From weak student to super chef
‘I was facing bleak future when my mum told me about YRMS set up by S’gor Sultan’
KUALA LUMPUR: Megat Danial Aizat Megat Ariffin may have met some of the world’s most famous cooks along his way to being a chef but he will never forget his humble roots.
The 31-year-old, who holds a degree in culinary arts and food management, said he would probably be working at a food stall at his hometown in Penang had he not been thrown a lifeline in 2011.
“I had done very badly for my SPM and was facing a bleak future when my mother told me about an announcement by the Yayasan Raja Muda Selangor (YRMS) in a local newspaper,” said the executive sous chef at a resort in Ipoh.
YRMS – set up by Selangor Ruler Sultan Sharafuddin Idris Shah in 2003 when he was the Crown Prince – was offering skills training in kitchen practice under its Talent for the World programme.
Now, some six years later, Megat Danial Aizat will be formally introduced as a chef by the Sultan during an event at Istana Selangor tomorrow, which will see him cooking for the Ruler as well as 90 guests.
After applying to YRMS, Megat Danial Aizat was chosen to train under the Malaysian Skills Certificate (MSC) in kitchen practice.
“I pursued Level 1 and 2 of the MSC certificate at East West College in Seremban and worked very hard,” he said.
One of the only three students subsequently selected to train for Level 3, Megat Danial Aizat would go on to pursue his culinary education in, among others, the famous Lycee des Metiers de l’Hotellerie et du Tourisme d’Occitanie in France.
He has also clinched prizes in several cooking contests, including the prestigious Culinaire Malaysia 2013 where he won a bronze medal in the plated appetizer category, as well as being part of the Malaysian entourage at the Bocuse D’or and Coupe Du Monde Patisserie competitions.
Foundation chairman Raja Tan Sri Arshad Raja Tun Uda said the YRMS was set up because the Sultan was concerned about the plight of unemployed youths and those not academically inclined.