This made my day: Ban mian seller spared from closure after next-door hawker offered to share space

Many hawkers have seen their business take a massive beating as Singapore continues to fight the Covid-19 pandemic. For Hor Boon Choo, the 60-year-old owner of Ah Mei Handmade Noodle, she thought it was time to hang her apron up when she could no longer afford the rent on her stall.

That was, until the owner of the stall next door offered to share her premises with her. Now the two operate out of Heng Heng Cooked Food at Beo Crescent Market and Food Centre, serving up stir-fried carrot cake and ban mian.

The owner's act of generosity was shared on Facebook on May 21 by small business owner Kee Vern Cheng, who wanted to encourage others to support the pair during this trying period.

Speaking with AsiaOne, Cheng said she understood there was a change in stall ownership and that Hor "was asked to vacate the previous space".

Hor revealed in an interview with 8world that it was around mid-April when Hor realised she wouldn't be able to continue to afford the rent.

She took a two-week break at the start of May, initially planning to decide on her future only after a rest.

As she hadn't been successful in finding a new location, she planned on retiring.

"My customers are all here. If I moved to another place, I'd have to attract customers all over again," she said. "I could do that when I was 30, but now that I'm 60, it's too difficult. That's why I wanted to retire."

However, during her two-week absence, many of her regular customers approached the owner of Heng Heng Cooked Food asking for her whereabouts.

As such, the owner offered to share her space with Hor, saying: "Come work with me! A lot of customers have been looking for you."

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Hor said: "The carrot cake lady boss and I have known each other for nearly three years, she's like a sister to me."

After much persuasion, Hor accepted the offer and moved into the stall last week.

Their story touched the hearts of many netizens, some of whom flocked down to support their 'reopening' after Cheng's post went viral.

After a lacklustre first two days, Hor says customers, both old and new, now queue up for their food. In fact, their business has flourished so well that she now offers preorders, too.

As she couldn't read and didn't know how to surf the internet, she didn't know about Cheng's post until several customers called asking about it.

She thanked Cheng, adding: "Now customers are all coming to find me, even those from Ang Mo Kio."

rainercheung@asiaone.com