For communications diploma graduate Shahril Bukhari, roasting chickens is something of a passion. And during Ramadan, he gets to do it every day.
If you’ve been to the Ramadan bazaar in Section 17, Petaling Jaya, Selangor, it’s almost impossible to miss Shahril’s big 40-chicken roaster.
“The thing I look forward to most every Ramadan is seeing the satisfaction on people’s faces when they eat my chicken. That’s why I enjoy what I do,” said Shahril, 25.
Although the roaster was imported from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, by his father, Shahril has been working hard to bring the family business to the next level.
His family has been running a food stall in Damansara Jaya, PJ, for almost three decades now, and they also provide catering services. However, Shahril focuses more on developing the roast chicken business, or ayam golek.
“To be in this food business, you need to have passion. You can’t just do it for the money. It is very tiring,” he said.
For every day of the Muslim fasting month, Shahril gets to work at 2am to take the chickens out of the freezer to be defrosted. He gets some rest after that, waking up around 6am to wash and marinade the chickens. He then has to arrange them all on the long metal rods that slowly turn the chickens in the roaster.
By 3pm, Shahril is already at the bazaar setting up his stall and roasting the delicious birds. After a long hard day of work, Shahril would have helped to sell between 250 and 300 roast chickens.
Even though the family employs regular helpers, Shahril insists on being involved in this process, which he has to go through every day during Ramadan.
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PRIDE AND JOY: Shahril Bukhari takes great pride in how tasty his roast chickens, or ayam golek, are. |
“This is the best way to learn the business. I have to keep learning and not just be the boss. When you are involved in the whole process, then you can be a good manager, because you understand the difficulties your staff goes through, and when problems happen you know how to fix it,” he said.
Shahril has high hopes for his roast chicken business, and he’s the first of his six siblings to join the family business full-time.
“When I was a kid, I didn’t think I would follow my dad’s footsteps. But after I finished my SPM, I started to see the potential in the food business.
“These days, I help to handle almost everything. When we do catering for functions, I handle the workers, waiters, help unload our things, set-up the roaster... everything,” he added.
During Ramadan, however, business is so good they stop their catering services and focus on the bazaar stalls. According to Shahril, they usually double their profits during the holy month.
“My ultimate goal is to turn this into a franchise. I’m looking for people that I can train to be franchisees, but it’s hard to find young people who would be dedicated to something like this,” he revealed.
Even Shahril himself occasionally feels as if his youth is being wasted away working so hard on the business, but he believes it will ultimately be worth it.
“Sometimes I do feel like I spend too much time on the business. But at least I know that I’m doing something for my future. I’m still young, so I want to work hard while I still can,” he said.
taken from star online.
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