With travel virtually crippled, many pilots and other airline employees have resigned themselves to taking up odd jobs in a desperate bid to make ends meet.
But on the flip side, it is during such times of adversity that people are forced out of their comfort zones to try something new, and sometimes, things turn out for the better.
When Zakaria Abu Saim, a leading steward with Malaysia Airlines for 27 years, realised that his job might be on the line, he worried no end about it.
While he thankfully was able to keep working, the number of flights had been reduced drastically, and as the sole breadwinner, he was not earning quite enough for his family of five.
His daughter, Tilla Hanna tells FMT that prior to the pandemic, her father used to serve aboard about 10 to 12 flights a month, but as travel died down, he could only find one or two flights a month.
It soon became clear that the family needed to band together and find a way to make a living for themselves.
“Both my parents have experience in the service and F&B industry as both worked in the same hotel once,” Tilla tells FMT, adding that her mother even studied hotel catering in college.
In November 2020, Zakaria’s family started a nasi lemak business in their neighbourhood of Kota Kemuning. It was a hit with locals.
However, since Tilla’s brothers were gushing about selling burgers instead, her parents, after thinking long and hard about it, bought into the idea and set-up the Bay-6 Burger stall right within their own garden.
But why the fascination with burgers?
Tilla laughs, saying that for the longest time, her family has loved eating burgers and would regularly experiment with burger recipes at home.
“I’m not sure why or when our fascination with burgers started but I definitely remember eating a lot of homemade burgers throughout my childhood,” says Tilla.
Of course, starting a family burger business was no walk in the park. There were operation costs to consider, the purchase of equipment, research and development, and most importantly, how to perfect the burger patties.
Still, the family pushed on and launched the business over Christmas last year.
It was slow going at first as many of their neighbours weren’t even aware that a burger business had popped up in their very midst.
Today however, the stall sells an average of 40 burgers daily either directly to customers who drop by at their stall or through deliveries to their doorsteps.
The increase in burger sales has allowed the family to expand their outside kitchen to accommodate more orders.
Working together can be hard for some families, with siblings squabbling among themselves and parents at loggerheads with each other or their children. Tilla’s family, thankfully, are closely-knit.
“Each of us has their own strong quality and as long as we keep to our respective roles, things move smoothly,” she says.
She does admit rather good-naturedly, that it can be somewhat nerve-wracking that her parents are now their bosses as well.
While her father deals with customers personally and manages the Bay-6 Burger’s social media presence, her mother manages stall operations and prepares the raw ingredients for the burgers.
Her brothers are the chefs, frying patties and dressing the burgers while Tilla divides her times between helping her father with record-keeping and helping her brothers pack the burgers for waiting customers.
But what keeps customers coming back for more? What does Bay-6 Burger have that others don’t?
“All our patties are handmade with quality meat,” says Tilla, explaining that the burger patties have a homelier flavour compared to store-bought patties.
The addition of new burger combos every month keeps the menu exciting and gives customers something to look forward to.
Asked if the family will continue the burger business when the situation improves and her father returns to serving on more flights, Tilla says, “My parents set-up Bay-6 for the kids so they could try their hand at running a business.
“As such, we will continue to keep the Bay-6 home stall but perhaps change the menu depending on the demand even after the pandemic.”
Bay-6 Burger
11, Jalan Anggerik Aranda 31/19
Kota Kemuning
40460 Shah Alam
Selangor
Check out Bay-6 Burger’s menu on Facebook here and place your order by sending a WhatsApp message to 013-6351518.