By Kurniawati Kamarudin
BATU PAHAT: What started as a small business for the sale of kuih bangkit or tapioca cookies during the festive season has now developed into a fully-fledged enterprise marketing a variety of traditional cookies and biscuits all-year round.
Siti Raya Bachok, 57, who is well-known for her cheese kuih bangkit, started the business 25 years ago to supplement her husband Md Saleh Lidek’s meagre income as an odd-job worker.
With her husband assisting her now, Siti Raya can afford to sit back but that is the last thing on her mind as she has set her sights on expanding her business to not only provide job opportunities to the local community but also help other small-scale cookie entrepreneurs there to generate a higher income.
She has set up a stall in front of her house in Kampung Bagan Laut, Rengit, about 35 kilometres from here, to sell her kuih bangkit, as well as various types of cookies and biscuits made by other women in the locality.
However, in view of the limited space at her stall, she is not able to keep large quantities of stock. She is now planning to open a bigger sales centre in a new location.
The Department of Agriculture has agreed to assist her but she would have to find a suitable site first.
“I’ve already secured a piece of land near Rengit town and will discuss my next move with the department,” Siti Raya told Bernama, adding that the sales centre to be established there would market the products of cookie and biscuit entrepreneurs based in Rengit, Batu Pahat and even Johor Bahru.
“It’s my dream to see cookies and biscuits that are usually made for the Aidilfitri celebrations to be made available all-year round. This will ensure a regular income stream for the entrepreneurs who, otherwise, will only be able to earn some money during the festive season.”
Good demand for cheese bangkit
The mother of six said it was the traditional kuih bangkit, the recipe for which was given to her by a neighbour, that opened the doors to a lucrative income.
Made out of tapioca flour, sugar and coconut milk, the whitish confection literally melts in the mouth and is a favourite with Malaysians.
To attract customers and improve sales, Siti Raya experimented with various flavours and started adding ingredients like palm sugar, pandan, green peas and cheese to her kuih bangkit.
Her cheese bangkit, which she introduced eight years ago, has become a big hit and helped shore up her annual sales.
For this year’s Aidilfitri, Siti Raya’s orders for kuih bangkit from all over the country has run into hundreds of thousands of jars.
Her success has spurred other women in the local community to venture into the cookie business. Having embarked on her business single-handedly and using her own money as capital, Siti Raya hired 20 workers in January this year to assist her to fulfil orders from more than 500 agents throughout the country.
If she is unable to cope with the orders, she would ask other entrepreneurs in her village to make the kuih bangkit for her.
“I need their help because I always don’t have enough workers to help me to meet the orders. Besides bangkit cheese, my bangkit santan and bangkit gula melaka are also selling well,” she added.
Helping hand
Among the women here who have benefited from Siti Raya’s assistance in marketing their cookies and biscuits is Shazana Rahmat, 33.
Shazana makes kuih makmur, a cookie made out of flour, ghee, peanuts and sugar, for sale, having taken over the business from her grandmother Mardiah Marzuki, 90, who started making this particular cookie 20 years ago.
“My grandmother used to take orders only for Hari Raya but since I started making them four years ago, I don’t wait for the festive season. I just make the cookies and send my stock to Mak Iti’s (Siti Raya) shop. She has been helping me a lot and in turn, I help to promote her kuih bangkit,” said Shazana, who lives in Taman Bukit Perdana, about 3.5 km from here.
She learnt to make kuih makmur from her grandmother when she was 16 years old and she still sticks to the traditional recipe.
“I do everything manually without using any mould,” added Shazana, who hoped that someday her kuih makmur would become as popular as Siti Raya’s kuih bangkit. – Bernama
