UNINESS

Suriaku Children’s Protection Society – Lisa Hew

“I do not mind having to forego or give up anything, I just want the best for the children. That is the only thing I can do for them.”

Hundreds of colourful photographs lined the entire staircase, from the ground floor towards the first floor, exhibiting precious moments Lisa spent with her children over the past two decades. Now in her forties, Lisa has fostered and legally adopted 20 children, bringing them up alongside three of her own. She shouldered the huge responsibility of accompanying and supervising them, providing them with a beloved home and legal identity.

Cheerful and outgoing Lisa gets along favourably with people of all ages, always regarded as a sister. Being born into a poor family, Lisa is more mature than her peers. Her father passed away when she was 13 years old, then she earned a living by tutoring kids in her neighbourhood. After graduating from high school, she worked while completing secretarial training. However, the dull work did not suit her lively personality, therefore she went to teach kindergarten, and obtained a childcare centre license through furthering her studies. In 2000, together with her 6-month-old son, Lisa rented a house to start her first childcare centre.

Apart from enterprise operations, Lisa is active in charity work. She volunteers for a number of charity homes, as well as the Social Welfare Department, where she assists children and the elderly in applications for aid. Lisa is also proactive in charity bazaars, managing and arranging contributed materials for the needy, not to mention casket contribution. Mocking herself as inquisitive and hyperactive, whenever Lisa comes across begging elderly or abandoned babies, she brings them to the police station to lodge reports. Then she brings them to the hospital for a health check, and gets the Social Welfare Department to make necessary follow-up arrangements. She firmly believes and hopes that children will grow up in a loving environment, with good upbringing and education, to be their own masters.

The first incidence of Lisa’s adopted children was 20 years ago, involving an in-home daycare child among others in her childcare centre, whose parents vanished months after entrusting their 1-month-old baby to the centre. Lisa lodged a police report, and decided to continue taking care of the child after lack of follow-up. She thought: since I run a childcare centre, it is only another mouth to feed, no big deal. She ended up legally adopting the child.

As children are continually being abandoned at her doorstep, some suffered domestic abuse while others have parents who could not provide for them, Lisa took them in with open arms. Gradually realizing that cruel reality results in such social issues, she opened a bank account dedicated to charity works, depositing her earnings and contributions from her friends to help vulnerable children and elderly. She also helps stateless people and penniless families, so that they have means of surviving.

After toiling for 20 years, and most of her kids being grown up, Lisa decided to close all three of her childcare centres towards the end of 2019, retaining the site in Serdang as a warehouse to store contributed materials pending transfer to wherever needed. Following several months of semi-retirement, with her son’s encouragement, her charity work over the years materialized into the founding of Suriaku Children’s Protection Society in April 2020. The concept being a temporary shelter for the needy in their period of transition, where they reintegrate into society after solving problems which they faced. Suriaku is an asylum, a contributed goods hub, the outcome of Lisa’s 20 years of volunteering.

Lisa aspires to expand Suriaku across all Malaysian states, in order to benefit more needful folk. She shared her vision with the Social Welfare Department, hoping to attract more good Samaritans to join in the effort. Apart from that, Lisa intends to undertake law studies, after which she could provide direct assistance to the disadvantaged community, especially female victims of intimidation and domestic violence. Instead of superficial support which dissolved after a while, their concerns could be thoroughly addressed.

Even though no longer having to rush around her childcare centres, her children, and various government offices, Lisa retains her passion towards life and its surroundings. Her kind acts and attentions lessened the burdens of the disadvantaged community. Lisa shines like a blazing flame, lighting the path for the needful, providing them a shelter full of love and warmth.

Suriaku Children’s Protection Society
Persatuan Perlindungan Kanak-Kanak Suriaku Selangor
No. 1633, Jalan SK 11/3,
43300, Seri Kembangan,
Selangor

Suriaku Children’s Protection Society Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/lisahewcharitywork

Lisa Hew Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/TaskaSuriaku

Text: Daniel Lim & Pua Hui Wen

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Mok Yii Chek
Coordinator : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang
Drone : Daniel Lim
Video Editor : Amelia Lim
Production Assistant : Michael Lerk
Music : 《Romantic Piano》

COPYRIGHTS 2021 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD

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Southern Bakery

A golden cylinder with circular coil-shaped curves similar to a helical spring, “spring bread” is thus nicknamed. After cutting into ½inch-thick slices, its fluffy white texture is revealed, along with mouthwatering aroma. The mouthfeel of “spring bread” is cotton-soft, delicious just on its own or paired with fillings such as butter and kaya, eggs, ice-cream, or even made into hamburgers.

