june, 2019 | The Health
Exclusive
The team and volunteers at 2018’s Depressed Cake
Shop.
Fighting depression one cake at a time
What comes to mind when you think of a pop up cake
shop? Sabrinah asks me.
“Colours of every kind,” I note.
“The reason why we want the cakes to be the grey
on the outside is to change your perception on what
mental health is about. It’s clever really – because grey
is a metaphor for depression. By having grey cakes,
we’re challenging the expected, and getting people to
challenge the labels they put on those who suffer with a
mental illness. Then when you glance back at your bite
mark, you’ll see that the inside of the dessert is actually
laced with bright colours.”
A sweet success
“We had an amazing turnout. Tables filled to the brim
with the most creative, wonderful looking grey goodies.
You could see that the bakers really poured their heart
and soul into creating what they felt – either maybe
they themselves had depression or they knew someone
who battled depression. When they were coming to
donate the cakes, some of them would tell stories about
themselves or somebody they knew who had depres-
sion,” reminisced Sabrina.
“We were strangers but they were pouring their
heart out – it’s a sense of kinship,” she smiles gratefully.
“We later organised another Depressed Cake Shop in
Ipoh. In Penang, we engaged with China House during
the Georgetown festival – the funds was then donated
to Befrienders.”
The Depressed Supper Club
In 2016, Sabrinah decided to put a twist to her char-
ity project. Instead of the Depressed Cake Shop, she
organised the Depressed Supper Club. This masquerade
street party was organised to raise funds to promote
better understanding of depression.
“The theme was the mask we wear, the mask we hide
behind. It’s because people who suffer from mental
illnesses especially depression, they hide their true feel-
ings behind a mask. They never show others how they
really feel due to reasons like acceptance and stigma,”
explains Sabrinah.
The event was filled with all kinds of delicious food -
of course, sticking to the grey theme such as black rice
nasi lemak, squid ink pasta, mushroom risotto, yam
cake, bubur pulut hitam and of course for the perfect
ending, the depressed cake shop as dessert. an idea.
The book tells the story of a boy whose life with his
mother is disrupted by the Grey Bear. “Many might
think the book is too dark for a child but it’s much
more than just a book about depression — it’s about
confronting your fears, acceptance, courage and love,”
she explains.
Grey Bear Days A sweet ending
Amid the sweet treats, a children’s book was born -
telling the story of depression through the eyes of a
child. Named the Grey Bear Days, the book came about
from Sabrinah’s experience with the KL Depressed Cake
Shop. She heard all of the stories behind the baked
goods presented in their first venue, and this gave her Sabrinah has taken the battle against depression in
Malaysia in the sweetest of ways and we are glad that
she is using her experience with depression to empower
others.
After all where there is cake, there is hope. And there
is always cake. — The Health
All the grey yet delectable desserts made by
people wanting to spread the awareness of
depression.
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