The Bakey Wakey Café Opens Its Doors With Aid From Japanese Government

KUALA LUMPUR: Rumah Amal Cheshire Selangor’s first social business venture The Bakey Wakey Café was officially open to the public on 10th May 2012 with the support of the Government of Japan’s Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Project (GGP).

The Government of Japan contributed RM123,159 under the GGP to help Rumah Amal Cheshire Selangor set up The Bakey Wakey Café as well as to renovate and expand the site to conduct the bakery training courses for the disabled.

Ambassador of Japan to Malaysia H.E. Shigeru Nakamura said the project would help to prepare the disabled and intellectually challenged youths toward work and income generation.

“The newly opened bakery is a great place for these youths to learn how to run a business and instil in them the confidence to face the challenges in the world.

“In addition, the expansion of the job training facility for the disabled to learn baking will create employment opportunities for them and make them more independent,” he said at the handover and opening ceremony of the café to Rumah Amal Cheshire Selangor. 

Ambassador Nakamura said the Government of Japan had been actively involved in various aid and development programmes for providing a better future for the people in many countries. 

Up until now, the Government of Japan had contributed about RM14.2 million to about 126 projects in Malaysia under the GGP.

“In terms of support to the disabled, it is actually one of the pillars of the Japanese government’s aid to Malaysia.

“Apart from this grant scheme, we have dispatched two specialists to the Welfare Department under the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development for about six years already and we are planning to continue the programme for another three years.

“The specialists help facilitate Malaysian policy to assist the disabled,” Ambassador Nakamura said.

Rumah Amal Cheshire Selangor president Datin Paduka Khatijah Sulieman said the concept of The Bakey Wakey Café was largely based on the Japanese bakery chain known as The Swan Bakery which has a socially driven business objective to give employment to the disabled.

She added that Swan Bakery had been training and employing disabled people in their bakeries and cafes around Japan since 1998 and have since become a model for creating a successful business while contributing to the development of people with disabilities. 

Datin Paduka Khatijah said the bakery project under the GGP had benefited more than 100 students in bakery skills to-date.

In addition to the grant from the Government of Japan, Rumah Amal Cheshire Selangor’s bakery training project also has the support of Japanese company AEON Co (M) Bhd and the Low Yat Property Group.

AEON volunteered to provide its expert bakers to teach trainers the art of baking Japanese bread and pastries as well as good business practices for the bakery project.

Low Yat played a key role in providing the venue at a significantly favorable condition for The Bakey Wakey Café in its newly developed River City Mall.

The handover and opening ceremony of the café was a joyful and lively affair which was attended by many of Rumah Amal Cheshire Selangor’s sponsors, donors and partners including among other officials from the Embassy of Japan, Department of Social Welfare, Malaysia, AEON Co (M) Bhd, Low Yat Property Group, JICA and Grand Dorsett Subang Hotel.