My earliest recollections are of color and noise from all these beautifully decorated dragon dancer lorries that came in and made a hell of a noise. 

People thought it was kind of weird that I was Malay and Muslim and liked that sort of thing. But I didn’t care, because when you’re a kid, you love colors and noise. I’d run after those lorries.

When I came back from Australia after I’d finished studying, I began to make a list: what have I not done in my life that I should do before I settle down or die? And that’s how I got started. I went online and made a call and said, “Do you take in Malay boys?”

33 is pretty old to start dragon dancing. Most of these guys started when they were really young in the kampongs. 

This is my last year at the bar. After this I’m done. If there were a way to make money from cooking and helping people through cooking, I would do it. But I don’t know how.

For years I haven’t taken care of my body. I’ve eaten so much junk, drank so much sugared water. It’s begun to hurt. And I think it has a detrimental effect on my mind. If you’re not in a good state of mind, then spiritually you’re ****ed.

I went for my pilgrimage in Mecca last year. That was a turning point. I decided, “Let’s morph back to the state I came into this world in as a baby.” You were free from jealousy, free from things that kept you back. You didn’t have wants, needs. You had no sugar in you, no chemicals, no ill will. I want to morph back to that. 

I listen to really bad music, man—music made by murders and arsonists. It’s bad. It’s bad for the spirit. But I like that. I will still continue to listen to that music. This is who I am. But it doesn’t mean that spiritually I’m not trying to get to a better place.

In American punk rock, there’s a movement called straight edge. They don’t drink, do drugs, smoke. Some of them are vegetarian, some are vegan. Ever since I was 13, when I was exposed to that music, I thought, “This is in line with my beliefs as a Muslim.” I identified with that. 

There’s a clash there. You’re straight edge, and you’re working in a bar. And not only that, you’re working in a cocktail bar that requires some level of skill. It’s not pumping beer and dispensing vodka and soda.

I grew up in Geylang East, in a very quaint neighborhood called Aljunied Crescent, which has yet to be gentrified. It is the same flat I was born in. 

My parents were deeply religious in a very quiet way. They looked very secular, but they’ve instilled in me the same things over and over again: do good while you’re alive, be nice to people, everyone’s the same—it doesn’t matter what color, race, religion, gender. You never know the kind of unseen blessings they have. Their status in the eyes of the creator might be higher than yours, even though they might look a lot worse off than they are. So never judge anyone.

I studied media studies in Melbourne. Terrible. I think I learned a lot more outside. A lot of the Singaporeans just hung out with the Singaporean kids. I hung out with Croats, Macedonians, Greeks, Italians, Lebanese, Turks, Ethiopeans, Eritreans. 

At university, I was having a bad day and needed something to eat. The only place selling halal biryani was this place on Queens Street. I went there, and they said, “Come back at six o’clock. We’ll have a fresh batch ready.” But when I went back at six, hungry and full of hope, they said, “You know, it wasn’t worth it to make a new batch. Come back tomorrow.”

I told myself, “Never again will I depend on anyone to feed myself.” So I learned how to cook. I make biryani. I make a lot of simple meat dishes. 

I’ve been taught that when you cook, you should always recite prayers and have good thoughts. It’s the same in the Jewish tradition. When you make food for Passover, you sing hymns.

I hate cooking actually. It’s very emotionally draining, because I cook with a lot of love. I’m reminded of my own mortality. I think, if I don’t make a lot of money, that’s ok, but for the person eating this, let this be a nourishment for him, so he can do good.

I don’t think I’m in a position to speak about romantic love. I don’t know anything about it.