Music engineering graduate opens Mee Sup Pipin cafe
PENAMPANG: ‘Mee Sup Pipin’ is no stranger to the people in this district or the state capital as a matter of fact.
It is a family business which sells local style noodle soup and had its humble beginning in the Inobong tamu ground.
Mee Sup Pipin now has outlets in Taman Khidmat, Menggatal, Kingfisher and Tuaran, all which are managed by members of the same family.
The latest to take up the venture is Aileen Dison, whose grandparents started ‘mee sup Pipin’ in the 1970s.
But Aileen is taking it a step higher by incorporating music, speciality coffee and pastries in her outlet located in New World Commercial in Penampang.
“The name of my outlet is Mee Sup Pipin and Cafe. This branch is slightly different than the others because it is cafe based. We are integrating food and music and we serve specialty coffee and pastries,” she said.
The music engineering graduate from Australia said after returning home to Sabah, she wanted to venture in the music business but did not have any experience in it.
“I however have experience in the food business so I thought to myself why not try it out. I asked for help from my family members and also my uncle who is also a member of the KadazanDusun Chamber of Commerce and Industry (KCCI). I asked him what I need to do to start a business.
“With their advice and assistance, I succeeded in opening this cafe,” she said when met at the opening of the outlet yesterday.
Meanwhile KCCI president Datuk Bonipasius Bianis who officiated the opening ceremony, said Aileen had a very good starting point in business and it showed how enterprising Kadazan Dusun Murut (KDM) youths can be.
“Although Aileen graduated in music engineering she decided to become an entrepreneur instead. We at KCCI encourage our youngsters to be employers instead of employees because there are a lot more things that they can do.
“Participating in the food business is one of the things they can do and KCCI encourages them to try it out. There is a lot of opportunity in the food business but of course we have to look at the niche market and work from there,” he said.
KCCI is ready to assist the youths and it has the Young Entrepreneur Development program to assist them in terms of exposure and channel them to the right financial institution.
“We also help them establish a network by listing their business on our website,” he said, adding that KCCI has about 680 members in Sabah.