Meet Safiah...

I grew up in Kuala Lumpur and came to London about 9 years ago to study. I studied performing arts at London Met Uni and MA in acting for TV, Film and Radio at East 15. A year after I completed my MA, I moved back to Kuala Lumpur for about 6 months and then decided to return back to London.

I love Malaysia for what it has to offer. The choices of food available, cool places to hang out and of course the islands. KL is a vibrant city and everything seems to open till late. And if you need a break, a short trip to a neighbouring countries are also affordable. There is much art and culture in Malaysia. I am proud of the growth of performing art events and festivals.

Growing up in Malaysia, I remember how food plays an important role when socializing. Friends and family getting together over good food. Food reminds me of the warmth of being around your loved ones. Either a quiet meal with your date, chaotic family get together or afternoon with some girlfriends.

Performing allow me to use my creative expression. As a person I need to use both my intellect and my creative expression. I am a natural mover / dancer and grew up excelling in dance. I enjoyed the years of dancing in concerts, in festivals and on televisions. When I'm dancing I don't speak and I get to express myself physically. I am very talkative so I suppose dancing balances me out. I then went to uni and focus solely on theatre and acting What I love about performing is the ability to connect with, touch and affect a person. It can be a powerful medium to deliver positive messages and maybe even make a change to the world.

As an actor I get to portray different characters and deliver the character's truth and stories. My responsibility is to deliver the truth of the character's story. Sometimes the truth is mine or borrowed from others. I find the creative process very fascinating.

I grew up spoiled having a nanny whose passion is to cook for the family. She has been with us for 35 years now. The kitchen is her territory and were not allowed to get involved, not even my mom. So i grew up with wholesome fresh home cooked food but don't know how to cook at all until I had to be independent in uni. Slowly I started to learn cooking. For my nanny, that is how she expresses her love to us all, by feeding us. It makes her happy when we ask for seconds or clean up the plate.

Because I wasn't very good at cooking I used to dread it. But when I started to pay attention to my health I knew I needed to spend time in the kitchen and cook my own meals. Living in this fast pace world or city like London, I rely too much on restaurant food or quick ready meals from the supermarket and often have no idea where is the source of my food. Not knowing what I was putting in my body, if it is nutritious or poisonous. With practice and encouragement from my husband who would just scoff anything I cook, my cooking skills has improved. My mother in law is my go to person for cooking tips. I enjoy food as always but also mindful with what I put in my cooking. There is so much love in cooking. The careful choices one make in using the best ingredients, making a meal from scratch is a labour of love. Especially when cooking for other people. What goes into our belly, is a long labour of love going back to the people who brought the food to us - farmers, butchers, servers etc.