Located at Jalan Pudu in Kuala Lumpur, Southern Bakery is established for over 60 years, the only long-standing bakery in Pudu area, containing many locals’ unforgettable memories linked to childhood favourite foods. While baking, the bread aroma flows throughout the shop, attracting the attention of passer-bys. Regular customers would linger around the shop in advance, so that they could purchase the bread freshly out of the oven. As “spring bread” is rarely seen nowadays, most customers forgotten about its existence. Some customers come across it by chance and bought a few due to indulging in reminiscence.

The unique appearance of “spring bread” brought upon various nicknames: pillow bread, lantern bread, or bamboo-shaped bread, thanks to the customized cast-iron tins. The tins were purchased during the British colonization era by the founder Mr Han Chok Toon, extremely durable considering their daily usage for decades. The shaped bread dough is inserted into the two-cavity bread tin, then covered and bolted to bake. After that, the tin is unbolted and gently tapped on the workbench to release the bread. The handful of such tins in Southern Bakery are rare and precious, bearing witness to the past while continuing the legacy of “spring bread”.

The current second-generation owner Auntie Han Jee Nee is born into a family of bakers. Her grandfather ran a bakery in Singapore, and her parents used to help in the family business until mid-1950’s, when they moved to Pudu and founded Southern Bakery at Jalan Pasar together with two partners. Apart from “spring bread” made in cast-iron tins, the bakery also offers down-to-earth Hainanese bread, fist-sized plain buns, and French baguette etc. Their widely popular signature coconut bun is filled with freshly desiccated coconut, without any trace of palm sugar, a secret recipe passed on by Auntie Han’s mother.

In the earlier days, due to the bakery’s close proximity to Star cinema, Metropole cinema, and Majestic cinema, when movie showtimes are over, the bakery was crowded by people buying bread for their next day’s breakfast. At its prime during the 1960’s-70’s, there were 12 staff rotating through morning and night shifts to produce freshly made bread, which were not only sold in the bakery, but also through food trucks and hawkers, and supply to hotels and restaurants. In 1993, Auntie Han and her husband Uncle Law Hong Cheng took over the reins from her ageing father, who passed away the following year.

As more chain bakeries entered the scene in Kuala Lumpur, customers are attracted by fancy gimmicks, packaging and designs. Even so, Auntie Han and Uncle Law did not choose to take a radical approach. Instead, they focus on maintaining the quality of their breads, persisting in producing true authentic flavours. Initially the bakery only offers a few types of bread, until the addition of red bean buns, butter buns, chicken floss buns, and peanut buns in recent years due to customer demands. Currently they work on a small scale, only baking once per day, therefore the quantity of bread produced is very limited, especially “spring bread”.

Auntie Han and Uncle Law took scrupulous care of Southern Bakery for decades, although their business model is getting outdated, they remain calm despite the challenges. Business expansion is not easy, requiring experience, labour, and sufficient capital. Taking things easy, they keep their selling prices low and affordable, hence customers in the neighbourhood continually support them. When they relocated from Jalan Pasar to Jalan Pudu in 2015 due to rental issues, regular customers have no trouble tracing their whereabouts.

Nestled in a busy city, fast-paced lifestyle and immense social pressure did not cause negative impact to Southern Bakery. Auntie Han and Uncle Law tranquilly enjoy a slow-paced lifestyle, and keep on producing simple handmade traditional breads. Focus on the good, and stay happy.

