Page 12 - Our Hawker Stories

A Day in the Life of A Hawker

The hawker I interviewed (Uncle Shen) at Bukit
Panjang Hawker Centre & Market answered some of
my questions. I asked Uncle Shen from Tong Fong Fatt
Hainanese Boneless Chicken Rice in Chinese, “Why did
you become a hawker?” He replied, “I did not have a
proper education, but I needed to earn money for my
family. So, I became a hawker.” He worked hard to earn
money for his family. I felt that he was a hero in his
children’s eyes, just like my father.

After that, I asked him, “So, what was your greatest feat?”
He replied, “Raising a family, I paid for their education
and food.” He also said that he enjoyed being a hawker.
I was impressed by Uncle Shen’s ability to work such
long hours. I also understand the importance of having a
proper education.

Yet again, I asked him another question. The question I gained a lot of insights about the benefits of proper
was “What was the biggest challenge of being a education. I also vowed to study hard to be able to get a
hawker?” Happily, he said that he had no challenges. He well-paying job in the future. Overall, it was an enjoyable
also stated that you need to do a job well, or your boss experience for me.
will punish you.
Finally, I asked him, “Can you please describe a typical
day in your hawker life?” He described his routine very
well. At 8 am, he opens his shop, prepares the food and “Uncle Shen may not have gone to school, but
arranges his items. At 10 am, he starts selling chicken through hard work, he raised a family — to me,
rice. He sells an average of 20 chickens per day. At 7 pm,
he closes his stores and washes up till 8.30 pm. He only that makes him a real-life hero.”
eats dinner and lunch if he has spare time and is not
busy with customers. He works for a total of 12 hours Evan Goh Zhi Jie
and 30 minutes per day and has a rest day on Monday. Compassion 2
He encourages me to study hard. Bukit Panjang Primary School

8 Our Hawker Stories