PUBLISHED ONAugust 26, 2024 3:57 AMByDrima ChakrabortyYang Guang Ke Le is having a self-proclaimed "busy month".
The Singapore-based Malaysian host-singer is doing getai performances during the seventh lunar month while also selling mooncakes for the upcoming Mid-Autumn Festival and working in showbiz, which she shared in an Instagram Reel on Aug 19.
She also has her cafe in Johor Bahru (JB), which she runs with her older brother.
"I work really hard, I won't lose to some men who are pushing hard for their career," she told AsiaOne in a recent interview.
"Some people will ask me why I'm like that, but my thinking is, if I can do it, I will. Some may say they don't have enough time to do so many things, but to me, you'll be able to allocate time for it, it's only a matter of whether you want to or not."
Ke Le added that filming for Mediacorp starts from 6am, and her getai performances start at 6pm and she can sell her mooncakes during those.
"I'll definitely have some time to rest and I'll return to JB to tend to my cafe. As long as you are willing, you can do it," she said. "Even if it appears like I'm doing a lot, including livestreams, I still have time to hang out with my friends. I can still manage it."
The 27-year-old is selling mooncakes in collaboration with Pink Ice Cream Cafe in Singapore, with herself on the box as a cartoon Chang'e. She told us that she's always wanted to release products for festivals such as Mid-Autumn, Chinese New Year or Dragon Boat and the right opportunity came along this year.
"I have good rapport with the female boss of Pink Ice Cream Cafe and we decided on the flavours quite fast," she explained. "Both of us prefer traditional mooncakes and the chef at the cafe is a dessert chef who won an award in Hong Kong...
"We didn't want it to be too complicated; the more traditional they are, the better. This is my first product so I thought the simpler it is, the more sincere it will be."
Because Ke Le wanted the mooncakes, which come in four flavours — red bean, pandan, lotus paste and lotus paste with a yolk — to "be suited for more people", they're also low in sugar and halal, with all the flavours except the last being vegetarian as well.
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She wanted to sell 2,000 boxes but set a modest goal of 1,000 for her first products. Over 80 per cent are sold out, she told AsiaOne.
Ke Le is also hand-delivering the mooncakes to customers who've ordered more than 10 boxes - the single-biggest order she's had so far is for 100.
"Honestly, my car is too small to deliver 50 or 100 boxes and I can't make multiple trips so I needed a van to deliver those," she said. "There were a few orders of 10 boxes or more, including from friends, fans and the public so I made those deliveries myself."
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Festivals are a time to get together for Ke Le and her family.
"My family - parents, older sister, older brother and myself - are very close to each other and when we were young, we would gather during festivals," she said.
"Now, my sister has her own family and my brother is working hard in his career. They are all in Malaysia while I'm in Singapore alone. We don't have a lot of time together so once I'm back in JB, my sister will come to our place for a reunion."
She misses the happy times she had with her siblings when they were younger "talking about mundane stuff".
"To me, the Mid-Autumn Festival is a time for a reunion."
The strongest memory Ke Le has of the festival is playing together with her siblings "as kids with no worries". They would eat mooncakes and carry lanterns - "the traditional ones with candles" which would accidentally burn if they weren't careful.
"I really miss those days. Doing traditional mooncakes this year is a way for me to retrieve the taste from my memories," she said, explaining that back in the day, there weren't elaborate varieties such as snowskin, mango and coffee flavours.
"I miss the taste of traditional mooncakes and I hope people who eat my mooncakes also miss it."
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Additional reporting from Kwok Kar Peng.
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