Although Limbang is a small town in the Limbang Division of Sarawak, it is home to Oh My Kueh, the first business in the state to be registered in the home-based food listing by the Ministry of Health (MOH).
Commenting on the listing, owner of the business, Nur Ilylia Johan explained that it was a food safety guideline that was first introduced this year specifically for home-based food entrepreneurs.
“The basic elements of hygiene and control in food preparation include facilities and environment, selection of raw materials, processing, packaging, labelling and distribution of food.
“To be listed, each premises must obtain a BeSS (Clean, Safe and Healthy) certificate.
“The MOH will interview the applicant after the application is submitted. After applicants have attended the online course, the ministry officer will come to their houses to inspect and evaluate the kitchens.
“Applicants will also be guided on good food preparation and processing.
“Alhamdulillah, our application was approved by the MOH and it was listed as the first in Sarawak. We were very happy and proud to be the first to be listed in the state,” she said.
According to Ilylia, the listing benefits traders.
“Among them is increasing knowledge related to hygiene practices that need to be followed by small-scale food entrepreneurs.
“At the same time, customers will also be more confident when the food they buy are guaranteed clean and safe,” she pointed out.
She urged other home-based food entrepreneurs to take the course to enhance their knowledge in food safety guidelines.
The 34-year-old said she was inspired to start her business because of her deep interest and experience in culinary arts.
Ilylia said she and her employees would start making traditional kuih (cakes) like ‘seri muka’, ‘kusoi’, ‘bingka susu’, ‘bingka pulut’, ‘lenggang’, ‘serabai’, ‘tart telur’, ‘kek sarang’, ‘kuih lapis’, ‘karipap’, ‘popia’ and others, from midnight to 6am.
She added that all the cakes she produced were freshly baked using only quality ingredients.
“Each cake is then cut and sealed at a temperature of 18°C. To ensure all cakes will last long, we use plastic gloves.
“What is more important is that all employees must be vaccinated (with Typhoid vaccine, a compulsory vaccine for all food and beverage handlers), get a doctor’s examination as well as attend food handling course to ensure the cakes are clean and safe,” she explained.
Each package of cake is sold at RM2 for three pieces. 
Oh My Kueh’s signature dish, ‘bingka susu’.
Apart from selling traditional cakes, Oh My Kueh also makes and sells modern cakes and bread made from her family recipes.
Ilylia said its signature dishes were bingka susu and bingka pulut.
“The cakes that have been packaged are usually be sold at RM2 for three pieces. Usually, we will produce up to 10 types of cakes.
“The minimum daily income we earn is between RM300 to RM400 (around 200 packets of cakes),” she explained.
Ilylia added that Oh My Kueh was a partnership with her sister which was established on Oct 5, 2018.
“I have experience and background in culinary arts and used to work in Kuala Lumpur at Chef Ismail’s Rebung Restaurant in the confectionery division while my younger sister handled the business management division.
“As our family likes to make traditional cakes, our parents issued a capital of RM20,000 for us to start this business.
“Oh My Kueh is our business name because it is different from other names and easy remembered by people,” she said, adding that they chose a bakery-concept shop instead of a stall to ensure the temperature was always maintained and the place to put the cake was covered and always clean.
‘Kuih kusoi pandan’. 
‘Kuih lenggang’.
On the challenges she faced during this Covid-19 pandemic period, Ilylia said it was quite difficult to anticipate the amount of cakes to make.
She also had to incur some losses because her shop had to close during the implementation of the movement control order (MCO).
She hopes to expand her business outside the Limbang area and improve the quality of her products in future.
If you want to buy traditional cakes and you are in Limbang, you can call Oh My Kueh at 011-26892538 or visit its Facebook page (Oh My Kueh) and Instagram (oh mykueh).
You can also go directly to the shop at Bangunan Arked Mara, Jalan Sungai Bangkita, Limbang. It opens from 8am to 2pm from Tuesday to Friday.
‘Kuih serabai’ with ‘pandan seri kaya’. 
Oh My Kueh located at Bangunan Arked Mara, Jalan Sungai Bangkita, Limbang.
