Summary
After fleeing Malaysia to protect her three children, Sangee found peace in the kitchen of her Westmead home. With support from food business incubator FoodLab, she transformed her love of cooking into a successful business, joining a community of migrant and refugee entrepreneurs shaping Western Sydney’s food scene.
At Parramatta Lanes Festival, Sangee pours satay sauce over sizzling chicken skewers. Her daughters hand bowls of mee goreng, nasi lemak and pani puri to queuing customers, eager to sample the rich flavours of Sangee’s Kitchen.
Amidst the bustling crowd, Sangee finds comfort in the familiar aromas of pandan leaves, lemongrass and hot chilli.
“When I’m cooking, my mind is finally peaceful,” she says.
Sangee’s daughter prepares Roti John at Parramatta Lanes Festival.
In 2018, Sangee fled Malaysia as a single mother with three children, arriving in Australia as an asylum seeker. It was a period of her life she doesn’t want to talk about. She changed her name for her family’s protection, opting for a sentimental childhood nickname that is printed on her business logo.
“Before I started Sangee’s Kitchen, I was working three jobs to make up for no government benefits,” she says. “My children were in school and it was hard to pay the bills… I was feeling so low.”
When she lost one of her jobs, Sangee says she began to lose hope. But as Sydney entered COVID-19 lockdowns, she rediscovered her love of cooking in the kitchen of her Westmead home.
“I cooked every day for my family, and then my community. The Malaysian Food Lover group on Facebook was buying my food every weekend,” says Sangee.
“They left reviews that really touched my heart.”
As Sangee’s Kitchen grew, she began catering for events. But despite her years of cooking experience, she says she found it difficult to navigate the regulations involved in running a food business in Australia.
“I wanted to get a proper licence and I was scared of doing the wrong thing,” she says.
Customers queue in front of Sangee’s Kitchen in Erby Place, Parramatta.
Sangee was introduced to FoodLab in 2022, a non-profit social enterprise that supports people facing high barriers to grow their food businesses. She completed a 12-week training program, receiving education on recipe pricing, reducing food waste, scaling her business and managing finances.
Managing director, Jamie Loveday, says new migrants often struggle to enter the hospitality industry due to language barriers and limited access to information and resources.
“The hospitality industry has the highest failure rates in the country, at 80 per cent in the first two years,” he says.
Loveday links the trend to rising rents and competition from large restaurant chains that threaten the survival of small businesses. But despite these odds, 35 out of 36 food businesses supported by FoodLab are still operating, and collectively employ 80 people.
I really think the West is becoming the food bowl of Sydney…a place to find authentic, local, culturally beautiful and diverse food.
Jamie Loveday, FoodLab
Today, Sangee’s Kitchen is one of these successful businesses that caters for corporate and community events across Sydney. She also owns a food trailer, sells a line of shelf-stable condiments and runs cooking classes. In 2025, she won the South Asian Women’s Food Awards, and was a finalist in the 2026 Australian Tamil Chamber of Commerce Awards.
“She’s come such a long way, not just in the outward success of her business, but also in her confidence as well,” says Loveday.
Like Sangee’s Kitchen, the majority of food businesses supported by FoodLab are based in Western Sydney. With a high migrant and refugee population, Loveday says that the area is becoming a hotspot for international food.
“I really think the West is becoming the food bowl of Sydney…a place to find authentic, local, culturally beautiful and diverse food.”
Business owners prepare food at FoodLab’s co-working kitchen. (Photo: FoodLab)
Sangee says she is proud to share the flavours of her childhood in Penang with customers across Sydney. Among her products are bright jars of sambal, a traditional Malaysian chilli paste that she prepared with her father as a young girl.
“My dad is my biggest inspiration,” says Sangee.
“I would help him chop and prepare all the ingredients for a bulk curry to share with our village… I think about those memories when I make his chicken and fish curry recipes.”
Cooking has also allowed Sangee to support Western Sydney women with similar stories. Alongside running her business, she fundraises and volunteers for the Asylum Seekers Centre and women’s shelters across Sydney. She says teaching cooking classes to refugee and asylum seeker women is most rewarding.
“I love to work with women… I think there’s something beautiful about how we share our journeys together.”
Having started her business to support her three children, Sangee now dreams of opening a café where women can find community and belonging.
“I want to make a place where all women are welcome to share stories and delicious, homemade food… they are like daughters to me.”
Main image by Ainslie McNally.
