It’s hard to describe how bustling the office of homegrown brand Mdm Ling Bakery is. At one end, the warehouse team deals with an influx of Lunar New Year orders, while the product development team plans stock for Hari Raya. Behind them, the marketing team looks ahead, planning their next campaign.
It’s three weeks before the holiday and amid the flurry of activity, we find Ms Evelyn Lim (Business ’12), the co-founder of Mdm Ling Bakery, a picture of calm. “We’ve done this many times before,” she reassures us. “Over the years, we’ve built systems and a team that can handle the rush.”
THE RIGHT INGREDIENTS
Mdm Ling Bakery fulfils a long-time aspiration for Ms Lim, who always knew that she wanted to be an entrepreneur. After all, it’s in her genes. “Growing up, I saw my mother run a small retail shop, learning through example what it meant to manage customers, stock, and relationships.”
One of Ms Lim’s formative experiences was her time in Beijing under the NUS Overseas Colleges (NOC) programme, which immerses aspiring entrepreneurs in startup life in cities around the world. It was one of the reasons she chose NUS over other universities. “I knew I wanted to start a business, and I wanted that exposure early,” she says. “I chose China because it was the next wave of growth, and I wanted to learn in a market that was evolving quickly.”
The idea for Mdm Ling Bakery emerged from a very specific gap. While shopping for a gift for her in-laws, Ms Lim found herself caught between two extremes—premium gift sets that felt too extravagant and mass-market options that felt impersonal. “We wanted something meaningful, with a story, but not over the top,” she says. Rather than settle, she decided to create it herself, testing whether a more thoughtful approach to festive gifting could exist.
The rest, as they say, is history.
THE VALUES OF MDM LING
The vibe of Mdm Ling certainly gels with the impression of her hallmates. Those who stayed with Ms Lim in Sheares Hall in the early 2010s would remember not just her prowess in the kitchen, but the way she drew people together through food. As a block committee member, she often organised gatherings during festivals like Mid-Autumn, complete with home-baked snacks to create shared moments.
“We often had suppers and events at the Rooftop, where Evelyn and her committee would whip up things like peach tart or apple crumble, bonding everyone through food and endless laughter,” shared Mr Matthew Liu (Engineering ’11), her hallmate with whom she often baked.
Many of those friendships remain close today, with conversations that now range from family life to business, as friends share experiences, exchange ideas, and trade different perspectives.
Inclusiveness has always guided Ms Lim’s approach. She decided early on that Mdm Ling products should be Halal-certified, largely vegetarian, and suitable for diverse palates. That attention to accessibility also extended the reach of Mdm Ling, with treats reaching a wider audience through collaborations with events such as the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix.
Today, nearly 10 years after its founding, Mdm Ling Bakery has expanded beyond seasonal gifting, opening a retail store at Jewel Changi Airport to serve both local customers and international travellers. Its journey has also been recognised by the Singapore Tourism Board under the Made With Passion programme, which recognises homegrown brands that represent Singapore’s identity and creativity.
Reflecting its Singapore roots, one of Mdm Ling’s signature innovations is its kopi siew dai cookies, which are “not too sweet”—the highest form of praise for Asian desserts.
Innovation extends beyond taste to packaging. In recent years, Mdm Ling collaborated with students from the Association for Persons with Special Needs (APSN) to develop a special SG60 game box that featured their artwork. The company also partnered with Hasbro to develop a reusable Monopoly Mooncake Game Box. “We wanted something people would hold onto and use even after the festival,” she says.
Behind the success, there is also a great deal of grit. The long hours did not abate even during her pregnancies. Ms Lim laughs as she recounts being back on her laptop mere hours after the birth of her fourth child in 2023. Today, with a “very capable team” handling day-to-day execution, Ms Lim has the space to focus on long-term growth and the bigger picture.
That picture includes time with her own family, especially around festive periods. Some of her fondest memories include visiting Malaysia during Lunar New Year and lighting firecrackers. Today, those same moments are ones she now experiences alongside her own children, passing on the traditions she grew up with. “When I see how much they look forward to it,” she says, “it reminds me why festive moments matter.”
THREE TO TASTE
Popular cookies at Mdm Ling Bakery include:
- Kopi siew dai cookies: Described by Ms Lim as the brand’s most iconic flavour, inspired by local coffee culture.
- Red velvet biscoff cookies (New): Introduced with Lunar New Year in mind, the cookies blend the auspicious colour of red with a trendy flavour.
- Green pea cookies: A perennial favourite that was praised extensively by volunteers at the F1 Grand Prix, where it was served.
WHO IS MDM LING?
Created as a character rather than a founder figure, Mdm Ling embodies the warmth and care behind the brand’s festive treats. She is imagined as a kindly auntie, or perhaps even a grandmother. To her, cookies aren’t just gifts, but expressions of love and gratitude. “When I give you a Mdm Ling cookie,” Ms Lim explains, “I’m giving you my joy.”
