“FOOD FOR THE PEOPLE!”
My girlfriend Kim (now wife) and I wanted to start something together. Having just gotten back from New York, we had vitality of the city within us. With a combination of our skills, we knew we could create something great.
We started Jiak (which translates to eat in our local dialect) and wanted to do what we did best— feed people. Ultimately it was a test of our relationship.
Masak Masak (cook cook) is the name of a children’s pretend game of cooking. We adopted this as our grown-up version. Our kitchen was situated on a lovely rooftop in the heart of bustling Geylang in Singapore.
Much of what we did lived on a hashtag #jiakmasakmasak
A reporter had asked for our business model, and this was our reply.
Our goal was to create special moments for people using food as a medium. Masak Masak celebrated birthdays, a proposal, and reunions of friends and family. We filled stomachs for over a year. When Christmas came, we supplemented it with party plates for delivery. We wanted our new friends to host their own jiak gatherings.
Masak Masak was a life lesson for both of us. We learnt about management, people, budgets and most importantly to keep on doing and doing.
Now Kim and I are married.
And we have a family.
Jiak is on hold, for now :)