The 2 Dollar (Ringgit) Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant

Almost every township in Malaysia has a 2 dollar Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant where you can have a full meal for under RM5.

For breakfast you have a choice of vegetarian fried mee hoon or noodles, wantan mee, veg. chicken rice, nasi lemak, mee curry, soup mee, rice porridge and desserts of green pea and red bean porridge.

For lunch we are served economy rice with an assortment of vegetable and mock meat dishes.

Most of the restaurant staff are volunteers who are followers of Buddhist charity organisations which subsidise these restaurants.

The bulk of 2 dollar restaurant customers are elderly people some of whom bring their own containers to pack their food.

The sole purpose of the 2 dollar restaurant is to promote vegetarianism and a healthy and compassionate lifestyle.

It is most encouraging to see this positive aspect of the Malaysian Chinese community.

The restaurants also offer a lifeline for the growing number of vegetarians and vegans in Malaysia.

Vegetarianism is popular among the Indian community of Malaysia particularly Hindus most of whom go vegetarian every Friday and Tuesday and during religious festivals and events like weddings, mourning for dead relatives etc.

There was a Hindu organisation run 2 dollar restaurants some years back in major cities like Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bharu.

Now there is only a side outlet in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur that continues the two dollar concept.

It will be useful if other Hindu organisations set up such low cost vegetarian outlets specially during this period of economic downturn in Malaysia owing to the Covid19 pandemic scare.

Picture caption: 2 dollar vegetarian restaurant in Taman Kajang Prima in Kajang.

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