KUALA LUMPUR: Few Malaysians have forefathers who shared the same village as the ancestors of the legendary Bruce Lee, but that’s precisely bakery owner Leonard Lee Kim Fook’s claim to fame.
A black-and-white picture on a wall of his traditional bakery, located near Chinatown here, showed the martial arts star smiling beside a middle-aged man and sharing a firm handshake with him.
“That man was my granduncle. And yes, the man next to him was Bruce Lee,” said Leonard, 48.
Both men shared the same surname and same origins, he said, referring to their Lee clan who are Cantonese.
The famed actor was born in San Francisco but his ancestor’s home (and that of Leonard’s) was located in Shang village in the Shunde district of China’s Foshan city, which is about 68km from Guangzhou.
Leonard said his granduncle used to run a business renting classic cars to Hong Kong’s TVB for filming. Through this venture, he had the serendipitous opportunity to meet the kungfu master.
One day, the granduncle got someone to take a photo of him with the actor at his filming site.
The precious image now hangs at the wall of the nearly century-old Seong Ying Chai bakery.
These days, Leonard is busy running the bakery, which was started by his grandfather Lee Nyuk Soo as a restaurant in 1935 at Davidson Road, now Jalan Hang Jebat.
Back then, it served cuisine from Shunde district in Guangdong province.
“During its heyday, it used to be one of the four most famous Chinese restaurants in Petaling Street,” Leonard said.
Leonard, who is now the custodian of the family legacy, said the family business temporarily closed in 2016 due to health challenges faced by his father Hup Ngoh.
Yet, inspired by dreams of his ancestors and undeterred by a fire opposite the bakery in 2016, Leonard felt compelled to revive the family business.
The blaze led to him salvaging hundreds of pastry moulds passed down through generations, which eventually led to the reopening of Seong Ying Chai in 2018, now focusing on baked goods.
Leonard, who began learning to make pastries and helping in the kitchen at the age of six, is keen to enlighten the younger generation about Chinese culture.
Last year, he and his wife introduced a kit, which included lanterns, mini mooncakes, mini mooncake skin biscuits and dried pomelo rinds, to educate children about the Mid-Autumn Festival.
For wedding pastries, the couple would print intricately designed leaflets detailing the process, protocol and significance of gifting pastries, such as for the “guo dai lai” or traditional betrothal ceremony.
He said Chinese families would follow traditions by buying wedding biscuits (kah lui peng) but not many are aware of the necessary items, the numbers needed and the reasons for them.
To him, there is much beauty in Chinese culture and heritage.
“It’s not about making a profit, but passing on our unique heritage. That’s why we got a friend to help us design leaflets and coffee table books detailing these traditions.
“We have covered topics about the tradition of Mid-Autumn Festival and Chinese wedding so far. Our friends and regulars often love to flip through them because we featured stories and nice pictures,” he said.
His next project is to produce a coffee table book about Chinese heritage, culture and their significance.
Every Chinese New Year, Leonard makes it a point to organise a reunion dinner for his friends and regular clients who became his friends through the years.
Sometimes, he co-hosts it with his old neighbours from Petaling Street.
“It’s more than just about food; it’s about keeping our cultural heritage alive,” he said.
