The rise of Malaysian chefs
A slew of Malaysian chefs are heading the kitchens or rising to prominent positions at top hotel restaurants, taking on roles which once eluded them
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When chef Lim Hong Lih, 40, came to Singapore from Johor 12 years ago to work at Sheraton Towers Hotel's Cantonese restaurant Li Bai, he joined a long line of Malaysian cooks who have crossed the Causeway since the 1980s in search of a better life and pay.
Like most junior chefs, he had to work his way up the kitchen ranks through the years, but always found himself playing second fiddle to his Hong Kong counterparts.