Southern Bakery
03-9221 5781
No. 393, Jalan Pudu, 55200 Kuala Lumpur

Text: Daniel Lim & Pua Hui Wen

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Mok Yii Chek
Coordinator : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang
Video Editor : Evon Pang
Production Assistant : Michael Lerk
Music : Atmospheric Inspiring Piano

COPYRIGHTS 2020 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD

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Hainanese Boiled Duck

In a corner of the light and bright kitchen, red-hot charcoal burning in the cement stove turns into gray ash. A free-range duck, cleaned thoroughly, with its feathers all plucked and entails removed, is trussed and ready to be cooked. As the water in the cast iron wok boils, an hour-long hot bath awaits the duck, after which the Hainanese boiled duck is born.

Pang Yok Sin, one of the school directors of Port Dickson Chung Hua High School, is sweating profusely while cooking, busy controlling the temperature of the charcoal stove and the doneness of the food, with assistance from his wife. After soaking the duck in boiling water, rotating it at intervals while pouring boiling water over its flesh to ensure even heating and doneness, the cooked duck is removed from heat to cool before being cut up and served. The remaining soup stock is the essence of the duck, and can be used to cook fragrance duck rice, blanch vegetables, make essential condiments, or even cook zucchini soup. Uncle Pang and wife conjure up a tableful of authentic Hainanese dishes while demonstrating the virtue of thrift.

The specialty of Hainanese dishes focus on fresh ingredients and their original tastes. The four classic dishes being: WénChāng chicken, JiāJī duck, DōngShān mutton, and HéLè crab; all were named after their cities of origin. Among them, the traditional way of preparing WénChāng chicken and JiāJī duck is by boiling, to preserve the tender meat texture of poultry. During the global mass migration in the 20th century, many Hainanese forefathers settled down in Malaysia, simple Hainanese dishes such as boiled chicken and chicken rice became popular. However, authentic Hainanese boiled duck and duck rice balls are rarely found in local restaurants. Uncle Pang is only able to savour these upon visiting his eldest brother or paying respects to his ancestors in QióngHǎi city.

Boiled duck is easy to cook, the challenge lies in seeking a suitable duck. JiāJī duck, commonly known as “foreign” or mule duck, is a hybrid of muscovy and common duck, and the breed was said to be brought in from Malaysia to JiāJī town in QióngHǎi city some 300 years ago. The features of mule ducks are a stout body and shanks, with white and black feathers which are extra long at the wings and tail. Mule ducks are allowed free range for two months, and then force-fed for a month. Therefore the duck has thin skin and soft bones, its meat high in protein but low in fat, best boiled to showcase the tender texture. The Malaysian government discourages home poultry breeding due to hygiene reasons, yet the duck available in supermarkets are unpalatable, so mule ducks are hard to come by.

With great difficulty to secure a suitable duck, Uncle Pang endeavoured to retain the natural taste of the duck. Firstly, clean the duck of feathers and entrails, rub it over with salt and flour, then blanch it. Prior to boiling, the duck is stuffed with equal portions of ginger, garlic, and shallots mixed with salt. It is then trussed to ease rotating. Controlling the charcoal stove temperature at a simmer requires patience and skills, so that the duck is cooked evenly. The remaining ginger, garlic, and shallots are then stir-fried, drizzled with the rich duck stock, enhancing flavours by adding lime, vinegar, or chilli. Such is the preparation of condiments to complement the dish.

Even though it has been decades since Uncle Pang last cooked this traditional dish, the steps are deeply ingrained in his mind, particularly the charcoal stove brought back fond childhood memories of cooking together with his parents and siblings. The open kitchen doubles as a dining hall where the entire family gather happily. Zucchini is planted in the backyard, easily available to be plucked and cooked into soup whenever the family is having boiled duck, the succulent zucchini is packed with yummy duck aroma.

The simple yet delicious boiled duck and various derivative dishes reflect the strong emotional bonds in Hainanese dishes. The elder generations taste familial attachment, while the younger generations chew upon cultural heritage. Uncle Pang who is of advanced age, not only took pleasure in cooking, but also proactively promotes traditional native cuisine.

Text: Daniel Lim & Pua Hui Wen

有你 UNI Production
Producer : Mok Yii Chek
Coordinator : Daniel Lim
Cinematographer : Amelia Lim / Evon Pang
Video Editor : Amelia Lim
Production Assistant : Michael Lerk
Music : The Romantic

COPYRIGHTS 2020 ECHINOIDEA SDN BHD

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