| Bedak Sejuk, A Traditional Cosmetic Still In Use |
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KEEPING BUSY… Ooi Oh Chung and husband Yeoh Keng Beng at work making the traditional cosmetic bedak sejuk at their home in Kuala Sungai Baru, Balik Pulau. Pix: K.Ganeson
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By Nor Hidayah Anuar
PENANG, Mac 6 (Bernama) -- Although Ooi Oh Chung is now 58 years old, her beauty is still radiant, and her secret is the "bedak sejuk", the local traditional face powder once widely used by Malaysian women.
The cosmetic is made from high quality broken rice and fragrance derived from pandan leaves.
Ooi, a mother of three grown up men aged between 26 and 30 years and grandmother to a seven-month old boy, had benefited tremendously from the use of the bedak sejuk which had helped to prevent the formation of wrinkles on her face and cooled her body.
Her faith in the cosmetic has led her and her husband, Yeoh Keng Beng to produce bedak sejuk in their house at Kuala Sungai Baru, Balik Pulau, for the last 20 years.
Their bedak sejuk, known as Lean Seng Company, is sold at RM2 a bottle.
The high-quality broken rice is submerged in water for 12 days and ground with a special machine, before they are sold, mostly in Penang and Johor.
"I learnt the technique of making bedak sejuk from a friend and at first used a cylindrical funnel or a piece of cloth to make the cosmetic, but this process was slow, so I now use a large tray with holes on it.
"This speeds up the process," she said to Bernama, here.
The rice drops are then dried in the sun and later filled in bottles.
Yeoh said the income from the bedak sejuk is not substantial but enough to meet her needs.
"I have known hardship ...I just cannot keep still in the house doing nothing," she said, explaining her hard labour.
Yeoh said as long as there were customers for her bedak sejuk she would continue to earn income.
She said she produced about 20 kilogrammes of bedak sejuk a day, and once the product reached 100 kg, she would bottle them for sale.
It was a sad day indeed when her bedak sejuk was carried away by the tsunami last year, but the elderly couple's confidence in the product never faded and they continued to produce the powder after the catastrophe.
She said her house, situated near a fishermen's jetty in the village was partly submerged during the tsunami and waves carried away 12 sacks of rice and 200 bottles of bedak sejuk.
Her real concern however was her age, as the business would probably die with her one day since none of her children was keen to make bedak sejuk which brings only a meagre income, she said.
-- BERNAMA
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