A narrative feature in RICE’s Singaporean Enough series, telling Mark Zubovskyy’s story as an immigrant child turned F&B entrepreneur. It vividly describes a day in his life at Kapitan: the 22-year-old in a striped shirt and bandana hustling from kitchen to bar in an empty midday restaurant, drawing a S$2,000/month salary “just enough to cover expenses” ricemedia.co ricemedia.co . The piece explores Mark’s identity – born in Ukraine, raised in SG since age 3 – and how he toggles between a Russian accent and Singlish when conversing, having assimilated over 19 years ricemedia.co ricemedia.co . It recounts how he deferred NTU in 2022 when his parents’ Maxwell eatery (opened late 2019) urgently needed hands ricemedia.co . RICE contextualizes the family’s struggles: Covid lockdowns, unfamiliar cuisine, and war stigma all made business tough. Mark reflects on the harsh realities of running a niche restaurant – long hours, slow weekday footfall – and the bittersweet choice of giving up campus life for a higher purpose asiaone.com asiaone.com . Despite this, he finds fulfillment in the work, seeing it as preserving his family’s heritage and educating Singaporeans about Slavic culture. This human-interest piece portrays Mark as a bridge between cultures, driven by both filial duty and pride in introducing pelmeni, borscht and more to local diners.