Educator continues to help dad at stall
YONG PENG: By day, K. Victorajan teaches Physics and Mathematics, shaping young minds in the classroom.
But when the final school bell rings, the 40-year-old SMK Yong Peng teacher spends his time to man his father’s cendol stall. Something he has been doing since he was a young boy.
“I have been helping him after school since I was a primary school boy.
“I always look up to him because he worked hard at his stall to raise his four children, including me as the eldest,” said Victorajan while deftly ladling homemade palm sugar onto a cold bowl of cendol.
His 67-year-old father, R. Kannan, prepares the ingredients as early as 6am daily before opening the stall at 9.30am. He closes shop at 7pm.
“The cendol stall, which has been operating for more than 40 years, has moved around in various locations in Yong Peng before settling at its current spot in Jalan Tenteram for the past 18 years.
“The cendol recipe was developed by my parents, with my father learning the craft from his own mother,” he said.
Although Victorajan has a full-time teaching career and a family of his own, he continues to drop by after school to ease his father’s burden.
“My father is assisted by a relative, but I make it a point to help them out as much as I can when it does not clash with after-school activities,” he said.
The stall serves the basic cendol at RM3. Prices vary depending on toppings such as corn, glutinous rice, durian and tapai.
Victorajan said his father has always insisted on keeping prices affordable to ensure customers could continue enjoying the dessert.
“The stall has many regular customers and we also get travellers who stop by for a bowl of cendol before continuing their journey,” he said.
Over the years, helping out at the stall has also allowed Victorajan to connect with customers from different backgrounds, including picking up basic Mandarin to communicate with them. He said the experience has complemented his role as a teacher by reminding him of the importance of humility and staying grounded.
“I teach my students that education is very important and that they should create their own identity.
“But I also tell them to remain humble despite being successful or having a good career because we should never forget our roots,” he said.
Victorajan hopes to continue the family’s legacy one day by taking over the business together with his siblings and transforming it into a cafe specialising in traditional cendol and other Malaysian favourites such as ABC (also known as air batu campur or ais kacang).
