Located in the quiet Green Zone at Chinatown Complex Food Centre, The Asian Makanstall is run by friendly English-speaking couple Bobby Lee, 74, and Wendy Wang, 70. They serve “homecooked good food” like laksa and mee hoon goreng, as well as a variety of kueh from a supplier.
What caught our eye at the stall was a simple printed sign advertising “$2/$3 Katong laksa”, a wallet-friendly rarity these days.
Surprisingly, this has flown under the radar. “Not many people know about our laksa. We don’t get consistent customers,” the bubbly Lee told 8days.sg, somewhat despondently.
Bobby Lee and his wife Wendy Wang. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
He had moved into his #02-055 stall just a few months ago from his previous spot at #02-073. “We have been in this hawker centre for eight years, but we have shifted four times,” he said.
The reason?
“I’m always looking for a stall with lower rent. There are relocation costs, about SS$2,000 to S$3,000 each time, even when I reuse my things. But I save long-term on rental,” Lee explained.
At one point, he was selling S$4 Indian-style biryani and S$2.50 UFO-shaped Fuzhou oyster fritters as he had successfully bid for a stall at a S$69 monthly rental. The catch: It was earmarked by NEA for Indian cuisine. And so the plucky Bobby Lee figured out how to cook biryani.
His cheap and good biryani spawned its own cult following, but it was ultimately not enough for him to make a living.
He recalled: “My food buay kia leh [Hokkien for ‘not moving’]. No demand. I thought there would be a nearby office crowd on weekdays, but they went to different hawker centres all the time. We only got customers on weekends. They were like UFOs – they came from other places around Singapore.”
Laksa at The Asian Makanstall. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
Bobby Lee’s laksa is typically priced at S$4 a bowl, and comes with your choice of poached chicken or, unusually enough, char siew. But he also offers a smaller-portioned, simpler version for S$2, which includes laksa gravy, noodles, fish cake and tau pok. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try it as we had dropped by too late, after the stall was sold out for the day.
The lower laksa price was made possible by a customer who had donated a one-time sum of S$2,000 to Lee.
“He tasted my laksa and found it very nice. He said if I didn’t mind, he wanted to donate money so I could bring down my price and have the elderly enjoy my food,” Bobby Lee said.
The customer had initially wanted the hawker to use his donation to serve free laksa, but Lee pointed out that the funds would run out very quickly and benefit fewer people. He then suggested selling laksa at S$2, using the donation to offset his ingredient costs.
The menu at The Asian Makanstall. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
The couple eventually removed the clause of offering the $2 laksa only to senior citizens, due to logistical constraints. They also do not cap diners’ purchase quantity, as they are currently not dealing with overwhelming sales.
“It’s very hard to check whether someone is old or young. Right now, not many people know about our laksa anyway. But I’m also worried that if I restrict each customer to one bowl, some people will come back for more and argue that it’s their first time. I won’t be able to keep track,” Lee shared.
So far, the initial S$2,000 donation has been fully used up. Lee said: “If the funds are exhausted, I cannot continue selling laksa at S$2 a bowl. But a second donor recently approached me with S$1,500, so I can extend [my promotion]. I have to be careful about exhausting the funds. If there are no more donors and I can still afford to keep my price [low], I will continue to sell.”
Some diners also order the S$2 laksa, but insist on paying S$3 to S$4 for their food to pay it forward.
The tarts cost S$19 per bottle. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
For Chinese New Year, Lee and Wang are selling a limited quantity of their homemade pineapple tarts at $19 a bottle. Customers who want to buy the tarts should WhatsApp Lee at 91001799 and introduce themselves.
No calling, as Lee told us: “I don’t know if it might be a scam caller. There are so many scam calls these days that I don’t dare to pick up calls from unknown numbers.”
Before he started a second career as a hawker, Bobby Lee was working as a quality assurance manager. “I was retrenched when my company closed down. I thought I could withdraw my CPF at 55 [to live on], but I was only 50. So I had to borrow money to survive,” he recounted.
He tried to look for another job. “I went for so many interviews, over 100, but it was hard for a person my age to find a job. Some companies would tell me their job position was taken up, but a while later, the same post came up again! So I guess maybe they didn’t want someone my age,” he said.
Out of employment avenues, Lee decided to upskill himself by selling insurance policies and taking cooking classes at the social enterprise Dignity Kitchen. “I became a hawker after I gave up trying to look for a job. No choice, I need money to survive,” he pointed out.
His wife had been doing all the cooking for their family back then. “He was forced to cook,” Wendy Wang giggled, as Lee deadpanned: “In the beginning, it was very tough. Now, with a bit of adjustment, it’s medium tough.”
Now in their 70s, the couple continue to work to pay for their own expenses like insurance premiums. “Our three children support us as much as they can, but we know they have their own families to take care of,” said Lee.
When he’s not cooking at his stall, he still dabbles in insurance. “I don’t earn money from it. I try to restrict that to one day a week, just servicing my old clients,” he shared. Wang admitted that it is not easy working at their age. “We don’t work long hours so we can go fetch our grandchildren from school,” she said. But she concluded: “Sometimes, it’s better for old people not to stop moving!”
