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The Star
Tuesday March 20, 2007
Restaurant named after the turtle
By R.S.N. MURALI
KUALA TERENGGANU: The turtle, synonymous with Terengganu, may not have made it as the mascot for the Sukma 2008 to be held here, but the giant reptile has carved a special place in the heart of former journalist Norman Ahmad Radzuan who named his newly-opened restaurant Penyu (turtle).
The clown fish, like Nemo of the Disney movie, turned out to be the official mascot.
Ironically, Restoran Penyu in Jalan Sultan Zainal Abidin here may be the first business to register the turtle’s moniker in Terengganu.
“It’s strange that not a single business is registered to honour the turtle although Terengganu is popularly known as the Land of Turtles.
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Proud owner: Norman standing next to his Restoran Penyu sign in Kuala Terenggan u recently. |
Norman decided to team up with local businessman Redzuan Abd Aziz to venture into the food business.
The two now operate the first fully air-conditioned restaurant here offering authentic Chinese and Thai dishes.
Norman, who hails from Perak, said his experience of covering “gastronomic assignments” created a passion in the cuisine industry.
“It just struck me while on a food-tasting stint in Terengganu that I should use my experience to venture into the food business,” he said
Norman then approached Redzuan, his close buddy, and both decided to open the restaurant.
“Initially, we had no notion of what to name the restaurant and Redzuan mooted the name Penyu in attribution to the state in which they were venturing into a new business.
“I agreed as this is the state in which I had the opportunity to be my own boss and it is right for me to honour its illustrious symbol,” he said.
Norman said he was dubious as to whether they could register the name as others might have already taken it up.
Fortunately, the two found out that no business had used Penyu for its business registration when they checked with the Registrar of Companies.
“The name is lucky for us as our business started flourishing on the first day,” said Norman who began operations early this month.
