Malaysia: Gula melaka

Visited a Gula Melaka factory in Johor.  I'm not sure if factory is a right word, as it is a setup behind some people's dwellings. 

The smell was quite overwhelming and unpleasant, and the environment was hot and humid, as huge vats contained simmering gula melaka.

The boiled gula melaka was subsequently poured into little bamboo containers acting as molds.  The gula melaka in the moulds were then knocked out upon cooling.

Surprisingly, although gula melaka is sweet, there was no trace of any ants.

However, the guide remarked that gula melaka in Johor is not as pure as those in Vietnam, because Vietnamese could not afford to add additives to their gula melaka due to the price of the additives.

I thought that was really ironic that people who were less wealthy were eating purer foods with less additives.