Malaysia’s first fast food chain had a prince as a burger chef. The Sultan wasn’t happy.

Hey hey, people. Which fast food chain do y’all think was the first one to spread its greasy wings in Malaysia? No, it’s not Mekdi. It’s not Kepci. It’s definitely not White Castle, if any of you guys even remember their square beef patties. Drumroll, please.

Iiiiiiiiit’s A&W.

Chances are, anyone who grew up in the 80s and 90s would have tears in their eyes as they’re chowing down on a Coney Dog or downing a glass of root beer, but as many fans as A&W has, not many might know how the chain was opened in Malaysia in the first place. As an enthusiast of the franchise, this writer is happy to say that he’s uncovered that story through a letter that was written by an acquaintance of Al and Geri Lieboff, the couple who brought A&W here, all the way from the U.S. It all started when…

Al Lieboff got angry with the quality of ice cream in Bangkok

Just to make it clear, Al and Geri Lieboff weren’t the actual founders of A&W – Roy Allen and Frank Wright were the ones who started it all in California, USA. Al and Geri were just your average retired couple who happened to travel a lot. Incidentally, Al was a super big nerd about ice cream, and his passion for the confectionery was so intense that it “had taken all the fun out of Geri’s travels in Asia”. Apparently, he would incessantly tell his wife, Geri, what he thought of the local ice cream wherever they went.

In the early 1960s, Al and Geri were on a trip to Bangkok, and when Al tasted the ice cream there, he said:

“They call that ice cream!?? Why I could…” – An old American man to his annoyed wife

That was the scoop that cracked the cone. Geri couldn’t take it no more and jokingly told her husband to open an ice cream joint here if he was so dissatisfied with the level of local gelato. Eventually, the jokes turned into something a little more serious, and they decided “YOLO, we’ll do it”. Out of all the restaurants they could have chosen, they picked A&W cuz they were wowed by the Las Vegas outlet they’ve been to before, and A&W was famous for its ice cream. Why Malaya, though?

They chose Kuala Lumpur because they were impressed with the city

Yeah, it was that simple. There was no mention of what exactly they were impressed with, so let’s pretend they liked our weather and how friendly the locals were. Anywho, the couple enquired with the one of the Malayan senators at the time, and the senator gave them “warm encouragement” in respect of their intentions to open an A&W in Kuala Lumpur. Even Tunku Abdul Rahman supposedly thought it was a fantastic idea.

At the time, A&W charged people who wanted to buy their franchising rights based on the number of teenagers in whichever country the new chain was to be opened in. Thing is, A&W had no idea how many teens were in Singapore and Malaya (which they called “the jungles”) in the early 60s, so the Lieboffs got the franchising rights for cheap.

Cool, everything’s smooth sailing from there, right? WRONG. For one, Kuala Lumpur was a rapidly developing city, and zoning laws hadn’t really been solidified yet. It was also hard to find a suitable place that wasn’t already being developed. After dealing with the red tape, they found what was to be the site of the first A&W in Malaysia – the plot of land that’s now facing Amcorp Mall.

Then there was the hiring of the staff.

They thought it would be impossible to hire Malayan women

Hiring men wouldn’t be a problem, but Al and Geri’s friends told the couple that it would be impossible to get Malayan ladies who would be willing to don the A&W uniform, because:

“There is the stigma of the “cabaret girl”, and no good Malayan girl would consent to wear the western style uniform…” – Al and Geri’s dumb friends to Al and Geri

Regardless, they placed an ad in local papers with the intention of hiring both waiters and waitresses for their restaurant. The next day, THOUSANDS of lads showed up looking for a job at the city’s swankiest fast food place, and over the course of the next three days, ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY ladies came knocking for the position of waitress. Apparently, three of the girls were accompanied by their moms for the interview.

Boy, were Al and Geri’s friends wrong about not being able to hire ladies. So yeah, with all of that settled, A&W opened for business in 1963.

Eighteen lads and eleven lasses were chosen, and they would all start at their training periods with the salary of 100 Malayan Dollars (about RM600 today). They had to work seven and half hours per day, and they got free A&W for lunch. The lads would receive higher wages at the end of their training periods, while the wages of the waitresses stayed the same. Before you yell “FILTHY PATRIACHY!”, the ladies would get to keep ALL the tips they received. That, it was said, resulted in “the most pleasant and efficient” waitresses in town.

The couple also did something unheard of at the time: actually helping out at the restaurant. Whenever things got too busy, the literal owners of the restaurant would take orders at the counter and help out with other tasks.

But by far, our favorite part of the story was how a “young Malay prince” worked as a burger flipper for the couple – we’re not sure why, but he applied to be a cook there for fun, and quickly rose through the ranks to become the sous chef there, so to speak. His dad was understandably furious, and he threatened to cut off the prince’s monthly allowance of 300 Malayan Dollars. He wasn’t gonna let that dash his dream of becoming the precursor to Spongebob, though, and he kept flipping burgers at that A&W… even though we don’t really know for how long.

Al and Geri were required to open 22 A&W outlets within 5 years

Despite the first operation being described as a “success”, Al and Geri weren’t allowed to rest on their laurels just yet. The contract they had with A&W stipulated that they must open 22 new outlets within 5 years, and that’s on top of the plans for a drive-thru lane plus a mini golf course for the first outlet. The drive-thru definitely was a thing, and one of our readers, Ignatius Joseph, remembers the existence of the golf course even though he said not many people made use of it. Bit of a shame.

A&W’s come a long way since 1963, and while they’ve had their ups and downs, they’re going through a resurgence right now – they’re opening more restaurants across the nation, and they’ve just celebrated their 60th anniversary in 2023!

To round off this article, this writer would like to assert that A&W’s fried chicken is at the very top alongside Mekdi’s ayam goreng. If y’all wanna send any hate his way, just stick ’em in the comments.