KUALA LUMPUR: In a quiet alley in Jinjang Selatan here, the final touches are being put on pastries by a man intent on making them the way his father used to.
It does not matter that dozens of bakeries, restaurants and hotels have gotten a headstart in pushing their mooncakes in the market for over a month.
For 70-year-old Tan Fai Chow, his unique "mooncakes" are more about keeping the centuries-old tradition alive rather than a means for him to profit from the festivities.
For half a century, Fai Chow has been making "moonlight cakes" or Yue Guang Bing by hand, with traditional moulds brought from China long before e-commerce platforms came into existence.
Unlike the regular mooncakes that most people have come to know, moonlight cakes are large and flat with a chewy texture.
They are crafted using just sugar and glutinous rice powder before being pressed into moulds with intricate designs.
The cakes get their name from their moon-like shapes and snow-white surface, resembling the full moon on the night of the mid-autumn festival.
In the old days in China, these cakes were popular among poor households, as they were easier to make and contained fewer ingredients. Traditionally, they were used for prayer ceremonies and eaten afterwards as a mark of togetherness and good fortune.
Fai Chow's father, who started Lee Kee Bakery in Ipoh, moved the business to the capital here decades ago. For the past 50 years, he had kept his father's legacy alive.
"My father taught me and my two younger brothers how to make moonlight cakes," he said, adding that his father learned to make the cakes in China before immigrating to Ipoh.
The sight of the family's patriarch gathered around the table with his family making moonlight cakes is something Fai Chow's daughter, Kah Yen, could never forget.
"Then, more than 10 people would come together to make moonlight cakes. Now, most of them are retired and we rarely make these anymore," she said.
It is not just that her uncles have aged, demand for moonlight cakes has also dwindled.
Kah Yen said during the peak of their business, they could sell up to 10,000 moonlight cakes.
"There isn't that big a market for moonlight cakes anymore, but in terms of sentimental value, they are priceless to me," she said.
The low demand had caused Lee Kee Bakery to stop selling the cakes and instead, only made them for friends and family as a festive gift.
On top of the low demand and ageing "moonlight cake masters", there was another concern for the family — no one seemed keen to continue the craft.
Fai Chow's wife, Chan Kwai Ling, who also made moonlight cakes, said although they had many younger male family members, none were keen on learning to make the cake as a business.
"They stopped helping us. The rigorous process involved pushes the younger generation away from learning and taking over," she said.
Chan also said she would miss the cakes dearly when the art of making it goes extinct.