Iban woman Yen Philip thrives as traditional F&B vendor, expands to weekend markets

Yen Philip in front of her weekend stall.

By Wilfred Pilo

KUCHING, Sept 8: A 37-year-old Iban woman, Yen Philip, has successfully transitioned from working in a rice cracker factory to running her own traditional food and beverage business.

Hailing from Kanowit, Yen worked for 11 years at a factory in Matang, making bee pang (rice crackers), but when the owner passed away, she decided to embark on a new venture with her family’s traditional Iban food recipes.

With her experience and inspiration from her hardworking former employer, Yen started a small online business selling Iban delicacies in 2014.

Yen’s sells an assortment of traditional Iban preserved dishes of pork, fish and vegetables.

The online approach helped expand her reach, enabling her to generate income to support her four children while her husband works as a welder in Peninsular Malaysia.

Yen credits her parents, who moved to Kuching 20 years ago, for their support in making traditional Iban delicacies such as tuak (glutinous rice wine), kasam babi (preserved pork), kasam ikan (preserved fish), and traditional Iban pastries like penganan jala and penganan cuan.

With her mother’s encouragement and collaboration, Yen was able to meet growing demand through online sales.

Motivated by her success at the Gawai Bazaar 2024 at MJC Batu Kawah, Yen decided to expand her business to weekend markets.

Yen also sells drinks such as glutinous rice wine, pandan wine and roselle wine.

In August 2024, she joined the Kuching City Mall Commercial Centre weekend market, where she sells a variety of Iban delicacies and enjoys engaging with her online customers face-to-face.

Yen’s stall offers a wide range of preserved foods, including daun ubi (pounded tapioca leaves), bamboo shoots, sawi Iban (Iban mustard vegetable), pork, fish, roti penganan, roti cuan, pork crackers, manisan kelapa (dried coconut candy), and several flavors of homemade wine like pandan and roselle tuak.

Prices range from RM5 to RM25, making traditional Iban delicacies accessible to a broader audience.

Yen serving customers at her stall.

Her stall operates from 8 am to 6 pm every Saturday and Sunday at Kuching City Commercial Centre Weekend Market, Jalan Datuk Stephen Yong DL6, 4th Mile.

For inquiries, Yen can be contacted at 011 3574 1739. — DayakDaily