During office hours, you’ll find him upholding justice as a criminal inspector with the Police Contingent Headquarters in Perak. On weekends, he trades his badge and uniform for an apron and chef’s whites to serve up delicious meals instead.
“Both careers are very rewarding for me. As a chef, your job is to make people happy by preparing them delicious meals at affordable prices. As a policeman, you’re glad whenever you’ve successfully made an arrest and brought someone to justice,” Rashidi, 41, told FMT Lifestyle.
Rashidi has always loved cooking. As a child, while his friends played with toy soldiers, he was elbow-deep in masak-masak instead.
“I worked in KFC for a while. It wasn’t really for the money, I wanted to learn how they fried their chicken. Of course, I never learnt their secret recipe,” he said, laughing.
Rashidi eventually took up home economics in school, later earning a diploma in hospitality.
He has worked in kitchens at the Palace of Golden Horses, the Mandarin Oriental and the Hilton Petaling Jaya, among others. He was even Senior Butler at the Renaissance Hotel in Kuala Lumpur in 2006!
The charismatic chef has won several accolades for his cooking prowess, including a bronze medal at Battle of the Chefs Penang 2022, a silver medal at the World Chef Championship 2023, and a gold medal at the Malaysia Culinary World Cup 2023.
“In 2004, I was invited to serve the Brunei royal family during the royal wedding of the Pengiran Muda Mahkota. The palace selected us: in our 11-person team, I was one of only two men. It was truly an experience,” Rashidi recalled.
Around 2007, Rashidi was invited by his friends to take on a senior position in the police force. Eager to try something new, and attracted by the salary, he agreed.
Turns out Rashidi had natural aptitude for the job: while some candidates took eight tries to pass the entrance exam, he aced it on the first go!
He was eventually stationed at the Ipoh police headquarters, where he handled criminal cases from petty theft to high-profile public investigations.
And if the man wasn’t talented enough, the father of two is also the conductor and saxophonist of his police band. He’s also acted in dramas like “Rock Bro” and “KL Special Forces”. And soon, you’ll see him in the film “The Journey”!
Rashidi served as a policeman for several years: but as the saying goes, you can take the chef out of the kitchen, but you can’t take the kitchen out of the chef.
After several years, he felt the culinary world was calling him again.
Thankfully, his boss and superiors were supportive, and today, Rashidi balances his time between these two jobs, comfortable with being addressed both as “tuan” and “chef”.
While the two professions may appear worlds apart, Rashidi emphasised there were similarities. Both policing and cooking demand precision, an eye for detail, and the ability to adapt quickly to varying situations.
Rashidi plans to continue juggling both careers: culinary-wise, he hopes to build a reputation for himself by joining more competitions. He also hopes to market his own food products someday.
His secret to balancing his time between the two? Keeping them as separate as possible: when working as a chef, he refuses to discuss police matters, and vice versa.
“Pursuing your passion while keeping a job can be done. Be warned though, you will have to sacrifice a lot of free time.
“Right now, I never have the time to ‘lepak’. Whenever I’m off the job, or have a holiday, I end up teaching a cooking class or joining a competition,” he said.
“But I’m glad to be doing both. I think no matter what you do, as long as you carry out your responsibilities properly, you will feel so much satisfaction.”