Page 80 - Our Hawker Stories

Roast chicken sizzled on the grill as customers stared
in awe at the succulent, tender, and mouth-watering
chicken Mr Kai was cooking.

“Chicken rice! Get your juicy, tender chicken rice here!”
Mr Kai hollered.

His stall was called ‘Roasted Delights’, one of the three
most popular stalls in the hawker centre.

I basked in the music — the hum of sizzling chicken,
clattering utensils against dishes, and hawkers chirping,
“Mee goreng! Get your delicious mee goreng!”

The hawker centre was truly a feast for the senses. Mr
Kai is old, but his famous chicken rice is gold. Hawker
centres are the heart of Singapore’s food scene, and
although hawker food is supposed to be wallet-friendly, culture alive and well, it is okay to choose to be a hawker
Mr Kai could not keep up with the rest, resulting in and be proud of it. He also taught them that hawkering
the inevitable increase of his food prices. Mr Kai’s job is not easy, but it is worth seeing your customers’ smiles
was hard, and he was earning a living daily. He always daily as they enjoy their favourite local dish.
believed that the younger generation should take over
so that this business could thrive. But the younger ones Isn’t it?
always have their reasons: it is too hard, it is too hot, the
salary is too low.

Mr Kai did not give up his stall for one reason: he wanted “Mr Kai’s chicken rice wasn’t just famous — it
to continue his family business despite his landlord’s was his way of keeping family, tradition, and
warnings. He retired on his birthday because his health hawker pride alive for the next generation.”
was deteriorating, and his children supported him with
his daily needs.

In the end, he was down in the dumps since he had to let Domingo, Rueyne Lexine Calangian
go of his stall, but he started educating his grandchildren P5.1
that hawker-peneuring is hard, but to keep the hawker
North Spring Primary School

76 Our Hawker Stories