After dropping out from school and battling deep depression which saw him attempting to take his own life at least 15 times, a 17-year-old Singaporean teen has found solace in his newly-opened porridge stall.
The stall, named Fu Ying Porridge, is located at 498 Jurong West Street 41 and operates from 7am to 2pm everyday except for Tuesdays.
Suffered severe depression
The teen, who’s known as Kevin, learnt to cook at the age of seven, worked part-time at McDonald’s at 13, and was introduced to the food and beverage industry.
He also had prior experience working at chicken rice and Hokkien mee stalls.
Speaking to China Press, Kevin said he went through immense mental pressure due to academic stress, which eventually led to deep depression at the age of 16.
As his mental health deteriorated, Kevin dropped out of school before he was scheduled to sit for his O-levels.
At the height of my depression, I was admitted to the hospital for 15 times due to suicide attempts. I was also required to take long-term medication to control my condition.”
Encouraged to open stall by family friend
Kevin said a friend of his mother’s who was looking to enter the F&B business heard of his condition and offered S$15,000 (RM47,500) in investments to encourage him to set up his own stall.
“I then spent time searching for a location, designing the menu and types of porridge before officially opening Fu Ying Porridge on Nov 10.
“A week before the opening, I fine-tuned my recipes at the stall every day, where I would eat only porridge for my three meals,” he said.
When asked what makes his porridge special, Kevin said he borrowed the method used for frying Hokkien mee and cooked the porridge with lard to make it more fragrant and smoother.
He also said that he uses fresh squid instead of dried squid so that elderly customers will not have a hard time chewing.
Hopes to see business flourish
Today, Kevin has seen a significant improvement in his mental health although he is still on medication.
“I’ve gotten used to this pace of life. Even though the work is tiring, seeing customers eat my porridge with smiles on their faces makes me very happy,” he remarked.
However, Kevin admitted that things weren’t exactly smooth at the start, where the stall only managed to sell 20 to 30 bowls per day.
This prompted him to take up a second job at a fast-food restaurant in order to cover rent and daily expenses.
Thankfully, business has picked up and Fu Ying Porridge now sells 200 bowls daily, allowing Kevin to quit his second job and focus fully on the stall.
He also added that he plans to set up social media accounts for the stall to ramp up promotion efforts.
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