“The most important thing is when people eat, they give you the thumbs up, it gives you a sense of satisfaction you can't describe!” - says Mr Chee Wei Liang, whose culinary flair has drawn curious eyeballs and taste buds to his dish.
Wok and roll is dead, says who? It is very much alive and kicking at the Circuit Road Food Centre, where Mr Chee Wei Liang, 62, performs his dance routines while whipping up hundreds of plates of char kway teow each day. “Actually, I don’t know why I started out that way, I think if you ask me to stand still, I cannot, I just have to move. It is also a form of exercise lah!” said the hawker with a beaming smile. As the dishes’ unmistakable fragrance fills the air, one would not be able to guess that Mr Chee only has a decade of culinary experience under his belt. He only picked the craft about a decade ago, when he took over the stall from his father who had been frying the dish for 40 years.
Prior to this venture, Mr Chee owned a car workshop for 30 years, but was forced into pulling the plug on his business in 2004 after a financial downturn led to declining sales. Unemployed at the age of 50 with a family to feed. Mr Chee tried out as an assistant in his father’s stall, a move he was hesitant to make as he had no interest in cooking and was only using the time to get by. “I had no prior experience in cooking. I was very ‘blur’ when I first came in. I watched how my father cooked, but it wasn’t easy.”
Coincidentally, this came at a time when the elder Mr Chee was looking to retire after founding the stall four decades ago. With no other avenues in sight, Mr Chee at the age of 50 decided to take up the daunting task of carrying on a 40-year-old legacy. “Since my business failed, why not give this a try! My friends were surprised, because I am a technical man. Char Kway Teow, I had no knowledge at all!”
In the space of a few months, he had traded bolts and wrenches with Kway Teow and cockles as he battled the new found stresses of being a hawker. As time grew by, he was starting to gain interest in cooking and was getting accustomed to the trade.
REINVENTING HIMSELF
When he, an unfledged Char Kway Teow hawker, first took over the reins from his father in 2005, he followed his father’s recipe religiously. However regular customers compared the taste of his Char Kway Teow with that of his father’s. Many of whom critiqued his rendition of the dish for not measuring up to standards. It was then the queue started to disappear from the once bustling stall. It was a low point for Mr Chee, as he started to ponder on his future.
Just as his business suffered a drop in sales, it was also around the time when Circuit Road Food Centre was slated to be closed for a year of renovation. With the ample amount of time he had on his hands, he took the opportunity to master the craft as he sought to find his own distinct style. He was unafraid to deviate from his father’s recipe, and eventually managed to create something that could set himself apart from the competition.
“I went to get advice from friends, from my father, and slowly I managed to improve and become better. When people give you ideas or feedback, take it seriously. Put in the effort to modify the things you need to do, and when it’s all said and done, you get a sense of accomplishment!”
Mr Chee, in his firm belief that the secret to a good Char Kway Teow comes in the culinary skills rather than its ingredients, decided to make a bold and controversial decision to remove pork (lupcheong aka chinese sausages) and lard, key ingredients which Char Kway Teow aficionados swear by.
He replaced them with distinctive ingredients such as chicken ham, vegetarian char-siew and lemon-juice. Also, he fries his dish with much lesser oil compared to his compatriots. This was done in order to adapt to the growing demand of healthier choices of Singaporeans and to open the doors to the Muslim community as well.
“There are times when people ask me why I don’t put pork and lard in my Char Kway Teow, I feel that it doesn’t matter whether you put it in or not, because if your ‘Wok Hei’ is there, it will taste just as good.”
SATISFACTION
As his stall opened with the new and improved Char Kway Teow recipe, word started to spread from the throngs of customers who came and tried his interpretation of the popular local dish. His friendly demeanor and unique dance routine only elevated his status as a wok-star. “I have been eating here for many years, since his father was frying the dish! Both their versions have their unique characteristics, my family and I really like his char kway teow.”, quipped regular customer Tan Ah Lian, 58.
Food reviewers started appearing to experience what the fuss was all about. These included glowing reviews from renowned hawker food champion, KF Seetoh of Makansutra, iEatiShootiPost’s Dr Leslie Tay, and coming in fifth in TheSmartLocal’s hunt for the best char kway teows in Singapore. An accolade which he proudly displays on his storefront.
“The unique concoction was, frankly, quite special. I can’t help but fall deeply in love with it,” writes Lhu Wen Kai in his article, a food blogger from TheSmartLocal, “Given the generous portion size, I’m confident you have plenty of time to do so too.”
Though Mr Chee is gaining recognition for his adaptation of the classic dish, he doesn’t relish in his rise to fame, but rather takes joy in the fact that his customers approves
of his food.
“I also have customers who have heard about me from Australia and they wanted to come to Singapore to try,” he laughs, “Famous is famous lah! But really, the most important thing is when people eat, they give you the thumbs up, it gives you a sense of satisfaction
you can't describe!”
Even though praises from customers have kept him going for a long time, Mr Chee laments the long working hours of being a hawker. He works up to 16 hours a day, five times a week. His day starts at 8:30am in the morning for preparation to open his stall at noon. After lowering the shutters at 10pm, he takes around two hours for cleaning before returning to his flat in Bedok.
“16 hours a day is tiring, but it is unavoidable, there’s no way around it. It’s a daily routine so I’m used to it.” Mr Chee says he keeps his stall shut on weekends to accompany his ageing 95 year-old father on Saturdays, and Sundays are set aside for his daughters.
LOOKING FOR A SUCCESSOR
Unfortunately, this unique legacy could be seeing its expiry date in a couple of years. Mr Chee is looking to hang up his apron soon, citing his old age and aspiration to further his life long learning. “Though I’m not really educated, I like to learn, so I attend courses under community centres to improve my english and to learn new things."
He has been actively searching for a successor, but has ruled out the chances of his daughters going down the same fateful route he took a decade ago. “They are all grown up and married. They are not interested to learn from me and take over my business. If there’s really no one to take over my stall, then I have to stop and close shop. I mean, this is what you call ‘life’.”
This grim outlook has been a recurring sentiment shared by many ageing hawkers who have no one to carry on their legacies. Despite efforts in introducing new initiatives to safeguard and sustain our hawker culture for future generations to come, many of the younger generation shun such a job due to the many challenges that come with it which Mr Chee can empathise with.
“This job isn’t easy. The important thing is, you must have the interest. However, there is also the issue with money. Without sufficient money, nobody would want to work. Working 16 hours without getting what you want from it, is pointless.”
Till the store shuts for good, Mr Chee will wok on and continue to fry his dish with his trademark gusto while remaining hopeful in his search for a successor to carry on the stall’s illustrious legacy. He has urged anyone with an interest in the craft to give it a shot, just like he did a decade ago.
Rather than aiming to replicate his dance moves, he believes that passion is the key ingredient in picking up the craft of frying a plate of Char Kway Teow. “When you like your job, you will do it properly, and when you start to count your money, then you will start smiling.”
BY TEO SHU HANG ERIC
XAVIER LIM CHU FENG
CHARMAINE TRISHA LOUIS
MUHAMMAD SYAKIR B MUHAMMAD K
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