Curating the modern
They said: “Malaysia’s hawker culture is wonderful if you look at the array of food offerings and the different specialities that each stall brings.”
However, they also noted that this diversity often resulted in a splitting up of the population, based on factors such as “race, location, food type, halal and non-halal, roadside or foodcourt type, and opening hours”. Their aim was to establish a modern kopitiam which can welcome everyone from all walks of life.
This simple mission came with a whole host of challenges, not least of which was being able to manage the various popular brands within requires a different set of skills.”
How are your days like now compared to your previous working life?
“We worked 15 hours a day from the grand opening up till Chinese New Year break, and continued working long hours after that. Now
that the team has settled into a
Hawker Hall. They explained: “We had to choose carefully what we could offer in this first outlet, to ensure it can bring people from all races together. To be able to satisfy them from breakfast to dinner, with quality food that also complements the cravings [for] the different hours of the day. The diversity of the food also means we have to be conscious of our kitchen planning – from ingredients, to manpower, to equipment that will be needed to churn out all the varieties of food and drinks.
“Also, the challenge was questioning ourselves how we would fare, as we will be competing with the super affordable kopitiams that are in almost every township or corner.”
They decided to focus on presenting quality food using ingredients sourced from halal suppliers, as well as offering quality and consistency in each dish.
“The wild sea prawns we use for our char kuey teow is of certain size and quality, while for other dishes that call for beef, we use Australian beef. We also monitor the cooking oil usage as we want to ensure quality in all the things we fry, like the chicken Maryland for ayam goreng berempah. For our nasi lemak, we use premium ikan bilis from Pangkor.
“For breakfast and snacks, you will find superb quality Hainan toast with real Australian butter inside. These are just some of the examples where we highlight quality.”
Judging by the glowing response from consumers, their efforts appear to have paid off. Co-Martinent and Kong hope to be able to open more Hawker Halls in other areas, as well as inviting more stall owners to join them.
They said: “With all the possibilities in terms of offerings under Hawker Hall, the sky is the limit to grow the food variety of what Malaysians want.” smooth workflow, I am able to spend more time with my toddler, thanks to the flexible work hours.”
Is there anything you wish you had known before making that leap?
“No, because it’s impossible to know everything before making the leap, and I knew I would have to learn on the job.”
What advice would you give to those seeking a similar career change?
“I don’t think I’m qualified to give advice, having only made one very recent career change after 12 years being a writer but what I did for myself before leaving SunBiz was to have a solid plan, be brave and take that leap. Being excited about learning new things (and drinking lots of bubble tea) overshadowed the fear of failing. – by Anansa Jacob