FOOD & BEVERAGE
As someone who used to run VIP nightclubs in the United Kingdom, Joseph Ryan is no stranger when it comes to the world of entertainment. “I was doing it for five years and it was really buzzing; we took care of everyone from Madonna to Neyo, Kevin Spacey and even the Royals!” After being approached by contemporaries to create some exciting nightlife in Malaysia, Ryan decided to make his way to Kuala Lumpur.
“I came for one long weekend to see KL for the first time in my life and on that Sunday night I had decided that I wanted to move here!” Ryan is the co-owner of Live House which offers a live music venue on the ground floor with a comedy club upstairs. “The whole idea for Live House was to have a place to give people the freedom to be.”
Having only been living here for the last 10 months, Ryan says he has been made to feel incredibly at home thanks to Malaysian hospitality. With a penchant for chicken rice, mamak food and nasi lemak, Ryan says his favourite food is still banana leaf. “On the weekends I will go for a 2-hour hike to Bukit Gasing, Bukit Tabur or Broga Hill and then I feel justified to have my banana leaf and pass out in the afternoon.”
Believing in giving back to a community that has treat him well, Ryan works closely with dog shelters and project 57, an NGO that supports bringing the Chinese, Indian and Malay communities together in Malaysia (which Ryan says is slightly ironic seeing as how he is a ‘guai lou’).