For Chinese New Year, Lee and Wang are selling a limited quantity of their homemade pineapple tarts at $19 a bottle. Customers who want to buy the tarts should WhatsApp Lee at 91001799 and introduce themselves.
No calling, as Lee told us: “I don’t know if it might be a scam caller. There are so many scam calls these days that I don’t dare to pick up calls from unknown numbers.”
Before he started a second career as a hawker, Bobby Lee was working as a quality assurance manager. “I was retrenched when my company closed down. I thought I could withdraw my CPF at 55 [to live on], but I was only 50. So I had to borrow money to survive,” he recounted.
He tried to look for another job. “I went for so many interviews, over 100, but it was hard for a person my age to find a job. Some companies would tell me their job position was taken up, but a while later, the same post came up again! So I guess maybe they didn’t want someone my age,” he said.
Out of employment avenues, Lee decided to upskill himself by selling insurance policies and taking cooking classes at the social enterprise Dignity Kitchen. “I became a hawker after I gave up trying to look for a job. No choice, I need money to survive,” he pointed out.
His wife had been doing all the cooking for their family back then. “He was forced to cook,” Wendy Wang giggled, as Lee deadpanned: “In the beginning, it was very tough. Now, with a bit of adjustment, it’s medium tough.”
Now in their 70s, the couple continue to work to pay for their own expenses like insurance premiums. “Our three children support us as much as they can, but we know they have their own families to take care of,” said Lee.
When he’s not cooking at his stall, he still dabbles in insurance. “I don’t earn money from it. I try to restrict that to one day a week, just servicing my old clients,” he shared. Wang admitted that it is not easy working at their age. “We don’t work long hours so we can go fetch our grandchildren from school,” she said. But she concluded: “Sometimes, it’s better for old people not to stop moving!”
The Asian Makanstall is at 335 Smith Street, #02-055 Chinatown Complex Food Centre, Singapore 050335. Tel: 9100 1799. Open 11am to 2pm.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
