Writers: Eugene Chin, Cherly Choo
In 1979, a man named Wung opened a humble ice cream parlour in Kenyalang Commercial Centre, Kuching. He named it, SugarBun, after a catchy phrase he saw on his trip to Taiwan. In just a few years, Mr Wung Wei Kee’s aspiration for his ice cream parlour grew thanks to the influence of his brother, who suggested he sell fried chickens instead.
An American friend introduced them to a state-of-the-art broaster fryer of the time, which combines deep frying and pressure cooking. This allows the chicken to cook quickly with its crispy exterior while keeping its meat tender and juicy inside. Mr Wung brought the fryer from the States home, and the rest is history.
SugarBun is Sarawak’s very own homegrown fast-food chain. It has been an iconic fixture of many Sarawakian’s childhoods for over four decades. To learn more about today’s SugarBun, we flew to Kota Kinabalu, the land below the wind, to speak with a man at the Labuan House.
Meet Datuk Joseph Ambrose Lee, a high-spirited and sporty boss who has been running SugarBun since 1993. Over the past decades, he has seen Malaysia’s economy at its peak and at its lowest. But his spirit and drive hold strong. Ironically, he was also once an ice cream parlour owner. 'When I came back from overseas in 1981, I also started an ice cream parlour in Sabah.', Lee explains the beginning of SugarBun in our interview. ' somehow Wung, went into an ideological conflict with himself so he decided to call it a day and look for somebody to carry on this branding and this business.'
Lee shares how he eventually acquired SugarBun 13 years later: 'I remember I went to Satok, so I had the Broasted Chicken. I was really impressed with it. It took me half an hour, and I decided and went to see Mr Wung (and) we had a deal, and then I took over SugarBun in 1992.'
Even though SugarBun’s headquarter is now in Sabah, the production plant has remained in Sarawak, at Kota Padawan.
At this plant, we met Mr Chin, the General Manager, who has been with the company for 35 years. That may sound like a long time, but in fact, most of the company’s management are Sarawakians who have served as long as 40 years.
The production plant processes the raw ingredients, pre-cooks the food and delivers them to all SugarBun outlets across Sarawak, Brunei, and Sabah.
There were no fast-food restaurants in Sarawak in the 1980s. Locals only knew about the modern dining experience from KFC and McDonald’s commercials broadcasted on the local radio stations. They were curious about the fast-food concept and envious of those who had access to it. But not for long.
The heart of SugarBun’s menu is its 3 signature dishes: the broasted chicken, the fish burger, and its iconic savoury rice.
When SugarBun revamped and started selling fried chicken and burgers, it instantly became a household name in 1988. Under the new management, SugarBun outlets expanded rapidly all over Sarawak and, eventually, to Brunei, Bangladesh, and even China.
Built in 1981, Wisma Sugarbun is located at Satok, Kuching. It houses the company’s Regional Office and it’s also home to the only company owned SugarBun outlet.
As Borneo becomes more exposed to the international market, bigger enterprises like SugarBun recognise that staying true to its roots is the best way forward.
In the outskirts of Kuching lies Batang Ai, one of the oldest Iban settlements in Sarawak and where abundant freshwater tilapia fishes are cultivated among a hydro-electric dam's waters. As part of a larger conservatory effort, the Sarawak government launched an initiative to provide employment opportunities to the community.
This is where SugarBun sources its tilapia for its Eco Fish dishes. It’s symbiotic relationships like these, between SugarBun and Borneo Eco Fish Farm, that push the name of Borneo forward.
Back in Sabah, we travelled to a small town named Kunak, to catch a very special food critic in the act: Bulbul Birds. These resident songbirds are after a peculiar delicacy, the momporok chilli. This indigenous chilli species is only found in the volcanic marshlands of Sabah, where it is cultivated from the digested seeds left behind by wild Bulbul birds. The environment and method of germination infused a distinctive taste and aroma into the chillis, unique only to Kunak.
This indigenous chilli species is only found in the volcanic marshlands of Sabah, where it is cultivated from the digested seeds left behind by wild Bulbul birds. The environment and method of germination infused a distinctive taste and aroma into the chillis, unique only to Kunak.
Lim and his team at SugarBun do not plan to stop there. Their goal is to propel Sarawak and Sabah to the international stage by bringing Borneo’s speciality produce to the world. 'We realised that it is important for Borneo to actually to go into self-sufficiency and Borneo to contribute to the world and its relevance to the world when it comes to products.' Lim explains the company's direction to the future.
'We decided, why don't we go upstream? Apart from being a food brand, we must also be a food producer.' he says excitedly, 'The next item that we are going to zero in on is from Sarawak, and it is from Ba'kelalan. Bario Rice (Adan Rice) can be planted anywhere else in Sabah and Sarawak, but it doesn't have the quality of those that are produced in Ba'kelalan.'
We attempted to locate the original founder, Mr Wung, for this story but his whereabout was unable to be determined -- as we were told by the current company after we enquired them for assistance to contact him. Hearsay from his acquaintances claim he has relocated to Australia.
Watch the story in this documentary below: