KUCHING: Awesome. That is how celebrity chef Christopher Wan Sageng surmises himself.
Born on January 10, 1989 in Lundu, Christopher is of Bidayuh-Orang Ulu parentage is Associate Professor at UCSI here.
He began his education at a Chinese kindergarten when he was a toddler, and continued his education at SK St Joseph and SMK St Joseph.
Aside from his intrinsic capabilities and culinary skills, he described himself as stubborn but in a good way which in this instance means whatever goals he sets, he is willing to do whatever it takes to achieve them.
“People say that I look old, maybe because the way I think, and I am a very progressive person, however I am still very young, in my 30s,” said the married father of two.
He started to developed his culinary interest when he was 10 years old due to being left alone at home most of the time as his parents were both working.
Christopher in the beginning treated cooking as a way to survive, to make sure he has food on the table. He jokingly remembered the first dish that he made was not edible, and that was the moment he started to love cooking.
After finishing SPM, even though he was in the science stream, his passion for cooking arguably disappointed other people’s expectations that he would the footsteps of his siblings into the engineering field.
THE CULINARY JOURNEY BEGAN
He furthered his study at Taylor’s University and received a Diploma in Culinary Arts and that was where he built up the essential skills in culinary art well.
Christopher then continued his education at the same university but this time, read for a Bachelor’s Degree in Hospitality and Tourism Management, and that is where he established his leadership within the hospitality industry.
In the early 2010s he started his career as a food and beverage and operation manager at Syarikat Citarasa Lestari where he managed the entire operations and then from May 2014 until September 2014, he worked as a catering manager at Remang Offshore Supplies Sdn Bhd, where he was tasked to manage around 250 staff under his care, and within six months of 2014, he went from catering manager to senior catering manager in the same company.
He described working offshore as somewhat “plain” as the only scenery that he able to catch was the sea and he was not too keen on it, even if the pay was good.
In the same year, UCSI offered him a position as a lecturer, and to him, education has always been part of his lifelong dream since he started his career.
While he worked as a lecturer in UCSI, he once again furthered his studies this time going for a Masters Degree in Learning Sciences where he learned about psychology and people’s behaviour, which is to complement his teaching and enhance his effectiveness in enabling his students in experiential learning within the programmes under his care and guidance.
At the beginning when he decided to pursue his passion for cooking, there was a setback from his parents as they did not agree with his interest. However, they were supportive towards him, and advised him “whatever you do, always do your best, never give up and do not stop halfway”.
“SUDUK CERPU” AND “INSPIRASI CHEF”
“Suduk Cerpu” was a 13-episode cooking show, aired on Radio Televisyen Malaysia (RTM) in 2019.
Christopher revealed that the production team at that time was in a conversation with him to scout a suitable candidate for the cooking programme.
He assisted the audition, without knowing that he would also be interested to become the host during that time.
Producers of the show then approached him and asked whether he is interested to become the host for the show, he then auditioned and from there onwards, he was hired as the host.
During the production of “Suduk Cerpu” he pointed out that all of the dishes that were created were very different from other cooking shows.
The cooking show was not a normal, ordinary cooking show according to him, because all of the cuisine he created were fusion or “mix between two or more cultures”, in which he stated could not be found in cookbooks, and it was all custom made.
Throughout the show, he created at least 39 dishes and it took him at least one month to do so.
In 2022, he hosted another cooking show titled “Inspirasi Chef” on TV Okey and it was also 13 episodes long.
He considered “Inspirasi Chef” as a valuable show because he was given the trust by the production once again to lead and host the show alongside created recipes that integrates the Sarawak identity.
ACHIEVEMENT
Aside from “Suduk Cerpu” and “Inspirasi Chef” and apart from being appointed this month officially as the Dean of Faculty of Hospitality and Tourism Management UCSI, his other achievements was when he participated in a cooking competition in the early 2010s.
He stated that when he joined UCSI in 2014, no one willingly wanted to join the cooking competition, so he decided to take the leap and joined the competition in Penang and won bronze.
Since he joined the competition, it changed the landscape of how the faculty works, and that was the moment the students were inspired to join other cooking competitions since then.
“We work as a team, we leave as a team” that is his favorite quote and one that he always live by from time to time.
