This 56-Year-Old Left His Job At The Bank To Bake The Most Magical Wedding Cakes
Before baking, he had worked at Bank Negara for 27 years.
By May Vin Ang — 20 Apr 2020, 06:56 PM
Meet Zulkiflee Mawan
He left his banking job six years ago to pursue his interest in baking and now, at 56 years of age, he owns a successful business customising wedding cakes called Banker2Baker.
His inspiring story came to light when his son, Aiman Zulkiflee, shared it on Twitter last week
"My dad quit his job at 50 after [27] years as a banker to pursue a dream. From banker to baker. Here's me sharing his handiwork from today," Aiman tweeted on Wednesday, 15 April, along with pictures of his father's craft.
The post was well-loved by social media users and has gotten over 14,000 retweets and 27,000 likes.
"In just a few short years, he went from zero to this," said Aiman proudly while showing off his father's work.
Aiman told SAYS that his father had actually never baked anything before leaving his job at Bank Negara
"It really wasn't even a hobby or anything. It was just by luck that baking was the first venture he went into after resigning. It was fortunate that it was a success and he just kept on pursuing it," shared Aiman.
Born and raised in Kuala Lumpur, with a Bachelor's Degree in Accounting from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, Zulkiflee was a manager at the bank's Risk Management Department for 27 years, reported Bernama.
However, after uprooting his family to the United Kingdom for four years to accompany his wife who was pursuing a PhD there, Zulkiflee told Bernama that when he came back to Malaysia, he no longer had the motivation to stay in his day job at Bank Negara.
"So I opted for early retirement and started a bakery business even though I had no experience in baking," he said.
He started off his baking journey by taking classes right here in Malaysia, initially only baking for friends and family
"After receiving great feedback, he became motivated to pursue baking, and along the way, it flourished into a passion," Aiman told SAYS.
He also shared that his father then travelled all the way to Paris to study at the Le Cordon Bleu culinary school to hone his pastry skills.
Later, Zulkiflee also travelled to Tokyo to learn the special technique of creating 'sugar flowers' from renowned cake artist Naomi Yamamoto - a skill that has definitely become a speciality of his own, as can be seen in the cakes he designs today.
Aiman shared that his family are all very supportive of his father's change of career, even though some of them were honestly worried in the beginning
According to New Straits Times, Zulkiflee also admitted it was difficult for him to earn a living at the start, but his determination paid off and he was finally able to open the Banker2Baker boutique cafe in Wangsa Maju, Kuala Lumpur.
He now receives about six to 15 cake orders a week, and has made about 2,000 cakes up to this day.
Zulkiflee has even received orders for many prestigious events
The baker has made a birthday cake for former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad's 92nd birthday, and has also gone on to organise the first-ever cake exhibition in Malaysia called the 'Cake Walk' which was held in April last year.
When asked if his father still has the time to be in the kitchen while busy running the business, Aiman said, "Most of the baking tasks have been passed to his staff."
"He's focusing more on the decoration side of it now, especially in making sugar flowers."
