Uncle George – Baker with a caring heart

Feb 24, 2023

George Alexander Fernandez, 59, who is a skilled pastry chef with 37 years of experience in the industry, suffered the same fate as thousands of Malaysians when he lost his job during the COVID-19 pandemic three years ago. He later set up a home baking business and used a portion of the profits to feed the city’s homeless, because he knows what’s it like to struggle to bring food to the table. To the homeless in Kuala Lumpur, Uncle George, as he is affectionately known, is a man who brings them packets of food and drinks or the kind soul who assists them when they need medical treatment.

“Before I launched my business, I baked some cakes and distributed them to the homeless in Kuala Lumpur,” he said. They l i k e d it, so h e took it as a signal that he should get his business off the ground. “I started by selling nonalcoholic fruit cakes, cream puffs and tuna puffs and later expanded the menu to include chicken curry puffs, and cookies sold during various festive celebrations,” he said.

Soon things started kicking in when his niece, Elvina Fernandez, suggested her uncle start a baking business on Facebook. He took her advice and came up with an obvious branding — Uncle George Bakes. Later, his daughter Melissa, an experienced baker herself, joined him in the kitchen as a source of support and help when orders started picking up.

George said when he started, his niece and children helped take a load of his shoulders by providing delivery services in the Klang Valley, but now this enterprising baker uncle has hired individuals who, like him, have lost their source of income to become his delivery riders. George said he was inspired to do charity work as a 20-year-old after listening to a priest’s sermon. “They would take care of the poor by collecting funds and purchasing provisions for 70 over families,” George says of the priest and his congregation. Moved by their generosity, he joined them for all their charity work.

Later, as a youth leader, he raised funds for the poor by selling Hokkien mee, fried mee hoon, sandwiches and coffee, all of which he cooked himself. He would also regularly organise car washes and when Christmas rolled around, he held concerts in his community area to raise funds to purchase school uniforms for poor kids. He says the concerts were an annual affair that he kept going for 20 years. The late King Abdul Halim of Kedah bestowed a medal of honour to Uncle George for his charity work.

His story is merely about someone who doesn’t give up at any cost. He believes things will eventually turn out to be good and he also makes sure to strive for it. Not forgetting, one has to also give back one way or another.

His persistence and hard work are the reason behind his success in opening his own humble cafe located at Unit 3, Pusat Perdagangan Razak Mansions, Jalan Tun Razak, KL. The cafe serves his signature pastries, buns, fried noodles, burgers, sandwiches and drinks. George added that those working from home and students are most welcomed to sit in his cafe to work while sipping a hot drink and enjoying his fresh bakes. “Even when you don’t have enough, know that Uncle George Bakes’ doors are open for you.”

The cafe opens from 7.30am to 5.00pm on weekdays, 7.30am to 4.00pm on Saturday and open only on the second and fourth Sundays of the month from 7.30am to 2.00pm.