietnamese food.
"I am doing what I know, and that's my native food," he said.
"Indochine" was a French term used to describe Laos, Cambodia and what is now Vietnam during the period of French colonial rule.
Ma says the region can boast some of the best cuisine in Asia but it remains unappreciated outside its home soil.
"Vietnamese food is really, really great but people don't know how to eat it and nobody has really marketed Laotian food and Vietnamese food that well," he said.
The IndoChine concept delivers authentic food in an upscale ambience reflective of the region's heritage. The first outlet features stone statues and framed images of Buddha.
"For us, it's not only about design, heritage, culture, food," Ma explained. "It's a whole thing."
The ponytailed Ma has been eating at IndoChine restaurants almost every day for the last seven years.
He said he realized there was a market for the traditional fare after he brought it back from Vietnam and Laos and served it at parties with friends, many of whom were Westerners.
"Wow it's fantastic! I love the food!" he recalled their reaction.
That set the stage for the naturalized Australian to begin his foray into the restaurant business.
In a huge investment with no guarantee of success, he acquired a shop on the edge of Singapore's central business district for S$2.2 million (US$1.42 million) and opened the first IndoChine outlet.
He said he has no regrets about leaving his well-paid trading job, but declined to reveal how successful financially IndoChine has been.
"You know, my mentality is I do what I enjoy. It's not about money. It's what I enjoy, what I like to do and what my challenges are," Ma said.
Asked if he was ever afraid IndoChine might not make it, Ma referred to his family's history. They had been rich in Laos but then lost it all.
"If I go back to nothing it's okay," he said. "There's only one way, it's up, and that's how the refugee mentality is."
If Ma has his way, he will spread the tradition and culture of Asia to the rest of the world through his IndoChine restaurants.
"There is something I want to do for Pan Asia," Ma said. "Asian culture and heritage is so rich and vibrant. Why does it take a Westerner to market Asian things and resell it back to Asians?
He said he is showing the West that he can do it, "and this is coming from an Asian perspective."
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
The number of births in Taiwan fell to an all-time monthly low last month, while the population declined for the 16th consecutive month, Ministry of the Interior data released on Friday showed. The number of newborns totaled 8,684, which is 704 births fewer than in March and the lowest monthly figure on record, the ministry said. That is equivalent to roughly one baby born every five minutes and an annual crude birthrate of 4.52 per 1,000 people, the ministry added. Meanwhile, 17,205 deaths were recorded, resulting in a natural population decrease of 8,521, the data showed. More people are also leaving Taiwan, with net
RSS