Our Story
1970s
My father has been selling Dried Goods for the entirety of his life, starting in the early 1960s - way before the government legalised the hawker trade.
It all began at the thieves market, located at Sungei Road in the early 1960s. Instead of the typical stalls that sold items like rice, detergent and charcoal, the highlight of our stall was dried and preserved food. My father likes to prepare the items himself, which this photos shows him drying small fish to prepare ikan bills.
However, in my distant memory, this didn’t last very long. In the late 1960s, there was major licensing of hawkers all around Singapore and hawker centers popped up everywhere. My father was no exception. In 1970 we were finally licensed, and in 1975 we were relocated.
1975 to 2011
We were shifted to a stall in Block 16 Bedok South Road where my father became the first, official generation of hawkers. In the new market, we became known for our specialty in preserved vegetables, carrying at least 4 different varieties.
Rain or shine, we remained here and maintained operating hours from 5am to 2pm every day for decades. This was us before major renovation works in 2012, the original stall location.
Our stall was modestly sized, small even. Being able to fit the whole range of items we carried was always difficult. According to my parents they insisted on carrying different varieties of the same item because consumer variety was something they valued - even though this meant they had little to no walking space in the stall.
Moreover, for easy accessibility, the potatoes, onions and garlic were all placed at the front of the stall, allowing customers to choose and pick out the item according to their needs.
Once again, although all these meant having to wake up for work in the wee hours of the morning because items had to be painstakingly taken out, unpacked and placed at locations easily accessible by customers, for my parents, it was always worth it. The smiles’ and thank you from customers were all they needed.
2012 to present
Fortunately, under the NEA’s Hawker Centres Upgrading Program, or HUP for short, our 37 year stall finally got a facelift. Upgrading works took 8 months from February of 2012 to October of 2012. Finally, after the wait, we moved into our new unit, where we currently are still at.
Our new stall was not only bigger but also more spacious. It faced the plaza of the hawker center and towards the cooked food stalls, where we could see everyone queuing for our all-time favorite char kuey teow.
Even with a new face, nothing changed. The heart of the stall remains. Every onion and garlic is still being peeled with care by my father and every potato handpicked and checked in the morning by my mother. A walk through the market and one would notice that our specialty preserved vegetables still remain, carrying more variety than any store.
The only difference, its owners are no longer as youthful anymore.