The Launch
From Borneo to the World.
10 July 2025 · Le Méridien Petaling Jaya
Photograph by Bonnie Yap.
Serumpun Sarawak was unveiled in Kuala Lumpur on 10 July 2025, at Le Méridien Petaling Jaya. We came to that day with the work already planned: state backing, alignment with Kuching's standing as a UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy, and three chapters fixed in the calendar, Osaka in August, Mulu in October and a finale in Kuching the following April. At the centre of it were Sarawak's thirty-four indigenous communities.
- Le Méridien Petaling Jaya
- 10 July 2025
- Under the patronage of the Sarawak State Government
- Three chapters announced on the day
State backing and UNESCO alignment
The launch took place under the patronage of the Sarawak State Government. Our principal counterpart in government was YB Dato Sri Haji Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah, Minister of Tourism, Creative Industry and Performing Arts Sarawak. From the start the work was aligned with Kuching's UNESCO Creative City of Gastronomy designation, which placed it inside Sarawak's own cultural policy.
Free Malaysia Today reported the launch on 10 July 2025 as Sarawak to showcase its unique cuisine at World Expo 2025. The same day Business Today ran Sarawak's Culinary Soul Embarks on World Tour, in which Shahrizal described the work as "immersive tasting, storytelling and performance". It was a fair description of what we meant to do.
Three chapters, named at the start
We announced all three chapters on the day of the unveiling, with their dates and their purpose. DayakDaily reported Mulu and Osaka on 11 July 2025, and by 12 July Daily Express had set out the plan in full.
The rest of the year was spent doing what we had said we would do.
Locally Sauced: The Star profile
On 13 July 2025 The Star ran Locally Sauced, a feature on how ancestral Bornean food traditions meet modern sustainability. It treated the work as cultural diplomacy, and it pointed to my earlier years, the Krug and Hennessy work and the rooms at Enfin and Shin'Labo, as the reason Sarawak felt able to trust me with this.
The Borneo press and the international wire
On 11 July 2025 The Borneo Post ran 'Serumpun Sarawak' launched to take indigenous flavours global. BorneoTalk's Serumpun Sarawak: From Borneo to the World gave the launch one of its best lines: "where food becomes a vessel for storytelling". India Outbound ran Sarawak launches immersive culinary showcase Serumpun Sarawak, which carried the movement to the international travel trade.
Free Malaysia Today, Business Today, The Borneo Post, DayakDaily, Daily Express, The Star, BorneoTalk and India Outbound all covered the launch within a few days.
Where food becomes a vessel for storytelling.
BorneoTalk · Serumpun Sarawak: From Borneo to the World
Selected Press
Full archive →- The Star Locally Sauced National flagship · Launch chapter 13 July 2025
- The Borneo Post Serumpun Sarawak launched to take indigenous flavours global Regional flagship · Launch chapter 11 July 2025
- DayakDaily Serumpun Sarawak: Indigenous food heritage to be spotlighted in Mulu and Osaka Sarawak indigenous press 11 July 2025
- Bernama Radio Serumpun Sarawak, Bernama radio coverage National news agency, Bahasa Malaysia 11 July 2025 BM
- Sarawak Tribune Serumpun Sarawak launched to take indigenous cuisine global State press 11 July 2025
- India Outbound Sarawak launches immersive culinary showcase Serumpun Sarawak International tourism trade 1 July 2025
We came to the unveiling with the plan already made. People could see the year ahead for themselves.