As a
child, I would sit in front of my grandmother and watched with child-like
wonder as she slathered on generous amounts of sticky white paste on her face
every morning as part of her daily beauty regime.
The paste
would considerably whiten her face, making her almost ghostlike. It would then
dry up in a matter of minutes, leaving trails of flaky crusts all over her
face.
She did
not mind it though. In fact, none of the grandmothers I knew minded it in the
least bit.
A
traditional Asian beauty product, bedak sejuk
is made from quality broken rice, shaped much like a chocolate chip, and
perfumed with the fragrance of pandan
leaves.
The bedak sejuk have to be dried under the sun for at least 5 days before they can be packaged.
|
Renowned
for its moisturising and anti-ageing properties, pieces of bedak sejuk would be diluted with water and smeared over the face,
arms and legs.
But the bedak sejuk’s market value has been on a
steady decline as the lure of Western beauty products gains momentum in the
Asian beauty market.
According
to the founder of Lean Seng Bedak Sejuk,
Yeoh Keng Beng said that making bedak
sejuk is far from being a lucrative business.
“I am aware that
the profits I earn from the business are far from profitable but as long as
there is still demand for bedak sejuk,
production will continue as per usual.”
The founder of Lean Seng Bedak Sejuk, Yeoh Keng Beng packaging the bedak sejuk. |
A man dedicated to his craft, Yeoh has spent more than 40 years
perfecting the art of making bedak sejuk.
“The process is quite simple. First, broken bits of rice have
to be soaked in water for about 30 days before they are grinded into a pulp.
They will then be filtered and squeezed into rice drops the size of chocolate
chips.
“The rice drops will then be dried under
the sun for a few days before being bottled and sold to customers.”
At present, Yeoh is planning on
incorporating tea leaves into his product to widen his target consumers to
include foreigners as well.
Yeoh’s workshop has been in operation since 1980s. |
“I am trying to revive a dying trade and
in my book, innovation goes a long way.”
Interested parties can visit Lean Seng Bedak Sejuk:
Address:160 Mukim D, Balik Pulau, Penang.
or call:04-866 0622
For more information, click on their official Facebook page:
https://www.facebook.com/Perniagaan-Bedak-Sejuk-Lean-Seng-137103643067738/info/?tab=overview
No comments:
Post a Comment