Page 75 - Our Hawker Stories

Buzzing sounds. Long queues. Whirring fans. Loud
chatter.

This is the soundtrack of my life. I am Mr Lim, your
typical hawker. I have recently opened a shop at Geylang
Serai. I decided to name it ‘My Kampung’ as it reminded
me of my hometown in Malaysia, where I grew up with
my family. As a hawker, I often get long, endless queues.
My food almost always runs out in a flash. From my
perspective, it is more of a curse because you must work
tirelessly every day for a relatively low salary. I could
increase the price of my food, but I am sure my sales
would not be booming.

One day, my life turned upside down. I soon realised that
managing a stall was too overwhelming for a tired, older
man like myself. I still wanted to work, but I decided
to hire an employee this time. I managed to find one; rich and dense coconut gravy, an explosion of flavours
her name is Sally. She insisted that to boost my sales, I erupted in my mouth. The vegetables were steamed soft
should add lontong to my menu. I resisted initially, but and chewy, perfectly complementing the gravy. It was
she assured me that the dish was popular, and people a party in my mouth. It was the best thing I had ever
would buy it, especially for breakfast. I eventually gave tasted!
in.
From that day on, I learned to always listen to new ideas
The next day, after we added lontong to our menu, the and innovations from others, and even when you are
queues were longer than ever! Many new customers old, you still have a lot to learn!
came to my stall to try the lontong; some even returned
for seconds. Sally was handling the orders professionally.
I stared in awe as she handled everything perfectly. At “In every bowl of lontong was a story, a
the end of the long and busy day, I finally asked Sally memory, and a lesson — that hawker culture
how she could cook such a delectable crowd pleaser.
grows when tradition meets fresh ideas.”
She told me that it was a secret family recipe passed
down to her from her late grandmother. The recipe has Ashiqa Binti Mohamed Yusufsa Marican
transcended generations. She saved a bowl for me to P5.1
try. The second I took a bite of the lontong doused in North Spring Primary School

Our Hawker Stories 71