Nicky, 51, once cooked professionally in the United Kingdom for 17 years, and also worked at Sheraton Hotels and Resorts in Singapore.
Today, he is at his stall at Crystal Food Park City food court in Alor Setar by 7am, frying up vermicelli, noodles and koay teow for factory workers who sometimes split a single RM3 portion among five people.
The chef who knows what hunger feels like
In an interview with China Press, Nicky said the stall, which he opened last year, was built on a simple understanding of what it means to go without.
He grew up without much and remembers the people who helped him through those years.
“I came from a less well-to-do background and received help from others back then, so now I want to give back to society,” he told China Press.
At RM3 per person, customers can eat as much fried vermicelli, noodles or koay teow as they want. Extras like eggs, luncheon meat and curry chicken are charged separately.
Hundreds show up daily, the majority of them factory workers bringing home less than RM2,000 a month. To keep up with the demand, Nicky cooks roughly 60kg of food every single day.
Why he put up the RM3 sign
The generosity has occasionally been stretched thin. China Press reported that some customers were paying just RM9 for three separate tapau meals across breakfast, lunch and dinner. Others were splitting a single portion among five people.
When it happened too often, Nicky had no choice but to add a clarification to his signboard: RM3 pricing is for one person only.
Why he came home and why he stayed
Nicky returned to Alor Setar in 2016, not for a business opportunity and not because the career abroad had run its course.
He came back because his father was ill and needed him. His father has since passed away. Nicky stayed.
He now lives with his elderly mother and runs his stall from 7am until noon, with plans to extend operations into the evening, adding seafood yee mee to the menu.
The career in London and Singapore gave him the skills. His father brought him home.
What he does with the stall every morning is the part that was always his own.
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