Free Download – Jackie M’s Truly Malaysian Digital Magazine (iPad)
I’m an EX-restaurateur – I closed my Concord establishment nearly a year ago, and even when it was open it was only ever open 3 nights a week and it wasn’t around for that many years either since I initially took up the space purely for the production of the food I sell at farmers’ markets and online and kept it closed to the public for years and years (yes, I like long sentences).
Nonetheless people still associate me with my restaurant and still try to book tables and it’s frankly getting a bit old. The reality of the matter is in the 15 or so years I’ve been running my business, I have and continue to do a thousand other Malaysian food-related things (all of which are covered on this site – take a look!)
One of the hats I do wear is as the founder and curating editor of my Truly Malaysian : Food | Travel | Culture digital magazine. It’s currently only available on iPad but my team has been tasked with getting it redeveloped to be Android-compatible soon, so sit tight for the announcement.
In the wake of the MH370 tragedy (my heart breaks for all the passengers, crew and families and I continue to pray for them), I’m frankly bewildered at the amount of misinformed opinion and conjecture displayed by the mainstream media about my home country.

Speaking as someone who’s lived on three continents, I remain passionate about Malaysia and what it has to offer – it has some of the best food in the world, it’s one of the safest countries in Asia, the people are friendly and helpful, we all communicate with some level of English, and, did I mention the food?
It frustrates me that the world at large still to some extent displays a great lack of knowledge about Malaysia.
Because of this, I’m making my App a FREE download – I initially announced on social media that it was free until the end of this week but I’ve decided to extend it to the 7th of April 2014, after which it will go back up to its still-cheap download price of $1.99.
Now to the question – WHAT’S ACTUALLY IN IT?
1) Ghosts
Did you know I was in 5 episodes of a Malaysian paranormal reality show called Seekers last year? (I wasn’t kidding when I said I wear many hats). It was the highest-rated show on NTV7 that season – which I’m sure had absolutely nothing to do with my guest stint – but I’ll take the accolades anyhow, thanks.
So it includes articles by myself about my experiences during the filming of the show (including a lot of stuff that didn’t make it to air)
My co-star in the show, Robb Demarest (former lead of Ghost Hunters International and creator, co-producer and lead of Haunting: Australia) is actually a frustrated writer at heart – he contributes an article that has received more feedback than any of the others in this issue – called Ghost Hunting in Penang.
I also interviewed Jufri Rayyan, one of our castmates – an Aryan-looking Aussie based in Malaysia who speaks English with a Malaysian accent (true story).
Prolific blogger M.R. Danial has an article about the Chinese Ghost Festival – uncovering superstitions about the event that even I as a Chinese growing up in Malaysia never knew about.
2) Travel
One of my favourite Australian bloggers – The Food Pornographer (contrary to popular opinion I don’t dislike ALL food bloggers, though a lot of them are annoying as hell) – has a great write-up about the wet market scene in Malaysia.
I cover Bukit Bintang which, to me, beautifully represents the beating heart of Kuala Lumpur – and give a rundown of places to check out in the area.
3) Malaysians Abroad
My talented fellow-Malaysian Samantha Low tracks down a bunch of Malaysians who have relocated overseas – and interviews them about how they ended up where they are, and how their lives have changed.
4) Food
Of course.
There are 12 recipes, some with video –
all popular Malaysian breakfast dishes (h/t – I don’t eat pork, so none of my recipes feature it) – think Chee Cheong Fun, Woon Chai Koh, Nasi Lemak, Roti Bakar + Kaya and lots more 🙂
I tackle the ongoing debate about Penang vs Ipoh as to who has the best food.
I cover Malaysian Pantry Ingredients – a (hopefully) handy guide for those starting out with Malaysian cooking.
There’s even a reader contribution by Linda Dean from halfway around the world who has only ever interacted with me via Google Hangouts (ie. where I show people how to cook Malaysian food – visit http://youtube.com/jackiemsydney and subscribe to catch the uploads) – she adapts my Otak-Otak recipe via her own video submission.
There’s lots of other stuff in this issue, so do check it out – and SHARE with all your friends and families.
To Download – Search for TRULY MALAYSIAN in iTunes from your iPad (not iPhone – yet).
I’m on the lookout for content for the next issue so let me know if you’re interested in being featured – especially if you’re a Malaysian Abroad (that’s an ongoing column) or can write about Malaysian travel destinations and food.
Thank you so much to everyone who contributed to this first issue – talented photographer and friend Ian Chow for the videos, Magnus Azami who I tracked down via his Flickr stream and who kindly allowed me to use his photos for the Chinese Hungry Ghost Festival, not to mention Sarah Shrapnel for the App’s design and interactivity and Jennifer Jenner for art direction, editing and pulling all this together.
Don’t forget to SPREAD THE WORD – and even better (assuming you like it) – leave a Review on iTunes 😀
Halfway reading the first paragraph I thought this is so ‘un-JM’ to write such a long sentence …. Then I got to the last bit! Lol! App looks great btw 🙂 Hope you & baby Noah are well x
Haha thanks Ellyn; hope you’re doing well with your food truck 🙂
My prayers go to the people on mh370 also.. g, you do wear many hats – you’re unstoppable! 🙂
Thank you Padaek 🙂
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