By Elizabeth Anne Pereira, INTI International University
Rajakumar Uthayakumar or fondly known as Raja holds a Public Relations Major from INTI International University, Campus Nilai. He led an all rounded student life excelling academically and in extracurricular activities and was gloriously hailed the Valedictorian during his convocation in 2019. Raja describes himself as an extrovert who is spontaneous, adaptable and willing to learn new things. He is also known to be motivated, competitive, optimistic, caring and a friendly team player. Miss Elizabeth Anne Pereira, a lecturer at Faculty of Education and Liberal Arts (FELA) takes time to get up close and personal with Raja on his current baking endeavors and colourful student life at INTI.
You had a very illustrious, glorious and colourful life as an INTI student. Share your experiences as an INTI student.
It’s been 2 years since I left INTI and my respect and impression over INTI has never changed, always touching the roof. For who I am today, INTI has played a big part in shaping me to a better, knowledgeable, confident and someone who sees self-development second to none. I was exposed to many industrial experiences that tested my ability to live in the real world and made me experience the ways to tackle any unpleasant moment that most likely could happen for a working adult. I might sound exaggerating, but in short, INTI created all the opportunities for a student to excel, and fortunately, I was the student who knew how to grab them.
What are your memorable and sweetest experiences as an INTI student?
My most memorable moments are my walks on stage as a freelance emcee back then. Literally an energy booster in me, that washes off the fear of meeting people now. I enrolled myself in Mass Communication as I was passionate about hosting and was emceeing a few events before. As I started emceeing events and being addresses by clubs for their events, it gave me taps on my shoulder for following the right path. For the sweetest, I would say the people who came in as friends and now a family. One of the most diverse campus I could ask for. All the stressful nights for exams, late night suppers and knowing them being there for you in any circumstances made me worry less of anything.
How would you describe your lecturers at INTI?
I would describe them as most caring, well exposed, and friendly. Usually the combination of all 3 is a miracle I know, but guess in INTI it wasn’t for me. Maybe because I’m someone who likes to be treated the way I treat people, most of them showed only their best version to me. When I say well exposed, it’s not just from the subject matter, it’s about understanding of a student, the current affairs and the involvement they showed in reaching the audience. To highlight further, I still have a few of them checking on my career progress, physical and mental health. How cool is that?
What inspired you to take up baking?
If you’re expecting a moment where an idea bulb popped, definitely not! After finishing my internship, I took a month break before searching for job. In that break I wanted to give a try to a few dishes that I watched from YouTube. Some made me feel like a chef, some…let’s not even go there. And during this period, my family were at home due to Covid. From cooking, I tried few baking endevors and these including me coming up with own recipes. At that point, I came up with this Banana Cake recipe which was unique to me and was so delicious.
This was what I heard from my family, extended family, friends, extended friends, neighbors, plumber, aircond service man and Shopee delivery man. So, I just told myself to give a try on selling while searching for job and still waiting for the best offer. And yeah, I got overwhelming response and repeated orders. And slowly I progressed to a part time business called, @manofcakes, and running now.
What are the types of cakes that you bake?
Under @manofcakes, I bake homemade cakes such as classic cakes, cupcakes, occasion cakes and they are all customizable. For now, my flavours are Butter, Orange, Marble, Banana Cake, Moist Chocolate and Vegan Chocolate. Ps: in the process of introducing others!
In the coming 5 years, what do you see foresee of your baking career?
Well, for the passion I have on my career, I’m still seeing this baking career as a part time, so I’m still looking to run it online. However, I do want to grow it by doing some collaborations, coming up with other flavours and bulk orders where people can get for lower rates.
Describe your experience in the culinary field.
Everything feels new! I felt like a new born baby when I found out a whole new talent out of sudden. Back in Uni days, I had no clue that I’ll be holding my baking pan often in a day-to-day basis. However, sometimes it could be too hectic and tiring especially when you’re doing a main job. So, I would say, it tests my patience and time management skills. I must mention the satisfactory factor which makes me forget all the tiredness after a customer compliments for the goods.
What are the highlights of your baking career?
The highlights must be definitely the management. It is the most question I receive as my main job is a fast phase industry and I do quite a lot of things that makes me tired the first half itself. The train ride or traffic can drain my energy level easily too. However, I always tell myself, I can only run until I can and don’t want to regret later. My time management has improved significantly after starting the business. I know how to value time and money better than before.
I started evaluating my schedules and places to be. At some point, we have to learn how to say NO and learn to priorities things. This is what I do balance both. However, things not always stay positive, and I do feel super tired at times. In these times, I just take a break to recharge.
On a daily basis, how many cake orders do you fulfill?
My orders are not consistent, as at times I have continuous orders, and sometimes they come in a gap. But I have orders at least once a week. There are times where I have spent whole day for cakes alone.
What are your future plans?
For my future, I’m looking forward to growing myself by skills and financial. For this, I’m working hard to prove my ability at workplace and giving my best at projects that I lead. Besides, I’m also open for new challenges and opportunities. I’m also taking up freelance emcee jobs to always stay on track and be comfortable with audience.
As an exemplary Inti alumnus, what are the pearls of wisdom that you would impart to all current INTI students?
To all my brothers and sisters, ‘experience’ is the key for everything. I’m know I sounds like a grumpy employer, but it’s not that. Experience could be anything, as long as we have ourselves noticed, felt, understood and being involved in things. No matter how much we are being told, read and even seen, until we get our hands and mind on, we will never get to excel anything. We are in a good place filled with tons of opportunities, don’t limit yourself, go all out! Experience everything and lose nothing!