OhBaker owner bakes with only one hand
OhBaker owner had to relearn how to perform daily tasks after suffering a stroke
After three years of baking as a hobby, Mr Kelvin Leong finally launched his home-based business last month.
Mr Leong is no ordinary baker - he has only one good hand, the result of a stroke that paralysed his left hand.
Hence the name OhBaker.
"OhBaker stands for one-handed baker, because I bake with only one hand - my right hand," he told The New Paper.
Mr Leong, 42, who is also a property agent, recounted how it took him more than a year before he could live independently after he suffered a stroke in February 2012.
"Initially, the days that transpired after the stroke were excruciating," he said.
RELEARNING
Mr Leong had to go through the process of relearning how to perform daily tasks.
His baking journey began after a friend and colleague gave him a kitchen mixer as a birthday gift in 2017.
"Baking is actually very therapeutic," said Mr Leong.
"The satisfaction of seeing all the raw ingredients transform into the finished product and the aroma filling the house is just amazing."
Mr Leong said it took him more than 350 test brownies before he perfected his kurokuro brownies recipe.
Besides the Japanese-style Mr Cheesecake, Mr Leong revealed that if all goes well, by next weekend, he hopes to introduce a new flavour of earl grey brownies.
The name, he said with a laugh, is "still a secret".
Orders are placed through social media platforms on OhBaker's Facebook and Instagram accounts.
Mr Leong said: "I think what sets me apart is actually my story, from being half-paralysed to living independently, then running a business."
His experience has reconnected him with many people who are inspired by his story.
Mr Leong said: "I'm a stroke overcomer.
"I don't like to use the word 'survivor' because we don't just survive a stroke, we overcome it. I'm trying to make the most of my life despite the inconveniences."
In a message to other stroke overcomers, Mr Leong said: "You should not be thinking of what you could do or what you had, but focus on what you have and what you still can do.
"That is what propels me forward, every day."
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