Elizabeth Chan, co-owner of Kueh Ho Jiak, modernizes traditional kueh to appeal to the young. Started by her mother 13 years ago, the business focuses on healthier options without artificial coloring. Elizabeth balances innovation with heritage, manages family dynamics, and emphasizes community engagement through unique hawker stalls and therapeutic workshops. Grateful for support, she values family time and continuous innovation.
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00:00There's so much more than just earning money, to be honest.
00:03But it's greater joy in seeing
00:05someone's life and family being uplifted.
00:11Hi, I'm Elizabeth. I'm from Kuih Ho Jia.
00:14We've been around for seven years.
00:22Kuih Ho Jia started by my mum.
00:24That was 13 years ago.
00:26She started Homebase
00:28and out of curiosity, as I was helping her
00:30just through word of mouth, without marketing
00:33there were just orders flowing in.
00:37Back then, my mum, in the kampong days
00:39because she had 11 siblings
00:41she was the last daughter, right?
00:43So she had to fight for everything that she wanted.
00:46She became very driven.
00:47So she started making her own ondeh-ondeh.
00:50Then she would go to different doors
00:53to house knocking, selling ondeh-ondeh.
00:55So it created that desire and passion in her.
00:59After trying different types of things
01:01she still loved making kuihs.
01:02She would be sitting down for hours, for many hours.
01:05You know, she'd just sit there and press the kuihs.
01:07It's something just very meaningful to her.
01:11You know, when I saw that her eyes were filled with passion
01:14and purpose of whatever she was doing
01:16so I wanted to, you know, let everybody know about it
01:19and to reach out to more people.
01:23Kuih Ho Jia means festive, means joy, means occasion.
01:27Our purpose and motto was to create kuihs that young people want to eat
01:31and to preserve the heritage and culture
01:33to really provide a healthier choice of kuih-kuihs with no colouring.
01:38I actually realised that a lot of young people, especially teenagers
01:42they don't eat kuih.
01:43They'll say, hi, you don't want to try free kuihs?
01:45They'll tell me things like, oh sorry, I don't eat kuihs.
01:48I started gathering a lot of feedbacks
01:51from the younger generation, why they don't eat kuih.
01:53A lot of people will tell me that
01:55because the ang ku kuih will stick on their teeth
01:58you know, or they will tell me things like, oh the kuihs are very sweet
02:01very jelak, you know.
02:02After taking one, I'm so full.
02:04But the more I did the research for Kuih Ho Jia
02:07the more I saw how passionate my mum was.
02:09Instead of being so rigid in our own mindset that
02:12okay, kuihs are supposed to be like that
02:14no, I started changing to things that they want
02:16yet sticking to its roots.
02:18She decided to make everything less sweet, less salty
02:22trying to play around with the designs, with the fillings
02:25trying to make it more modernised
02:27making a traditionally fusion kuih.
02:40So we hand-made the dough
02:42we hand-made the filling also.
02:44So sweet potatoes are the natural ingredients that we use to replace colouring.
02:52So before this, I was actually running my own curtain business.
02:55Back then, you know, I would dress up for work
02:58I would be meeting agents, interior designers.
03:01I mean, I liked art since young
03:02so I would mix and match fabrics, you know, to create something different.
03:06So it became the same when I came to Kuih Ho Jia.
03:09I made every kuih like a piece of art.
03:11Initially, when I joined the hawker industry
03:14I felt that I wanted to do something that was not just about making kuihs
03:18Initially, when I joined the hawker industry
03:22I found it very challenging.
03:24Starting everything from scratch again
03:26you know, it can be very intimidating.
03:27We have no experience in doing F&B at all.
03:30It has to be realistic, you know
03:32and I told myself that I'm not going to employ any staff
03:34I'm just going to be stationed at the hawker centre
03:36at least a good nine months to a year
03:38so I really know, like, how to run it
03:40and what are the things to look out for, you know
03:43and to really be close to the customers.
03:45You know, it's either all-in or all-out.
03:47You know, if I decided to go all-in
03:48you know, just really make the best out of it.
03:55There'll be people thinking, like, you know
03:57Oh, you're so young, why are you working in a hawker?
03:59You know, it doesn't mean that
04:00that place is like that, I have to conform to that place.
04:03So I make changes.
04:04It doesn't mean that I'm in a hawker, then I cannot beautify.
04:06So we actually, back then, in 2017
04:09we used Peranakan coloured glass.
04:11You know, we actually decorated our stall.
04:14So I don't believe so much about
04:17where the place is and the environment
04:19but more about, like, you know, making a change to
04:22create your own identity.
04:26At the start, when I worked with my mum
04:28it was very challenging
04:31because both of us are very strong in character, like
04:35when we feel that this is a decision that's really good for the business
04:38we'll go all out as well.
04:40When we first started, she was in charge of the production
04:43and I took charge of the marketing, the business development and everything.
04:47We constantly quarrelled badly
04:50because there are things that she probably doesn't see eye to eye
04:54and we don't know how to communicate.
04:56So it was like constantly struggling and
04:59and getting upset with each other, you know
05:02but it's very real, you know.
05:04It's very hard to segregate between, like, family and work
05:06because after work, you still see each other.
05:08This is the real truth of a family business.
05:10You know, I need to respect her.
05:12You know, that she's my boss and
05:13I need to respect that she definitely has more experience than me.
05:18You know, that was the turning point.
05:19And when I was willing to listen to her
05:21she was also willing to listen to me, yeah.
05:25Without this business, I don't think we would be where we are today.
05:29You know, today we are no longer like the past.
05:32You know, we know where our threshold is.
05:34But you know, I'm really thankful for this
05:37because it actually revived the whole family
05:40and it brought us so much closer.
05:42It makes us closer with our customers as well.
