Her sister Adele Choy had been diagnosed with microcephaly as well as quadriplegia cerebral palsy. These are life-long conditions recognisable through seizures as well as mobility issues.
“I started looking to raise money for my sister Adele, who is brain injured and was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at two months old,” she said.
She added that she was too young at the time to fully understand what was going on. But she did remember how her parents consulted multiple doctors and tried everything under the sun, including aqua therapy and acupuncture, to help save her sister’s life.
“The doctors said that the circumference of her head would not grow and that she had a year to live. You can’t imagine how someone feels when a doctor tells you that your loved one has a year left to live,” said Leah, who is now 14 years old.
Yet, Adele defied the odds and celebrated her 12th birthday in late December last year.
Still, it has not been an easy ride for the family. “It’s definitely hard seeing someone you love going through things that are so scary. Adele is epileptic, so she has seizures.
“Seeing her have seizures is super scary. You can see her eyes roll to the back of her head, her entire body just tensing up and shaking, and her face turning blue,” shared Leah.
“If I could, I would take away all her pain and put it on myself. I would rather have that because she suffers from a lot of pain but she is still so joyful and she helps me to be grateful,” she added.
It is this deep sisterly love and immense gratitude for life that keeps Leah passionate about raising funds for those in need.
In 2015, Leah won the Tuanku Bainun Young Changemakers Awards. This was shortly followed by the publication of her first cookbook at the tender age of nine in 2018.
Titled “Chef Leah with a Big Heart”, the cookbook is filled with recipes and features many fun and delectable cake and cupcake decorations that tell the story of Leah’s journey, including the events that inspired her to bake.
During Christmas last year, she baked 45 non-alcoholic spiced fruit cakes to raise funds for the Breast Cancer Welfare Association Malaysia (BCWA). Selling every single fruitcake, she raised RM585 for the NGO.
In July 2023, she opened her first café in Alor Gajah called ‘Terima Kasih’. The unique feature about this café – which served customers only three nights every month – was that she operated it from her family home in Alor Gajah, Melaka.
Acting as a training ground of sorts for the young chef, the menu-less café offered Melaka Nyonya dishes as well as Chinese, Thai, Malay and Western cuisine.
“Over these 10 years, my parents have always fully supported me. They’ve never shut down any ideas I’ve had. I had this lifelong dream of opening a café, and I did,” she said, beaming.
For now, the young chef is bent on completing her IGCSE exams before continuing to hone her craft in the culinary arts. Having accomplished so much at such a young age, one does wonder what this up-and-coming chef makes of her achievements.
“It is a barrier, but then there are other people who are understanding of my age and will say that we’re going to give you a chance to use our platform to showcase your story.
“I’ve always believed age is just a number, even though what you’re doing might be very hard. Nothing in life is easy. So as long as I have the mindset that I’m doing something for a good cause, I will be able to accomplish it if I work hard,” said the Melaka teen.
Follow Chef Leah on Facebook and Instagram, and click here for your copy of ‘Chef Leah with a Big Heart’.