Hawker food vendors recently went viral because of their bittersweet backstory.
On March 30th, a post was shared on the Hawkers United Facebook group by TikTok user Melvin Chew, who goes around Singapore promoting hawker businesses.
Photo via TikTok (@hawkers_united_melvin)
He shared about a particular hawker stall at the Circuit Road Hawker Center that was set up by a man with stage four cancer in an effort to help his wife to make ends meet after his death.
Melvin said he found out about the business through another Facebook post and went down to stall 88 Katong Laksa for a quick talk with the husband-and-wife owners.
He praised their great attitude and expressed how moved he was by the man's story.
He said: "I knew uncle was unwell, but I didn't expect it to be stage four cancer. I was speechless when I heard it and didn't know what to say, but uncle assured me that he was a strong-willed man who would live life to the utmost every day.
"Aunty can start her own business and earn a living by opening this hawker stand."
Melvin also made a point of mentioning how much he enjoyed the couple's curry laksa and showed how many fresh ingredients were used in each bowl in his TikTok video.
"The laksa I tried is good," he wrote, "And I'm not saying that to help them out. This standard is already excellent in my opinion. They make their own laksa paste, and there are fresh cockles. What more could we want from a good laksa?"
Despite her husband's dire condition and prognosis, it seems that the woman has taken charge of the stall and is working 12 hours a day to keep things running.
Many commenters have since dropped their well wishes, with some of them also vouching for the food as being yummy – especially the laksa and otak-otak.
We wish Aunty and Uncle well! We hope to go to Singapore one day and visit them at their stall!
By: Aishah Akashah Ahadiat
