Not wanting to burden his family with a debt that he mounted during the Covid-19 pandemic, the owner of a bak kut teh stall in Singapore worked tirelessly in hopes of clearing the debt.
However, the long hours took a toll on his health, leading to his death due to an illness caused by overwork at the age of 65.
Opened BKT stall with wife
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, Lilian Chua said she first worked for her brother-in-law as a stall assistant at Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh for over 20 years.
She later asked her husband Ang Yong Seh to come help her at the stall, which eventually paved the way for them to open Xin Ming Road Bak Kut Teh in the 1990s.
Faced financial obstacles
Chua said the business faced various challenges in the form of higher rent or failure to renew their lease whenever the business showed signs of improvement.
This was a regular occurrence when she and Ang ran their stall at coffeeshops in West Coast, Clementi, Choa Chu Kang, Tampines, and Jalan Besar.
Eventually, they moved Xin Ming Bak Kut Teh to its current address, Kola Food Centre at Sin Ming Industrial Estate around 1.5 years ago.
Accrued RM329,000 debt due to financial losses
When the Covid-19 pandemic came, Xin Ming Bak Kut Teh suffered staggering losses, leading to a debt of S$100,000 (approx. RM329,000) over the course of three years, along with Ang and Chua completely draining their savings.
Our monthly rent was over S$9,000 (approx. RM29,600) and one of our worker’s salary was S$4,000 (approx. RM13,100).
“However, during the pandemic, our daily sales sometimes was only S$100 (approx. RM329), which was not enough to cover expenses.
“To repay the debt, my husband worked extremely hard. Before the pandemic, we’d close for one or two days a month. After Covid-19 hit, we only took four days off during Chinese New Year. My husband would leave home at 5am and return at 11pm every day,” shared Chua.
Owner of SG BKT stall dies from overwork
However, Ang’s hard work came at a high cost in the form of his health declining rapidly.
According to Chua, Ang had been suffering from a cold for three weeks but continued to work. It wasn’t until four days before his passing did he finally rest as he could no longer continue.
“I was worried about his health, but he still said, ‘Don’t worry, I can live for a few more years.’ Then on the night of Jan 9th after 11pm, he suddenly said he had trouble breathing. He was rushed to the hospital and passed away after 5am on Jan 10.
“We were like a pair of hands working together all these years. Now that he’s gone, one hand is missing. Although he couldn’t speak then, he held my hand tightly. Only after I promised to do my best to keep the stall running did he pass away peacefully,” she recounted.
Chua added that Ang suffered no preexisting conditions and doctors attributed his death to overwork and a weakened immune system.
Despite losing her life partner, Chua reopened the stall two weeks after Ang’s funeral as she knew he would want to see the business continue as usual.
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