people always ask me why raw vegan chef? and i never had an answer for them because honestly actually i learnt to be a raw vegan chef by accident.
life takes us on a journey and sometimes even if we want to say no, if destiny has it that you are to go on that path, somehow the pieces will join together.
my life fell apart when my mother then my father passed away suddenly within 3years. i was never close to my parents but nevertheless, i felt lost and i think i spent the next 6 years in mourning, and in search for a meaning in my life.
thankfully i have a very understanding and tolerant husband who was always there. i took up fengshui courses, learnt destiny chart courses from the best teachers in the world, trying to make sense of the void i felt in my life.... and the search went on... i thought i could become a fengshui practitioner or do destiny chart reading. but somehow it just didnt feel right.. until i discovered raw food.
so when i decided to set up a raw vegan academy, i decided that i should really share my story and hopefully through that, will inspire folks to be healthier and learn from my journey.
i spent the last 20yrs of my life in the IT industry, software, hardware, network, sales, you name it.. working alongside my business partner, who eventually became my husband. needless to say it was a very stressful period of my life. popping panadol was like taking vitamins, i was popping 1 box of 24 a week! my health was going downhill... i started putting on a lot of weight. from a size 6, i ballooned to size 16!
of course it had its nice moments too... where we enjoy the fruits of our labour. a holiday here and there, we started a family, slowly but eventually we could afford to buy a house, and then a car, and then more..
all my life i had suffered from the worst monthly menstrual cycle where i would literally be bedridden for 3days. the excruciating pain accompanied by my hot water bottle and popping paracetamol endlessly. i could go through 8 tablets a day! and then being told i have endometriosis, starting from the early age of 22. i had 3 operations before i turned 40. each time the doctor said the cyst was the size of a tennis ball and a few others... and yet they never gave me a solution to the problem. as a terrified young woman, who like everyone else knows no better but to hang on to every word the doctor says...i just went for the operations to remove the cysts... each time of course with age, the stress and the whole procedure took its toll on my body and my health. i remember when i had my last operation, i was terrified. me the fearless one...suddenly felt terrified going into the operating theatre.
in july 2009 i went to see my gynaecologist for my usual check-up. i was 43. i was told that i had an enlarged uterus and the endometriosis came back. the doctor recommended that i do a hysterectomy because the risk is that it may compress my intestines and lower part of my body which can endanger my life.
i felt as if the sky had fallen on me and i was shaken by it. enough of operations, i just couldnt bear the thought of going into another operating theatre. i came out of the consultation determined to do everything within my means to not have the operation. a very kind friend arranged for me to see another doctor for a second opinion. i went for the second opinion and it was good to seek the second opinion, because i also learnt that by doing a hysterectomy, if i do not remove the ovaries, i run the risk of ovarian cancer, and if i do remove the ovaries, i will immediately go into menopause. the things you learn from the doctor... sometimes it takes time to register the facts.
for vanity reason, i didnt want to go into menopause at the age of 42! i know its not the worst thing that can happen to a woman but it is still pretty bad!
so i was on a mission to do something. i did some research on the internet. i remembered attending the raw food classes in singapore conducted by my friend paul yeoh (the pioneer raw vegan chef from singapore!) so i thought maybe if i just go back to doing raw food, my health will improve. i contacted paul to want to do more classes but sadly by then, paul had stopped teaching raw food classes in singapore (he's opened Cafe Compassion in Chiangmai!) . i then asked him where he learnt to be a raw chef and he told me about living light culinary institute in fort bragg, california.
almost immediately, with the blessing of my dear husband, i booked my ticket and headed to fort bragg to learn to make raw food! it was the most life changing month of my life. overnight i stopped became a raw vegan. i even stopped coffee. for the first time in my life, i had a painless menstrual period and even had a fully busy day in class with no signs of pain! i knew then that i had stumbled on something interesting... my life was going to change.
i went home to singapore and at first, i thought i would go back to my previous lifestyle with a heavy meat diet and usual lifestyle, maybe introduce a bit of raw vegan into our diet... but i couldn't. my life had changed and there was no turning back!
shortly after, a friend of mine introduced me to matthew kenney. the funny thing is, i had no idea who matthew is. little did i know how that introduction would soon change my life.
fate had me going to matthew's living cuisine culinary academy to be classically trained to be a raw vegan chef, and then eventually to manage the first living cuisine promotion with matthew kenney as the guest chef at the four seasons hotel singapore.
i spent three months teaching the chefs at the hotel how to prepare raw vegan cuisine using matthew's recipes. it was a most interesting and challenging three months in my "culinary career" journey trying to convince chefs who are more used to grilling steak and frying fish to take our cuisine seriously. these are chefs who have worked with the top chefs of the world... not an easy task... when the doors opened at the four seasons hotel for the promotion, little did we (matthew & myself) expect a full house! and we were full all week. i think we must have served 5000 guests in that week, with many coming back for more!
throughout the whole experience, i realised that i was really enjoying the experience. i had a lot of fun teaching the chefs, i am delighted by how much people enjoy the food... and i was wanting more.
i started giving private lessons and i was enjoying it very much. my health continues to benefit from this healthier lifestyle. i no longer eat meat, have not done that for more than 2 years, but i do eat fish on a social basis. i don't force my choices on other people but i do like to introduce my kind of cuisine to others!
the space for the studio came available, so i had to decide... armed with my business degree (hopefully that means i have a head for business!) and my two culinary chef certification by the best living cuisine pioneers of america. taught by two of the best raw vegan chefs in the world, my teachers and now i call them my friends (russell james, matthew kenney, thank you!)
with words of encouragement from friends and family, i decided to go for it. it's scary taking the first step... i was not born to be a chef, i don't have the foundation of a classically trained chef but i know that my knowledge and skill and passion in raw vegan cuisine, can make a difference to many people's life and i want to be the one that makes the difference.
fast forward today, two years from when i made the fateful trip to america to learn to adopt a healthier lifestyle. i just saw my gynaecologist three weeks ago, with a clean bill of health. the cysts have actually shrung and all my doctor could say was "its good" without wanting to acknowledge that my diet has made a difference... it's fine, because i know. i feel healthier, i'm not a size 6 but its ok, i'm also not a size 16! i still indulge in the occasional char kuey teow but i dont miss it when i don't have it. most days i prefer a salad, or a healthy vegetarian meal, not the stodgy gluten laden chinese vegetarian... it's really not that difficult.
but the nice thing is, i wake up in the morning looking forward to going to work, thinking and creating the next raw recipe and looking forward to plan my next class!
so there... this is how i became a raw vegan chef/instructor... by accident!
