Inside his family home, Yeoh carefully tends to the making of bedak sejuk, a cooling facial powder long favoured in local beauty routines. For him, the work is more than a livelihood – it is a legacy.
The business was started nearly 50 years ago by his father, Yeoh Teng Beng, under the name Perniagaan Bedak Sejuk Lean Seng. When his father died in 2016 at age 74, Yeoh chose to carry it forward.
“I saw how hard he worked, even in his later years,” he told Bernama. “That gave me the determination to continue.”
What began as a small neighbourhood trade has since found customers across the country, drawn to a product that has remained unchanged despite the rise of modern skincare.
Yeoh still uses only rice and water, avoiding chemical additives and staying true to the traditional method. But that simplicity masks a process that is anything but quick.
Crushed rice is soaked and fermented for about a month, with the water changed daily. It is then ground into a paste, filtered and shaped by hand into small pellets before being left to dry under the sun.
The final stage is the most unpredictable. The pellets need at least three days of strong sunlight, making the entire operation highly dependent on the weather.
“In the past, the rice was soaked for up to a year,” Yeoh said. “Now we adjust to current needs, but it still takes about 40 days to complete the process.”
Each batch produces close to 1,000 pellets, all shaped individually. Despite working largely on his own, he remains focused on consistency and quality. The product is also laboratory-tested to ensure it meets safety standards.
The weather, however, dictates everything. During hot spells, production can reach up to 100 bottles a day, or roughly 20kg. But when rain sets in, work slows to a crawl.
“Sometimes we can only work a few days in a month,” he said. “There are times we have to throw everything away because it doesn’t dry properly.”
Even so, demand remains steady. Customers from all backgrounds continue to seek out bedak sejuk, including wholesalers who buy in bulk for rebranding.
Often described as “grandma’s beauty cream”, the product is prized for its cooling, soothing and moisturising properties, especially in Malaysia’s heat.
For Yeoh, the future is less certain. Single and without a clear successor, he acknowledges that the next generation may not continue what his father began. His nieces and nephews have chosen different paths.
Still, he presses on. “This is something used by everyone – Malays, Chinese, Indians,” he said. “If I don’t continue, who will?
“No matter how difficult it gets, I will keep going and hope someone will take over one day,” he concluded.