Gan Chin Lin

I’m a creator currently based in Singapore (born and raised) and York (where I’m studying English & Related Literatures, at the University of York). I have been consistently chronicling my experiments in vegan baking on on IG @tumblinbumblincrumblincookie, where I have shared my writing, illustrations, video and photography – and which developed beyond my expectations after being featured by Instagram in 2014.

I’ve grown with the years and am thankful to have worked with many people on many different projects. I now hope to promote a lifelong love for learning, an empathetic curiosity and radical joy in food – the ingredients, the methodologies; the stories, cultures and people behind them. I want there to be enough for everyone, and for everyone to be welcome at the table. For me, that means channeling my energies into plant-based, vegan recipes; my favourite niches are bread, cake as well as the Southeast Asian/Hakka Chinese flavours I’ve grown up with.

In junior college, my short film Return to Sender that I wrote, directed and shot was selected to screen at the 28th Singapore International Film Festival (SGIFF) under the Singapore Panorama section. I’ve produced original video and promotion content for many international brands, of which some collaborators include Ben & Jerry’s, Tesco, Nushfoods, Ninja Foodie, and more. In 2018 and 2019, I attended the Festival de Cannes after being selected for the 3 Jours à Cannes programme both years.

I have baked for True Story Cafe in York from the end of 2018 to 2019. In 2020, I held an art and bread exchange in service of mutual aid and donations towards migrant worker organisations in Singapore, as well as a bread bake sale featuring original vegan recipes. My writing and recipes have been published in regional cookbook Bake & Celebrate: Cookies and Treats, mental health multigenre anthology The White Book, and in Afterglobe magazine, as well as Migrant Zine Collective’s Recipes for Resistance. My poem specimen study was one of the five awarded and featured entries in Singapore Unbound’s 7th Singapore Poetry Contest.

I’m passionate about telling stories & lived histories through food, as well as celebrating the cultural diversity innate in plant-based diets and cooking. I enjoy recipe research across databases and languages, and celebrating both traditional and new modes of Southeast Asian food culture. I believe in food justice and sovereignty for all.