The Asian Makanstall is at 335 Smith Street, #02-055 Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Singapore 050335. Tel: 9100 1799. Open 11am to 2pm.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...
What caught our eye at the stall was a simple printed sign advertising “$2/$3 Katong laksa”, a wallet-friendly rarity these days.
Surprisingly, this has flown under the radar. “Not many people know about our laksa. We don’t get consistent customers,” the bubbly Lee told 8days.sg, somewhat despondently.
Bobby Lee and his wife Wendy Wang. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
He had moved into his #02-055 stall just a few months ago from his previous spot at #02-073. “We have been in this hawker centre for eight years, but we have shifted four times,” he said.
The reason?
“I’m always looking for a stall with lower rent. There are relocation costs, about SS$2,000 to S$3,000 each time, even when I reuse my things. But I save long-term on rental,” Lee explained.
At one point, he was selling S$4 Indian-style biryani and S$2.50 UFO-shaped Fuzhou oyster fritters as he had successfully bid for a stall at a S$69 monthly rental. The catch: It was earmarked by NEA for Indian cuisine. And so the plucky Bobby Lee figured out how to cook biryani.
His cheap and good biryani spawned its own cult following, but it was ultimately not enough for him to make a living.
He recalled: “My food buay kia leh [Hokkien for ‘not moving’]. No demand. I thought there would be a nearby office crowd on weekdays, but they went to different hawker centres all the time. We only got customers on weekends. They were like UFOs – they came from other places around Singapore.”
Laksa at The Asian Makanstall. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
Bobby Lee’s laksa is typically priced at S$4 a bowl, and comes with your choice of poached chicken or, unusually enough, char siew. But he also offers a smaller-portioned, simpler version for S$2, which includes laksa gravy, noodles, fish cake and tau pok. Unfortunately, we didn't get to try it as we had dropped by too late, after the stall was sold out for the day.
The lower laksa price was made possible by a customer who had donated a one-time sum of S$2,000 to Lee.
“He tasted my laksa and found it very nice. He said if I didn’t mind, he wanted to donate money so I could bring down my price and have the elderly enjoy my food,” Bobby Lee said.
The customer had initially wanted the hawker to use his donation to serve free laksa, but Lee pointed out that the funds would run out very quickly and benefit fewer people. He then suggested selling laksa at S$2, using the donation to offset his ingredient costs.
The menu at The Asian Makanstall. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
The couple eventually removed the clause of offering the $2 laksa only to senior citizens, due to logistical constraints. They also do not cap diners’ purchase quantity, as they are currently not dealing with overwhelming sales.
“It’s very hard to check whether someone is old or young. Right now, not many people know about our laksa anyway. But I’m also worried that if I restrict each customer to one bowl, some people will come back for more and argue that it’s their first time. I won’t be able to keep track,” Lee shared.
So far, the initial S$2,000 donation has been fully used up. Lee said: “If the funds are exhausted, I cannot continue selling laksa at S$2 a bowl. But a second donor recently approached me with S$1,500, so I can extend [my promotion]. I have to be careful about exhausting the funds. If there are no more donors and I can still afford to keep my price [low], I will continue to sell.”
Some diners also order the S$2 laksa, but insist on paying S$3 to S$4 for their food to pay it forward.
The tarts cost S$19 per bottle. (Photo: 8Days/Yip Jieying)
For Chinese New Year, Lee and Wang are selling a limited quantity of their homemade pineapple tarts at $19 a bottle. Customers who want to buy the tarts should WhatsApp Lee at 91001799 and introduce themselves.
No calling, as Lee told us: “I don’t know if it might be a scam caller. There are so many scam calls these days that I don’t dare to pick up calls from unknown numbers.”
Before he started a second career as a hawker, Bobby Lee was working as a quality assurance manager. “I was retrenched when my company closed down. I thought I could withdraw my CPF at 55 [to live on], but I was only 50. So I had to borrow money to survive,” he recounted.
He tried to look for another job. “I went for so many interviews, over 100, but it was hard for a person my age to find a job. Some companies would tell me their job position was taken up, but a while later, the same post came up again! So I guess maybe they didn’t want someone my age,” he said.
Out of employment avenues, Lee decided to upskill himself by selling insurance policies and taking cooking classes at the social enterprise Dignity Kitchen. “I became a hawker after I gave up trying to look for a job. No choice, I need money to survive,” he pointed out.
His wife had been doing all the cooking for their family back then. “He was forced to cook,” Wendy Wang giggled, as Lee deadpanned: “In the beginning, it was very tough. Now, with a bit of adjustment, it’s medium tough.”
Now in their 70s, the couple continue to work to pay for their own expenses like insurance premiums. “Our three children support us as much as they can, but we know they have their own families to take care of,” said Lee.
When he’s not cooking at his stall, he still dabbles in insurance. “I don’t earn money from it. I try to restrict that to one day a week, just servicing my old clients,” he shared. Wang admitted that it is not easy working at their age. “We don’t work long hours so we can go fetch our grandchildren from school,” she said. But she concluded: “Sometimes, it’s better for old people not to stop moving!”
The Asian Makanstall is at 335 Smith Street, #02-055 Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Singapore 050335. Tel: 9100 1799. Open 11am to 2pm.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...