Story of Kueh Bangkit

During the annual Lunar Chinese New Year festival, Singaporeans are very fond of eating the kueh bangkit cookies as Chinese New Year goodies. They love them for their easy chewability for it melts inside their mouths so easily like ice cream. Moreover, the aromatic fragrance of coconut and pandan emanate out of the bites. But kueh bangkit has a story behind its origin for its popularity that has spanned across generations of Chinese in Singapore, and also as a reputation as a popular CNY goodie. Historically, the origin of kueh bangkit comes from the Peranakan and Malay community in old Malaya. Often a misconception that it is a CNY goodie, kueh bangkit is also a traditional Malay cookie that is favoured during Hari Raya among the Southeast Asian community, with the bulk of it in Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia. The kueh bangkit name derives from the fact that the cookies rise during the baking process. In fact, the word 'bangkit' means 'rise' in Malay. But there are...