No shoes, no shirt, no durian — no service. As ubiquitous as a no smoking sign in our region’s hotels, a durian ban on most premises ensures that the love-it-or-hate-it pungent smell of the fruit stays far away from noses it may offend, and carpets it may imbue.
However, one Bangi-area hotel is changing all of that, and is introducing a durian-friendly policy for its visitors at their resort.
Bangi Gold Resort boasts a hotel, a gold course and an agricultural farm an hour outside of Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, and has designated “durian-friendly zones” where patrons can buy, bring, and eat durians.
Tan Ban Keat, the director of the resort, is claiming that they are the first establishment to practice such policies, though he doesn’t foresee it becoming a trend among other hotels.
“It doesn’t do anything to their business. We do it because we grow durians on the premises. We have the annual durian festival … and we’ll include the Durian Research Center in the near future,” he told Arab News.
The hotel has high hopes of building a center for durian research, hopefully frankensteining a “Super Musang King,” according to Tan.
Musang King are some of the most popular and expensive breeds of durian available on the market, known for their sweet, mild taste and custardy texture. Tons are exported every season to China, Singapore and other overseas markets.
