For most guys, I’ve observed, life is like stew. You dump it all in and pray it straightens itself out. But what if you’re a chef and you are required to know how to swing it at each step of the way? This is the story of Ken Chia, 34.

Since he could form memories, his preferred toy was the ladle. He started cooking at age 8 and made it a job by age 16. He was a happy junior cook who worked his little ass off. Then he got promoted to commis chef - more money, longer hours and still he worked his little ass off. Then he moved to Raffles Hotel, as Chef de Partie, more money, less happy and he still worked his slightly charred and older ass off. Then he met a girl! Fell in love and was slightly more motivated. He got promoted to Sous Chef at The Ritz Carlton, then The Fullerton  and at The Inter-Continental. Worked 12-hour shifts and became increasingly unhappy. You see, to become Chef de Cuisine (no. 1) is no natural progression– more like a monarchy.

And just as he thought his career stew was done, something got cooking in the oven! The girl he met) aka his wife, was expecting!

If you ask me, life itself is a great inspiration, diaper money is a great provocation and mid-life crisis is a great motivation.

He quit it all, took all the savings they had and started a school stall called My Kenteen – which serves up 5-star recipes at $5. His business plan was simple – 1 stall to sell a number of plates per day. Once that happens, they open up another, and hopefully, and eventually, My Kenteen will have a stall in every tertiary institution in Singapore, so he can literally feed his son through a university education he never got.

On being entrepreneur, he jokes:

“It’s really different. I report to my ‘customers’, and not a ‘boss’; I work 24 hours. If I’m not marinating beef, I’m making chicken cordon bleu and if I’m not cooking, I’m cleaning, and when I’m sleeping, I’m dreaming about adding new items to the menu. If you think about it, I have more bosses and longer hours now!”

On entrepreneurial timing:

I won’t say the cliché “I wish I done this earlier”, because had I started this when I was just fresh in my career, it wouldn’t be the same. Now– perhaps its becoming a Dad, I don’t know, but my head sits more squarely on my shoulders, and the network of friends and family that I have built have also come into their own. The timing cannot be more ideal.

On support from family and friends:

My wife has been an incredible help. Despite keeping her day job, she does my accounting. My sister-in-law made us a Facebook page, told all her friends, especially the ones in media, about us! My mates volunteer to help me out at the stall (although I think they just want to come and stare at the pretty young things walking around in mini-skirts). If I hadn’t done this, I would never have discovered this side of them.

My Kenteen is at Singapore Polytechnic Food Court 3. The median age of the customers is 18. No wonder it’s a good cure for mid-life crises.

‘School’ is often compared to British ‘Skins’ but the principal difference is that ‘School’ depicts real-life stories in a home video format reflecting the whole bunch of shit things Russian children have to wrestle – from teachers corruption to illegal abortion and prostitution.

The director, Valeriya Gay-Germanika, is only 24 but she has her documentary TV series being screened in prime-time on National TV across the whole country.

Valeriya Gay-Germanika

You’d never see anything like this on present day’s TV which is wholly controlled by the government. Many people think that this is sort of the first portent symbolizing that we’re finally shifting towards transparency and freedom of speech with a young Russian blonde film-director on the top of this wave.