Hajah Asfiah: A Guardian of Traditional Malay Culture
A tireless steward of Malay culture, Hajah Asfiah worked all her life
to preserve and pass on Malay crafts. When she was just 10, she began teaching
embroidery and flower arrangement in school. Later in life, she was a mak andam (wedding
attendant) for more than 20 years and worked with more than 1,000 brides.
At age 65, she got her cookbook Hidangan Warisan Kita (Our Heritage
Dishes; 1986) published by Times Books International; it was the publisher’s
first cookbook, written in Malay by a Malay person. The book had recipes
for dishes that have since become extinct. Sadly, she died a year later,
but thanks to the book she wrote and the many courses she taught, her memory
lives on.
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What Toffa Talked About
00:26 – About the dish Toffa made in Season Two of From Book to Cook, bunga kobis (flower
of the cabbage)
03:57 – Why bunga kobis is a special dish
04:30 – The complicated process of making the six-layer dish
05:39 – Why Toffa chose to make this dish for the video
06:39 – Toffa's special family connection to the dish
07:36 – How Toffa practised making the dish for the video
09:43 – When bunga kobis was a trendy dish at Malay weddings
10:16 – The secret to making bunga kobis
12:00 – Garnish and presentation for the dish
13:42 – Why Cikgu Asfiah is considered a guardian for Malay arts
15:35 – Cikgu Asfiah's background
18:07 – Why Cikgu Asfiah was invited to teach at age ten
18:40 – The significance of her first cookbook Hidangan Warisan Kita
20:01 – Why she decided to write a cookbook
23:00 – Why her cookbook had limited reach
24:08 – Her work as a mak andam (wedding attendant)
26:15 – How her children helped her
28:43 – What a mak andam does
33:21 – The resources Toffa used to research on Cikgu Asfiah
35:42 – Why food history is important
37:35 – Food is…
About the Guest
Toffa Abdul Wahed is an associate librarian with the National Library, Singapore, and works with the Singapore and Southeast Asia Collection. She has written about cookbook author Siti Radhiah and belacan in BiblioAsia.
Related Video
Bunga kobis was a dish prepared only for special occasions because of how laborious it was to make. In this episode, librarian Toffa Abdul Wahed tells us more in her attempt to put together this many-layered pastry. Watch Toffa make bunga kobis.
Resources
Hajjah Asfiah Haji Abdullah, Hidangan Warisan Kita (Singapore: Times Books International, 1986). (From National Library, Singapore, via PublicationSG)
Khir Johari, The Food of Singapore Malays: Gastronomic Travels through the Archipelago (Marshall Cavendish Editions, 2021). (National Library, Singapore, call no. 394.120899928 KHI -[CUS])
Margaret Sullivan, “Can Survive Lah” Cottage Industries in High-rise Singapore (Singapore: G. Brash, 1993).
Toffa Abdul Wahed, "Cikgu Asfiah Abdullah: A Cultural Luminary," BiblioAsia 20, no. 2 (July–September 2024).
Toffa Abdul Wahed, "Siti Radhiah’s Cookbooks for the Modern Malay Woman," BiblioAsia 17, no. 4 (January–March 2022).
Credits
This episode of BiblioAsia+ was hosted by Jimmy Yap and produced by Soh Gek Han. Sound engineering was done by One Dash. The background music "Di Tanjong Katong" was composed by Osman Ahmad and performed by Chords Haven. Special thanks to Toffa for coming on the show.
BiblioAsia+ is a podcast about Singapore history by the National Library of Singapore.