COMMENT | Loh Siew Hong knew early on that being a great cook was not enough. She needed to be entrepreneurial.

When she was a waiter at a food stall in Sungai Petani, Kedah, where she grew up, she observed what people wanted most. Her boss let her take over the food stall.

Combining her Chinese heritage (birth family) and Indian influence (formative community), she served Char Kuey Teow and Mee Goreng that became popular.

Then she made one of the most successful business decisions in her life. She opened an economy rice business in Taman Ria Jaya, Sungai Petani, that earned her RM500 per day, working only four hours.

She could take care of her blind grandmother-in-law and help her children with homework at night.

“I was selling food which was affordable to the workers around the area, so my shop became popular,” she told Malaysiakini.

Behind that entrepreneurial drive was a plan. She needed to earn enough so that...