BLIND chef Low Wee Keong, 49, may not have made it into the top five winners of the inaugural Genting Culinary Classic 2025 but he achieved something far more personal — a breakthrough in overcoming his fear of performing before a live audience.
Securing a spot among the top 20 finalists was already a significant accomplishment for Wee Keong, the only visually impaired contestant and one of the four from Penang. He lost his eyesight in 2007 after an industrial accident while servicing an aircraft in Singapore.
Determined not to let his disability define him, Wee Keong, an engineer, turned to cooking and, with the encouragement of a friend, launched a YouTube channel in 2019 called Blind In The Kitchen. He handles all the video editing himself using software tailored for the visually impaired, while his friend Alex Khoo supports him as his cameraman.
Asked about his experience at the competition, which took place on June 10 and 11 at Resorts World Genting, Wee Keong, who hails from Bukit Mertajam, Penang, said he was very excited to have the opportunity to rub shoulders with high-calibre chefs from across the country.
“I’ve often joined cooking competitions online, safely hidden behind a screen — no audience, no eyes on me, no stage lights, and no real-time pressure. But this time, it was different. For the first time, I stepped onto a real stage. A real kitchen. A real competition. Three days and two nights of standing side by side with chefs I once only admired from afar,” he said.
“As a visually impaired OKU chef, I won’t lie. The tension and panic were very real. The fear of the unknown. The fear of making a mistake in front of everyone. The fear of not being good enough. But then I reminded myself: I’ve already won. I made it to the finals. I stood among the best. I am already a winner. So I told myself, “Cook like you always do. Just like cooking for your family.”
That shift in mindset gave him the strength and confidence to push through.
“I treated each ingredient like I always do, with love. I treated every plate as if it were for someone I cared about deeply. I treated the competition like life itself. What touched me the most wasn’t just the cooking or the results. It was the people. The judges, the participants, the HAPA team, and the internal chef assistants — they never once made me feel like a burden. No one saw me as “less than.” They never looked at me as “just an OKU.” They saw me as a chef. They treated me as one of them. And that respect … that acceptance … meant more than any trophy ever could.
“This competition was more than just a challenge; it was a mirror reflecting the truth: the show is life. We all have our own stage to stand on. And mine, I stood proudly. In the end, I did it. I really did. And if I can do it, I truly believe my fellow OKU friends out there can too. We can break the chains in our hearts — the chains of fear, doubt, and limitation.”
Wee Keong expressed heartfelt gratitude to all who supported and believed in him, saying, “This was not just a competition. It was a breakthrough — not just in skill, but in spirit.”
For the competition, he prepared a dish close to his heart: a Peranakan Nyonya-style Kapitan Steam Fish, using ikan talang (double spotted queenfish) and other seafood ingredients.
Aside from connecting with fellow chefs, Wee Keong said one of the highlights was meeting culinary icons like Martin Yan, Supachai Kongla, and Chef Johari Edrus, who were on the judging panel.
The Genting Culinary Classic 2025 was hosted by Resorts World Genting in collaboration with the HAPA® Group. The top prize went to Budiman Bistari Mohamed, who took home RM25,000. Lo Tshung Ket came in second and received RM15,000, while third place went to Lim Boon Ghee with an RM10,000 prize. Ahmad Fairul Aimie Ahmad Salihim and Wong Cher Yoon placed fourth and fifth respectively, each winning RM10,000.
An emotional Budiman knelt and kissed the stage floor after being announced the winner, before receiving his prize from Spencer Lee, executive vice-president of Sales, Marketing and Communications at Resorts World Genting.
“Thank you to Resorts World Genting and HAPA for collaborating to hold this competition. This is a great platform for young chefs to show the world the beauty of Malaysian classic cuisines. You need passion and knowledge,” Budiman said.
Lee assured that the Genting Culinary Classic would continue next year and even expand beyond Malaysia.
“We invited Chef Martin Yan to help promote Malaysian food. It’s an honour for us to showcase the amazing local cuisine, and how food can unite us. We’ll hold this cooking competition again next year, and it will be bigger, as 2026 is Visit Malaysia Year. We want to champion Malaysian cuisine. One day, we hope to take this competition out of Malaysia,” Lee said.
Also present at the ceremony were Samuel Lee, the deputy director of Tourism Malaysia, and Jennifer Ong, founder of HAPA Group.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix courtesy of Low Wee Keong and Alex Khoo