Muhammad Azharuddin with his specially-carved watermelons, dedicated to the National Day 2021 celebration.
BINTULU (Sept 1): Malaysians celebrate National Day in many ways, but not many commemorate the historic event quite as creatively as Muhammad Azharuddin Pulut @ Sham, who is more popularly known as ‘Alex Azhar Dewana’ here.
The 35-year-old man chef, whose birth month is August, has carved a couple of watermelons to depict the nation’s first prime minister Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al-Haj, and also the present premier Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
Another fruit has been reworked to display the greeting ‘Selamat Hari Merdeka Ke-64 2021’ (Happy 64th National Day 2021).
A villager of Kampung Jepak here, Muhammad Azharuddin took up fruit and vegetable carving during his culinary-studying days at SM Teknik Bintulu.
He was a chef in a shipping company in Miri, but with the vessel not being in operation due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he has since been working part-time at a hotel here.
On his National Day fruit-carving feat, Muhammad Azharuddin began the work last Sunday and finished it just in time for the celebration yesterday.
“I applied for leave from work just to accomplish this mission.
“I believe that the pandemic should never stop us from celebrating this historic event and to show our spirit of patriotism.
“That said, I’m happy to have been able to carve the faces of our first and our new prime ministers,” he told The Borneo Post here.
When asked about the most challenging part in the carving process, he said ‘the eyes’ needed the most attention.
“They must be constructed most precisely – every line and corner must be detailed; you would need high level of patience and perseverance,” he said.
On what inspired him to undertake this feat, Muhammad Azharuddin said he wanted to come up with something different and unique for this year’s National Day, adding that his previous fruit-carving projects had provided him with some ideas.
The chef had previously received table-centrepiece orders for VIP events, and also other wedding-related decoration projects.
“I’m not specifically from the fruit and vegetable carving discipline – I’m just a cook.
“However, I was attracted to and inspired by the beauty of this culinary art and so, I said to myself: ‘Why not give it a try’,” said Muhammad Azharuddin, hinting that he had already planned ‘a surprise’ for Malaysia Day this Sept 22.