So you see, the bottom line of what I am trying to tell you, is that the success and failure of my enterprise rests with the Chinese. And I suspect most of the Malaysians who would be patronising the kopitiam are also going to be Malaysian Chinese who live here in the Northwest of England (because the Malays here are too poor to eat out, unlike the Chinese who are mostly working people and not students like the Malays).

NO HOLDS BARRED

Raja Petra Kamarudin

Hopefully, by next week, the first Malaysian kopitiam in Northwest England (meaning Manchester) will be open for business. I will post the details/photos here in Malaysia Today once the place has been spruced up and is ready.

Anyway, in the meantime, let me share a little secret with you.

When we first took over the place from the original café operator, a Cypriot Muslim, we thought we would just sink in about RM50,000 or so into that business. But then the 1800s building was so run down that we decided to do a total refurbishing since we do have a 15-year tenancy on the premises. Hence we would need to look at RM150,000 rather than just RM50,000.

I then spoke to an architect friend of mine, a Malaysian-Chinese from Liverpool, and discussed the concept that I had in mind. He, too, had some great ideas and I was really smitten with what he had in mind. However, how do I get a BMW for the price of a Proton Saga?

That was the challenge ahead of us.

I spoke to another Chinese friend from London who was operating a string of restaurants and he told me that for what I had in mind I would have to look at not less than RM2 million to RM2.5 million. He should know because he is an old hand at the restaurant business.

RM2 million or more is certainly not viable because I just do not have that kind of money. The most I could raise from loans and whatnot would be about RM1 million or so. I do not have the capacity to raise more than RM1 million. Hence we needed to squeeze a RM2 million idea into a budget of less than RM1 million.

We then took a gamble. In January, we signed the 15-year lease and then brought in the contractor and for a budget of about RM10,000 he ripped the place apart. We practically stripped the place clean except for the pillars, beams and roof. Even the front walls came down.

We wanted to see what was underneath all this and what we would need to do to meet the plan we had in mind. And what was revealed was atrocious. A lot more work than we anticipated would need to be done plus we would have to suffer a delay of an additional three months or so.

Nevertheless, we decided to proceed and this architect friend of mine came out with detail drawings. He then searched around for a Mat Salleh contractor who could complete what may cost at least RM1.5 million for half the price — kitchen equipment and furniture/fittings included.

The Mat Salleh contractor, who had been to Malaysia, Thailand, etc., many times, was so taken in by the project that he was prepared to do the job for the budget that we had in mind (he was even prepared to bring in investors if I needed more money). In short, I would get my BMW for the price of a Proton. He only wanted to see the project succeed because, in his own words, “Manchester needs a fucking good Malaysian restaurant.” Hence he was not doing this for the profit.

When I told my restaurant friend in London what I would need to spend, he responded with, “Fucking hell! That is fucking cheap! How the fuck did you manage that?”

Yes, that four-letter word appears to be the English word for ‘alamak’ or ‘aiyoh’.

So we got cracking with the work and in the meantime my Chinese friend in London arranged for my sons to receive training in his restaurant. He also introduced me to all his suppliers — all Chinese, of course, and some of them Malaysian Chinese.

Now we are at the tail end and am about to throw our doors open. But what tickles me is that my architect/adviser, my trainer/introducer, my ten of so suppliers who are giving me ‘special prices’ on all my purchases plus credit as well, are all Chinese, many of them Malaysian Chinese.

So you see, the bottom line of what I am trying to tell you, is that the success and failure of my enterprise rests with the Chinese. And I suspect most of the Malaysians who would be patronising the kopitiam are also going to be Malaysian Chinese who live here in the Northwest of England (because the Malays here are too poor to eat out, unlike the Chinese who are mostly working people and not students like the Malays).

And what is my message in this article today? I suppose the message I am trying to deliver is that here in the UK we are not Malays, Chinese or Indians. Here in the UK we are just plain Malaysians. And we help each other where and when we can. And I admit that what I am doing and the way I am doing it would not have been possible without the help of all these Chinese.

I have never done business in the UK. But all these Chinese who have been here for the last 20 years or so have, and they have all the right expertise, contacts and connections.  And they have ‘transferred’ all this knowledge to me to help me achieve what I am trying to achieve.

I do not have the advantage of a Bumiputera status or the New Economic Policy here in the UK. But what I do have are many Chinese who have bent over backwards to help me. Some of these Chinese are Pakatan Rakyat supporters. Some are Barisan Nasional supporters. Some do not care two hoots about what is happening back in Malaysia. But as far as they are concerned I am a fellow-Malaysian and all they want to do is to see a fellow-Malaysian succeed in his endeavour.

I don’t know about Malaysia but here in the UK we certainly have 1Malaysia.

Oh, and another thing, some of the loans I raised are personal loans from these Chinese (plus an Indian) who have given me a one-year moratorium on the repayment with no interest charges whatsoever.

Do you really think I hate the Chinese, as some of you think?