05:47I think it's really important to preserve the heritage and culture of kueh-kuehs
05:51because it's like, it started from back then
05:54our ancestors actually created all these delicacies, right?
05:56You know, every piece of kueh, the profit margin is really low
05:59but every piece of kueh has a lot of hard work in it.
06:03If we don't make a stand to preserve this heritage and culture
06:08these recipes, these kuehs, these delicacies, you know, will just die off.
06:14Then we'll play around with the colours.
06:21Can you all guess what I'm doing?
06:22No!
06:29It's our pineapple ang ku kueh.
06:32Every other business, not just kueh
06:34if you do not want to make a change
06:36if you do not want to reach out to more people
06:39using social media or so forth, right?
06:42You know, somehow, you know
06:44you will just be taken off from the list.
06:47So constantly, we have to be creators.
06:51You know, we have to be creators to attract people.
06:54I think the goal is to try to be different
06:57try to be as creative as we can
06:59and really to think out of the box.
07:01We played around with the designs, we played around with the colours
07:04and are yet sticking to our promise of making it no artificial colouring.
07:10It did come a point, you know, when I asked myself
07:12if I keep innovating, if I keep playing around with the colours
07:17the shapes, as well as the designs and the feelings
07:21will it come to a point where it's no longer authentic?
07:23Then I decided, hey, but if I do not improvise
07:27if I do not create and make it different
07:30the young people will not be willing to try.
07:33The designs are not traditional
07:35but what we do is we still sell the traditional kuehs
07:38at our store and our retails and online
07:40so that people can still know the actual beauty of kuehs.
07:45You know, the very origin of kuehs.
07:47So there has to be a balance there still.
07:51Like I say, because kueh hosiah is like a business of love
07:53to give out love, because we receive a lot of love also.
07:56I had a lot of customers who became our friends
07:59so when they see the queue very long
08:00they will even step forward to help me to sell.
08:03I still remember there was once a year I did like halal dumplings.
08:06We didn't speak for literally almost like close to two days.
08:09You know, I was so tired until I can hear like bees buzzing in my ear.
08:13Then I asked my mum, I was like, what are we doing?
08:16You know, like after that, you know, when my corporate clients
08:18write in to see how much their staff likes it and so forth
08:21somehow I will forget everything I said.
08:24And it's like a brand new start again.
08:26It's all these small little things that gives us drives to carry on.
08:31I think as Singaporeans, we all love food.
08:33You know, it's something very close to our heart.
08:36You know, like we are always on the go looking for what food is nice.
08:41You know, bring our friends to new places to try new food, right?
08:45I was thinking, what about let's do something different?
08:49Like let's do a farm to table concept workshop.
08:52You know, I believe there's no one like in the kueh making industry doing this.
08:56Everyone seems so strict.
08:59Everyone seems so stressed out after COVID and it became worse.
09:03You know, people being retrenched.
09:05I see that, you know, there's a lot of people like going into depression, even children.
09:09These are things that's very real that's going around.
09:13So I was thinking, you know, what can I do with what I have on hand?
09:18So I decided to come up with programs that actually works with more on the mental health.
09:24We have a new studio coming up in Chai Chee.
09:27So I wanted to do special series whereby, you know, we will bring you to tour around our little farm, our little garden.
09:34You know, you'll see the ingredients that we use mainly, which is sweet potatoes, pandan leaves, you know.
09:39Then after that, you know, if there's harvest, we'll use our harvest to make the kuehs in the workshop, the studio directly.
09:46Yeah, so it's supposed to be a therapeutic kueh making workshop whereby you slowly knead the dough,
09:51you listen to the music, you hear yourself, you know, you just be still, be slow and just enjoy the process.
10:00So this studio actually means a lot to me as well because it wasn't as of what I had planned back then.
10:09But I found a greater purpose and meaning to running this studio now because, you know, I mean, I'm a single parent myself.
10:15Of course, there are times that I can get very busy.
10:18So this workshop is really to, like, just be away from your phone for two hours to just give them this time and attention.
10:25I think that's what they really want.
10:26You know, if possible, I would want their, like, whole family to do it together, not just their mum.
10:35You know, we have been very blessed with very good colleagues and staff throughout this whole journey.
10:40They really fought hard together with us in the business.
10:43It's not easy doing an F&B business, but, you know, they held on to the vision and dreams we had together.
10:48I think that's the beautiful part about it.
10:52I think the other thing that I'm very grateful in this whole journey is that we have a lot of customers who takes care of us,
10:59who supports us in our business, who always spread, you know, spread about us to other people, to their friends and so forth.
11:06You know, they really didn't have to, but they are always there to share about us.
11:11Honestly, I've never, like, thought ahead, like, five to ten years.
11:15Of course, we have our vision and motto of where do we want to reach out in future for Kueh Ho Chia,
11:20what kind of community work do we want to do?
11:22Of course, I have had hard times whereby, you know, I was so stressed out at work.
11:27I got into, like, hormonal imbalance.
11:29I put on, like, 15 to 18 kg.
11:31I had a lot of distress in my body.
11:34And it's a journey that I'm thankful for because probably if I didn't reach there, I wouldn't know what I want today.
11:40So, I really believe now is, like, living in the moment because there's so much we can do only.
11:46You know, sometimes we plan ahead so much, but it just doesn't walk towards what we have planned.
11:53You know, instead, why not let's value the times we have our family, the quality times that we have.
11:59But I do hold on to something, like, always reminding myself, it's a constant reminder.
12:04If tomorrow I'm going to pass on, you know, what will I regret?
12:08Yeah, so constantly I will ask myself that to ensure that, you know, today I live myself to the fullest.
12:14Like, at least I know there's no regrets of what I'm doing today.
12:17Yeah.