KUALA LUMPUR: ANYONE looking for good old-fashioned kuih Melayu should head for My Little Cake Shoppe at Pasar Besar Taman Tun Dr Ismail.  The shop offers 20 types of kuih.

    It is run by Nur Raihan Thye, 24.    

  "The shop was established by my mother, Wan Fatimah Abd Latiph, who was an officer in the Royal Malaysian Air Force.

  "She left the service to open this store when she gave birth to me," said  Nur Raihan, who has been managing the shop over the past two years.

  Nur Raihan, who has an advanced fashion design management diploma from Raffles Design Institute, was working in the purchasing department of retail stores British India and Marks & Spencers before taking over her mother's business.  

 "I decided to keep the business going when my mother went to pursue her studies in Syariah Law at Universiti Malaya," she said.

  "My mother opened this shop in 1992.

  "The business has grown steadily. In the beginning, her customers were mainly residents from the neighbourhood, but  today our customers come from as far as Kajang,"  Nur Raihan said.

  She said  she also supplies to  corporate customers such as PJ Hilton, Istana Negara, Istana Melawati and a few other well-known restaurants in Kuala Lumpur.

  "I am finding it increasingly difficult to maintain prices of the kuih as the cost of ingredients has gone up,"  Nur Raihan said.

  She makes about 2,000 pieces daily with the help of two workers.

  On weekends, she said, the number is doubled.

  Her best-sellers are seri muka cara berlauk, wajik and talam pandan.

   For details, visit  www.mylittlecakeshoppe.com.