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英式‘一个大马’

所以你看，我想告诉你的东西底是，我餐厅的成功与失败在于华人们。我怀疑大部分会前来光顾Kopitiam的马来西亚人也将会是住在英格兰西北部的马来西亚华人（因为马来人在太穷了，他们是不会出外吃饭的，不像华人们，他们大多都已出来工作，而不是学生如马来人般）。

我希望在下周西北英格兰（即曼彻斯特）的第一家马来西亚Kopitiam将开门营业。一旦所有東西都準備應全后，我将发布更多消息/照片在MT上。

无论如何，在此期间，請让我与你分享一个小秘密。

当我们第一次接手這閒咖啡馆（原名为Cypriot Muslim）時，我们想我们只需投资大约RM50000左右。但由于这间建于19世纪的建筑物已经快要倒塌了，再加上我们签了15年的租约，所以我们决定来一个总翻新。因此，我们看起来需要的是RM150000而不是仅仅RM50000而已。

我跟我的一位建筑师朋友（一位住在利物浦的马来西亚华人）讨论我脑子里的概念。他也给了我他一些伟大的想法，我当时真的很敬佩他脑子里所想的东西。然而，我要怎么用一辆普腾的价钱来购得一辆宝马呢？

这是摆在我们面前的挑战。

我又问了另一位在伦敦经营多间餐厅的华人朋友，他告诉我，如果我要照着我脑子里的构思去做的话那我需付出不低于200万令吉至250万令吉。他应该是对的，因为他在餐厅业务这一行是个老手。

200万令吉或以上肯定是不可行的，因为我没有这么多钱。在通过贷款后我最多可以拿到100万令吉左右，我没有能力筹集超过100万令吉。因此，我们需要想法把一间200万令吉的餐厅用低于100万令吉的预算来搞定。

我们为此赌了一把。今年1月，我们签署了15年的租赁合同，然后用约RM10，000的预算付给承包商来把这间建筑物给拆了。实际上我们是真的把所有东西都给拆了，除了柱子，梁和屋顶以外。我们就连前面的墙壁也给弄了下来。

我们想看看拆除以后我们面对的到底是什么，然后再来做打算。现实是残酷的，在拆了以后我们发现有很多我们预期外的工作需要做，再加上我们当时面临了一个为期三个月左右的延误。

尽管如此，我们决定继续我们的计划，而我的这位建筑师朋友也把详图给划了出来。他四处搜查看看是否能够找到一个红毛人可以以一半的价格来完成我们的计划—初步预算花费至少150万令吉，包括厨房设备和家具/配件等。

我们后来找到了一位红毛人承包商，他之前曾到过马来西亚，泰国等地。他对我们的计划很感兴趣而答应了以我们的预算来接下这份工程（他甚至准备把钱投资给我，如果我需要更多的钱）。总之，我用一辆普腾的价钱购得了一辆宝马。他只不过是想看看该项目能获得成功，因为在应用他自己的话，“曼联需要一个好的马来西亚餐厅。”因此，我想他不是为利润而做的。

当我把这告诉我那伦敦餐厅的朋友时，他回应，“真他妈的吊！这是他妈的便宜！你是如何他妈的做到的？”

于是，我们开始了我们的工作。在此期间，我的伦敦华人朋友在安排了我的儿子在他的餐厅接受培训。他还向我介绍了他的供应商—-所有都是华人，当中还有一些是马来西亚华人。

现在我们已接近计划的尾声，要敞开大门做生意了。令我很有感触的是，我的设计师/顾问，我的培训师/介绍人，和那些给我‘特价’和‘延款便利’的供应商，他们都是华人，其中许多还是马来西亚华人。

所以你看，我想告诉你的东西底是，我餐厅的成功与失败在于华人们。我怀疑大部分会前来光顾Kopitiam的马来西亚人也将会是住在英格兰西北部的马来西亚华人（因为马来人在太穷了，他们是不会出外吃饭的，不像华人们，他们大多都已出来工作，而不是学生如马来人般）。

我今天这篇文章想要传达的是什么？我想，我试图传达的是，在英国我们是不是马来人，华人或印度人。在英国，我们都只是普通的马来西亚人。我们会随时随地互相帮助。我承认，在没有华人的帮助下，我是不可能达到我的目标的。

我从来没有在英国做过生意。但是，所有这些华人在过去20年的时间里一直都待在这里，他们拥有所有正确的商业知识和人脉。他们都把这些’转移’了给我以帮助我实现我想实现的梦想。

在英国我没有土著地位或新经济政策的优势，但我确实有很多华人向后弯腰来帮我。他们有些是民联支持者，有些是国阵支持者，有些则根本都不关心在马来西亚所发生的事情。但据他们而言，我是个从大马来的老乡，而他们想看到的就是他们的老乡在他的目的上取得成功。

我不知道马来西亚是怎样的，但在英国，我们肯定是‘一个大马’。

哦，还有一件事，我其中的一些贷款是以个人名义向这些华人（和一位印度人）借的，他们都没有跟我要任何利息而且还容许我延期一年才还款。

你真的认为我就像你们想象一般那么讨厌华人吗？