Lee Wee Tat - 2nd Aug 2021
Can you share a
little bit about yourself?
I am Lee Wee Tat, and everyone calls me Ah Lee. I come
from Kluang, Malaysia and have a loving wife,
daughter age 11 and son age 5. I have been working in
Singapore for many years and my family lives in Malaysia so I commute
daily in and out of Singapore for work before Covid-19 happened. I work at
Huber’s as a cargo driver.
What were you doing before
joining Huber’s?
I was trained as a chef and
worked in a Japanese restaurant in Orchard Road that specialises in
pork katsu so food has always been my passion.
Why did you decide to switch
career and be a cargo driver?
My wife has an office job and
works Mondays to Fridays while myself, as a chef, I had to work weekends and
long hours so it was hard for us to find time for each other and our
two kids. When I saw the job opening for cargo driver at Huber’s, I thought why
not give it a try since I already have a Class 4 license, so I
applied for it. I did not regret my decision to switch career because I get to
spend time with my family on weekends and enjoy work life balance. Happy wife =
happy life!
What do you do when you are not
working?
My life is not very exciting,
*laughs*, When I am not working I usually catch up on Chinese and
Korean dramas and unwind by playing action games with friends on my phone. I
used to go to the gym quite frequently but I haven’t been since the
pandemic hit us last year.
When I am back home, I also enjoy
cooking for my family. Usually home-style stir fry and steamed
dishes. I seldom cook Japanese food at home as recipes usually require many
specialty ingredients that are hard to find.
What do you like about working in
Huber’s?
Apart from having a good work
life balance, I really like the staff benefits offered and that my colleagues
became my family away from home.
When I first joined, I had no
experience in the cargo operations so I had many questions. Instead
of pushing me away, my colleagues who had more experience were patient and
showed me the ropes whenever I am in doubt. Also I like that my job
is kind of like a free workout for me. Where do you think I get my muscles from
eh? 😊
What is an interesting thing about
your job that a lot of people might not know?
We pick up around 9 tonnes of
goods per trip from port to warehouse – that is more than 10 pallets of meat /
almost equivalent to the weight of a bus!
When I reach the port, each
carton of goods has to be hand carried and stacked on pallets, then
wrapped with cling film before being loaded onto our refrigerated trucks. Once
all the goods are loaded, we will then transport them to our warehouse where we
unload the pallets and sort the cartons then stack them on their respective
shelves.
What do you miss most about your hometown?
Hanging out with kids, going on road trips, and trying
out good food. I usually let the kids decide where to go and I simply take them
there.
You were a katsu chef,
any tips for making it crispy on the outside and still juicy inside?
We tend to select chilled pork for katsu as frozen
pork tend to dry out. Each cut of pork loin should weigh 120-130g so it is
not too thick and gets cooked thoroughly in the fryer. Previously I was using Australian pork which is
smaller and hence 120-130g is thick enough however Canadian pork has a larger
surface area so you can go 160-170g. Also remember to keep a nice layer of fat
on the loin for extra juiciness and flavour. Before
breading, we also tenderise meat physically by poking it with a meat tenderiser
tool. However
if you don’t have this at home then you could use a meat hammer instead or just
skip this step.
Next is breading. This is a very
important step and we always follow the classic 3-step method.
Step 1: Coat pork in seasoned flour.
Step 2: Dunk into egg batter.
–– Tip! Always season both the flour and the egg
batter.
Step 3: Coat well with panko breadcrumbs, and pat with
both hands to shape it.
The oil temperature should not be too hot, it is
slightly lower than the usual frying temperature (190ºC) so the meat inside can
cook through without the breadcrumbs burning. We preheat the oil to 170ºC and
fry the breaded pork loin for around 8-10 minutes. A good indication is that
the pork katsu floats on the surface when it is ready.
Where do you see
yourself in years to come?
Being a cargo driver requires strong physique, I hope
to progress to a role that requires less physical strength when I am older.
