Career switch serves KK well

IT wasn’t just a change of pace that attracted successful Malaysian designer Kah Lye Khoo to study hospitality and cooking at TasTafe.

Mr Khoo, or ‘KK’ as he is better known to family and friends said after 10 years working in interior design in Malaysia, he felt like he needed a new challenge.

He said he decided on hospitality and cooking as it enabled him to tap into a different side of his creativity and skill set.

“I find cooking is more creative than interior design for me because I get to apply my creativity more and there is a lot of skill involved that you get to learn on the job,” he said.

Mr Khoo said cooking had always been a second passion of his, so when an education agent in Malaysia recommended the Certificate III in Hospitality at TasTafe, he jumped at the opportunity. In 2015, Mr Khoo moved with his wife and daughter to Hobart to commence his studies. Now less than two years later, he has completed a Certificate III in Hospitality as well as a Certificate III in Commercial Cookery, with his Certificate IV in Commercial Cookery to be completed this year.

To gain experience in the industry, Mr Khoo volunteered to work on several large functions.

For that he secured a number of paid jobs working at events alongside industry chefs, that he said allowed him to appreciate the broader context in which his training applied.

He has since worked as a souschef at Vanidols Thai and Fusion Cuisine and is now working alongside Waji Spiby at George’s On The Park, in Glenorchy.

Mr Spiby said the best skills that cooking students could bring to the job was drive and motivation.

“So long as students bring the right attitude and motivation, then you can do anything you put your mind to.

“People fall in love with this industry very quickly, there is just something about it,” he said.