In Malaysia, vegetarians are mostly Buddhists and Hindus. Rarely will you find a Malay who is a vegetarian.

But the younger generation of Malaysia is catching up with the trends of veganism and vegetarianism in pursuit of a healthy lifestyle.

When Fauzi Hussein started to go vegetarian, he was questioned by people surrounding him.

At one time, his mother thought he was changing his faith.

"When you tell people you are a vegan, they will ask: are you changing your faith?"

In Malaysia, people tend to associate vegetarianism with religion," he said.

Initially, Fauzi was alone.

"Chinese and Indians know since young that they do not consume meat on the first and 15th days of the month. To the Malays, this is an alien concept," he said.

He also discerned that the practice of not consuming meat is in line with Islamic teachings.

"I love animals. Why do we choose to love only some animals and not all animals?" he asked.

Fauzi started to take vegetarian food due to health reasons.

After refraining from meat, his physical conditions improved and he decided to continue as a vegan.

After becoming a vegan, his next move was to spread the practice by running a vegan restaurant.

In jest, he said, "My mother has hoped that I would rather operate a KFC outlet as she is worried a vegan restaurant might be incurring losses."

But Fauzi explained that he was not aiming at making profit from the vegan restaurant but to share the advantages of being a vegan regardless or race. 

Fauzi is not alone. Many of vegetarian restaurants operated by the Chinese here are willing to share their exclusive recipes with him just to promote vegetarianism.

"The most beautiful part of this vegetarian community is that everyone is willing to extend a helping hand. A Chinese running a vegetarian restaurant has given me a lot of help. She was surprised a Malay wanted to run a vegan restaurant and looked forward to seeing the restaurant in business. She was even willing to let me learn from her kitchen unconditionally.

"Those tasty mushrooms used by me are mainly supplied by her," he said.

Fauzi hopes to promote the practice to people of different ethnic groups in the country.

Apart from Mexican dishes, his restaurant also offers Malay and Chinese snacks as well as cakes baked by his team.

The patrons are mainly Chinese, Malays and Indians, including foreigners too. 

"When I first decided to open a vegan restaurant, I wanted to remove the concept of linking vegetarian food to religion. The restaurant is not related to any race or religion. You become a vegan to be healthier, to be good to the environment and animals," he said.

Since opening the restaurant in 2017, Fauzi can see the changes in his patrons. He sees more young Malays accepting the restaurant.

A patron from Terengganu impressed him the most. 

"A Malay man and his family of five came all the way from Terengganu to KL and dropped by my restaurant. I asked if he was a vegan, and he told me he was trying to go vegan for health reason because he was diabetic and wanted to have a healthier lifestyle," Fauzi said.

Fauzi's motto: eat healthily, live compassionately and love unconditionally.