Chicken started being finger lickin' good

STILL A TREAT: As fast-food chain KFC celebrates its 40th anniversary in Malaysia this year, Suzanna Pillay speaks to people about their FC experiences in its early days
IN 1986, when Colonel Sanders' finger-licking good chicken came to Sungai Petani, the whole town was abuzz with excitement. It would be the first international fast-food franchise restaurant to set up shop in this small, sleepy Kedah town and people were thrilled. Prior to this, fans had to make the journey all the way to nearby Butterworth or Penang for the nearest stores.

The town then was not as developed as it is now with new industrial and residential areas, as well as the numerous shopping centres that have cropped up over the years.
Sungai Petani boy Danny Nesan Santiago, now regional coach, KFC operations recalls the occasion vividly:
"It was a big thing then for Sungai Petani. It was the kind of slow-paced town which we joked if visitors drove past at 5kph, they would definitely miss it.
"Then, the only thing closest to fast food we had was local fast-food chain McDota."

Naturally, he said, when it came to KFC's recruitment drive to hire manpower for the new outlet, KFC was overwhelmed by the number of interested applications. As a teenager, Santiago remembers standing in line with other candidates waiting to be interviewed but he never even made it past the lobby of the interview venue.
"Because of the sheer volume of people who showed up for a chance to be recruited by an international fast-food franchise restaurant -- the line snaked out of the interview premises all the way onto the main road -- all available positions had been filled up so quickly."

But Santiago, it appears, was destined to work for KFC. After his Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination, he tried again and this time secured a part-time position with the fast-food outlet. It would mark the start of a long and happy career with KFC, which even blessed his personal life because he met his wife while undergoing training at KFC's Butterworth outlet, where she was based.

Looking back at his more than 20 years of service with KFC, Santiago said he always felt valued and at home with the chain ever since his first day as a crew member of the Sungai Petani outlet.

"It was my first job and as part of the customer service crew my duties included mopping the floor, wiping tables and serving diners at the outlet by the town's main street, Jalan Ibrahim and near the town's major landmark, the old Silver Jubilee Clock Tower built in 1936."

Dining at KFC then, he said, was like dining at a coffee house:
"Customers would be greeted at the door, then shown to their table, which already had place settings with proper cutlery, and the chairs were made of cane. Unlike the self-service style practised at KFC outlets today, your order would be taken at your table."

Santiago adapted to the job easily because it was structured, organised with clear systems and procedures to follow. A perk of the job was working with crew members similar in age.
"We enjoyed working at the outlet so much that even if we had worked on the earlier shift, we would return at night to help the evening shift clean up and close the restaurant. If we worked the late shift and had no transport to go home, we could stay overnight at the KFC hostel which was on the third floor of the restaurant and go home the next day.
"The clock tower was our alarm clock. We would look out the window at it in the mornings to check what time it was."
With its welcoming ambience and friendly crew, the restaurant also became a favourite hangout for the town's youth.

"It became a saying shared among them that if you pass by the clock tower, don't forget to wave at the colonel and send greetings to the people in the outlet.
"My friends liked to hang out at the outlet as well. They used to save their money to buy a drink at KFC, which cost 90 sen then, and would sit there and chat for hours. It was the place to be seen and even after drinking, they wouldn't throw the KFC paper cup away, but would carry it around town so that people would know they had been to KFC."
Menu-wise, Santiago said then it was kept simple, just fried chicken and a few side dishes, including coleslaw, mashed potato and a salad. There were no colonel or zinger burgers or even nuggets.

"The KFC menu was indeed completely different back then to how things are now," said Ling Mee Juan, senior vice-president KFC Malaysia. Ling started her career with KFC in 1983 as an assistant restaurant manager trainee (ARMT) with KFC's Wisma Shaw outlet (since relocated).
"We only had original recipe fried chicken then. In the 1980s a single plate is what we called individual meals. A two-piece special consisted of two pieces of original recipe chicken and a bun. The snack plate and dinner plate remain the same until today.

The KFC menu also had "potato goldies", which used to be "the cheesy wedges in those days", coleslaw which was called tangy coleslaw and a veggie salad.
"They also served Chinese tea, hot chocolate, and an array of restaurant-style ice creams complete with toppings of strawberry and butterscotch.
"Banana split was a favourite, served in a glass banana split server. Additionally, we used to have frothy and yummy milkshakes mixed by hand. This is where milk and ice cream are shaken in a shaker manually the classic way with flavours like chocolate, vanilla and strawberry."
Root beer and fresh milk were also available in the 1980s. The buns were a favourite among the younger children. It was buttery and soft, just like how it tastes today. For children, KFC meals were considered treats.

During the 1970s and the 1980s, people used to call KFC, Kentucky. But in the 1990s the abbreviation KFC caught on like wildfire where some children would learn the alphabets KFC even before ABC.

In the mid-1990s, the concept of KFC restaurants was changed to self-service.

Sheena Bakshi, homemaker, remembers people trying to replicate the Colonel Sanders' secret recipe for fried chicken at home.
"The original recipe chicken today is tasty, but not as crispy as I remember it being in those days. I remember after eating KFC chicken, my fingers would be fragrant with the smell of herbs for a whole day, but today after eating the chicken you don't get the same effect. I also remember their coleslaw being a lot creamier."
T. Keong Kaik, retiree, said the colonel's presence in the stores was a lot more obvious then.

"I remember the KFC stores either having a statue or life-size paper cut outs of Colonel Sanders clad in his trademark white suit and people just loved taking pictures with 'him'."
Sara C. Ibrahim, copywriter, recalls the banana splits she used to have at KFC as a child. "I wish they would bring back the banana splits which I used to love. They were delicious!"