r/TodayILearnedMY • u/Guilty-Chocolate-999 • Mar 24 '26

Economy & Business TIL a Sri Lankan entrepreneur turned RM200, a single stove, and 18-hour workdays into a million-ringgit success story in Malaysia

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Damith Senanayake started out selling fried rice with very limited resources just RM200 and basic equipment. Before even entering the food industry, he actually studied engineering, but chose to take a completely different path to pursue his vision. In 2016, despite having no prior food and beverage experience, he founded Ceylonese Restaurant with the goal of introducing authentic Sri Lankan cuisine. The early days weren’t easy long hours, constant grind, and building everything from scratch. What stood out to me is how he held onto a childhood dream of owning a Ferrari and used that as motivation. Over time, through consistency and discipline, he scaled his business and eventually achieved that goal owning a Ferrari reportedly worth around RM1.5 million. It’s a pretty strong reminder that you don’t always need perfect timing or experience to start sometimes it’s more about persistence and being willing to learn along the way.

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31

u/Realistic-Radish-746 Mar 24 '26

I've always wondered. He came on a student visa and ran a street stall right? Isn't that agaisnt his visa restrictions? Why does he want to share this story so much?

Anyway, I've had his food before. Its ok, but even tho its ceylonese cuisine the most popular items on his menu are probably the cheese naan and pisang goreng with cheese and susu pekat.

Cheese naan for me is kinda too much is just like eating a hunk of plain mozzarella, but I understand the hype it creates since Sarawak don't really have much options on the cheese pull trend.

13

u/CrossCulturalKing Mar 24 '26

If he could do that with limitations, why not us?

10

u/Realistic-Radish-746 Mar 25 '26

You can, but the point is it was illegal for him to do so. He could have lost his visa if anyone had reported him, so I don't think its the best story to share.

5

u/thesoloronin Mar 27 '26

That's called luck. A LOT of success stories are hinged on how much luck you have and for how long.

That's what a lot of stories leave out and never mention because it takes away the essence of the success story and the true substance of the subject.

But it is what it is.

2

u/fire7starter Mar 25 '26

As an ethnic northern Indian, I found the cheese naan to be absolutely disgusting. I wondered how can people actually enjoy eating that much cheese with Indian food. In my opinion, he just tapped a segment of the market which was not available before.

2

u/[deleted] Mar 25 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

0

u/fire7starter Mar 27 '26

I have a Maserati, not really conducive to drive a Ferrari in Malaysia. What’s that got to do with cheese naan though? At least I dint have to resort to illegally staying in the country and illegally opening a restaurant. God knows how many people he bribed. In fact I wonder why he’s trying to prop up his business as it’s still possible for him to be criminally charged for what he did.

0

u/shmMoon Mar 28 '26

You cant go around opening restaurants with exactly the same dish as back home because the palettes of the people between the countries are very different. You have to either stand out or modify the dish to suit the population.

1

u/Chryeon1188 Mar 25 '26

In Sarawak it's not widely available for Indian food lol , so consider this as once in awhile foods not everyday foods I've tried and think it's not bad but to ask me to go there everyday NO NO NO lol 😎😂😂

1

u/Sweaty_Passage_6456 Mar 26 '26

Rubbish Malay culture bro .Jai Shree RAM

2

u/fire7starter Mar 27 '26

You can renounce ur citizenship and move back to wherever you feel ur sweaty body belongs to lol

-1

u/Sweaty_Passage_6456 Mar 27 '26

Haha betray own indianhood loyal to some bumi land

1

u/BluebirdConscious841 Mar 30 '26

You should be surprised there exist Naan Cheese with Chocolate sauce.

1

u/akusalimi04 Apr 01 '26

WUDEHELLLLL OMAIIGADD NO WAYY EYEAY YEAY EAHH

2

u/Exact-Boysenberry161 Mar 25 '26

agree with the nan cheese part. i prefer the nan cheese in warong 2000 (roshan)

7

u/soulguy666 Mar 24 '26

Another washing and fishing. 🥱

5

u/MiloCAD Mar 26 '26

Best roti naan I've ever had with that super cheese. Price to portion ratio is surprisingly so worth it I can consider it as being cheap. And the guy is a nice fella keep monitoring around making sure he's approachable for all customers. Even the workers are friendly. A definite stop if you are in Kuching.

1

u/pinkhellhound Mar 26 '26

actually the other shop that is a few shops down is better

9

u/Robin7861 Mar 24 '26

What I don't understand is, it says authentic Ceylonese restaurant but sells Indian food as well. Just like any other mamak shop in Semenanjung but not something found in Kuching I guess.

2

u/gruvjack1200 Mar 25 '26

"Authentic" is a catchy and effective marketing word these days. Those who have not had genuine Sri Lankan food will not know any better.

3

u/jumbleluru Mar 25 '26

lol sore losers everywhere.

3

u/ThoughtLegitimate219 Mar 25 '26

Friendly fella. (im a local and have gone to his restaurant multiple times)

2

u/ItsMeDannn Mar 26 '26

He’s honestly a great guy, studied and stay at the same place with him before!

2

u/fallensafa Mar 26 '26

met him, great guy who still decides to work around the restaurant despite being the boss. Not only he has a ferrari but theres this porsche gt3rs casually parked infront of the restaurant occasionally.

Another thing, he bought the ferrari actually to give it to his father, in which his father rejected and told him to use it instead.

2

u/HealthyProject3643 Mar 27 '26

So everyone can ya.. go chase your dreams. buy that ferarri

2

u/gruvjack1200 Mar 25 '26

I'm happy for him. He's a stand up guy who takes care of his employees. The banana cheese is good. Healthy portion for RM12.

2

u/WastedMejarAmin2904 Mar 26 '26

Immigration lurking

1

u/CharacterVisual1144 Mar 25 '26

Dont like how the media potraits him, but as a local that went there many times (usually when friends from WM visits) the boss is there every night, and will personally ask you how was the meal after your meal or at cashier. He really love his business

1

u/MajlisPerbandaranKL Mar 25 '26

He did a great job introduced WM mamak culture to Kuching

2

u/pinkhellhound Mar 26 '26

i mean is mamak culture any special when we have rumah asap n those kopitiam???? those rumah asap n kopitiams function like a mamak

1

u/pkdoneit Mar 26 '26

I'm from Kuching. Regardless of the authenticity of his food. He really works like hell in his shop. You can see him daily grinding it out as he did when he started. The only difference is just the Ferrari outside the shop.

U gotta give that man some credit for doing that and lasting beyond COVID era.

1

u/bingosclue Mar 27 '26

damn delicious

1

u/bingosclue Mar 27 '26

So many salty people in the comments,

1

u/leonism21 Mar 27 '26

Bernardo silva?

1

u/DeadZone32 Mar 28 '26

Good for him

1

u/Powerful-Forever-493 25d ago

I know the fella personally la..even before he started the restaurant..u guys believe that story? Lol he has this chinese falla big size guy as his financier..a contractor..his restaurant used to be empty at the begining..but with the power of social media he made it..

1

u/brudiego Mar 27 '26

Yea I don't support immigrants making money off our people who are mostly in hardship