When Dr. Huda Fadzillah left Malaysia in 2000 to pursue medicine in London, she never imagined her path would intertwine so closely with food. Today, she balances an impactful medical career with supporting her husband Nik Johan Arde Nik Yahaya, whose satay business in Oxford has become a beacon of Malaysian flavours in the United Kingdom (UK). Together, they are raising two children, running a growing business and carving out careers that bridge their adopted home with their roots in Malaysia.
Read on to learn how they came together from two different worlds and overcame the odds to build the life they share today.
How Two Journeys Abroad Merged into One Path
Huda’s move to the UK began with her studies at Barts and the London School of Medicine and Dentistry. After completing her postgraduate training in Liverpool and working as a locum consultant in Cardiff, she eventually settled in Oxford, where she now works as a Clinical Lead and Genitourinary and HIV Consultant with the Oxford University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. She also serves as a Training Programme Director for Genitourinary Medicine (GUM) at NHS England (formerly known as Health Education England) Thames Valley region.
Her husband Nik, meanwhile, took a different route. His culinary journey started in Kuala Lumpur at the age of 18, where he first worked in a kitchen as a dishwasher. What began as a way to earn pocket money became a lifelong passion. He started at Hashigoaka Japanese Restaurant, The Mall in Kuala Lumpur in 1993. His last post in Malaysia was a Japanese chef at Hotel Nikko, before he left for Lucerne, Switzerland in 1998 to work as a Japanese chef. Their paths crossed when Huda went on holiday to Switzerland in 2002, where she then met Nik, and got married in December 2003. Later on, Nik was diagnosed with a degenerative eye condition, which was subsequently confirmed as cone and rod retinal dystrophy
Huda remained by Nik’s side, and they have since been married for 22 years.
Channelling Adversity into Ambition
Speaking candidly on his condition, Nik said: “Losing your sight feels like losing half your life. But I didn’t want to stay down forever. I knew I had to do something.”
That “something” became RD’s Satay. What started in 2011 as a community request for satay at an event in Liverpool slowly grew into a thriving business. “I still loved cooking, even after I lost my vision,” Nik recalled. “So, when people asked me to prepare satay, I thought — why not turn it into something bigger?”
Drawing from his Japanese culinary training, Nik introduced a meticulous approach to marinating and grilling that made RD’s Satay stand out. Every skewer is carefully crafted, with consistent flavours that reminded Malaysians abroad of home while introducing British customers to authentic Malaysian food.
It is this dedication to quality that has enabled RD’s Satay to grow, and over the years, the business has gone from being home kitchen-based to now being operated out of a dedicated production unit in Bicester Business Park, located near the Bicester Village in Oxfordshire.
Their satay has been served at Malaysian Hall in London, supplied to restaurants and sold directly to loyal customers who return year after year. During the pandemic, demand for their products surged, cementing RD’s Satay as a name synonymous with quality Malaysian street food in the UK.
Their menu has since expanded to include nasi lemak, and Nik dreams of one day opening a full-fledged satay house that combines authentic Malay cuisine with the Japanese influences that he cherishes.
A Business that Keeps Them Rooted
Aside from keeping Nik connected to his passion, running RD’s Satay has also fostered a connection of another kind—that is, to Nik and Huda’s roots.
Through a privately catered fundraising event for Sabah English Aspiration Society and the annual Malaysia Carnival organised by the Malaysia High Commission at Tun Abdul Razak Research Centre in Hertfordshire, Nik and Huda get to reach out to other diaspora through the unspoken language that binds all Malaysians, a.k.a. food. “Our satay brings people together,” Huda shared. “For many, it’s not just food—it’s a taste of home.”
Looking ahead, the couple hopes to take part in more international events, from Paris to Switzerland, to introduce their take on Malaysian food to an even wider audience.
Improving Lives Through Healthcare & Education
While Nik’s calling is in the culinary arts, Huda’s has built a career in the highly specialised medical field of genitourinary and HIV medicine. Her clinical work spans managing sexually transmitted infections, genital dermatology, providing sexual health and HIV care in prison settings, pregnancy and STI, providing long-acting contraception such as intrauterine device and implant, safeguarding and working with young people and vulnerable adults. “It’s a very niche field, but one that is constantly evolving,” she said. “From the early days of HIV treatment to the breakthroughs we see now, it’s been remarkable to witness how medicine has advanced.”
Her role also extends into postgraduate medical education, medical research, management and medical leadership. She recently took on a joint clinical lead role and was previously co-chair for the British Association for Sexual Health and HIV (BASHH) Prison Special Interest Group.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, she teamed up with her Malaysian colleague Dr Masliza Mahmod of the University of Oxford, and a neurology team that consisted of Dr Presaad Pillai (who is the first author) and Dr Joyce Joseph to produce an article on COVID-19 and Major Organ Thromboembolism: Manifestations in Neurovascular and Cardiovascular Systems. This was published in the Journal of Stroke and Cerebrovascular Disease.
What the Future Holds
While Nik and Huda are focused on growing RD’s Satay in the UK for the foreseeable future, the thought of returning home remains on their minds. “Maybe one day, for retirement,” Nik said. “Ideally with a small farm and a farm-to-table restaurant. But even if we remain abroad, we still promote Malaysia through our food and our work.”
Nik also had this message to share about how his condition has altered his perspective on life: “It’s a journey of self-discovery,” Nik added. “Though I lost my sight, I realised I still love cooking and I’m still able to do what I love. If I can do it despite my condition, others can too. I want to prove that disability doesn’t define your limits.”
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