'I never stood for 12 to 14 hours before': Uni graduate sisters run Hougang ban mian stall, working 7 days a week

Being a hawker is no easy feat and it's a demanding career option that few dare to embark on. 

So, it's surprising to see young adults like Catherine Chong, 25, and Chong Kai En, 26, slogging it out in a small coffee shop stall at Hougang Green Shopping Mall. 

The sisters are the owners of Meeting Mee, a stall that specialises in ban mian. 

They both started work once they were done with university with Catherine having studied hospitality business at Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), while Kai En has a nursing degree from National University of Singapore (NUS). 

Being not from the industry, one would think that the pair would have some form of prior F&B experience before venturing into such a challenging industry. 

But in reality, Catherine and Kai En had none of that. In fact, neither of them even cooked at home. 

So, why do something completely unrelated to their studies and so out of their comfort zone? 

Our curiosity prompted us to pay the sisters a visit on a rainy Thursday and when we reached the stall around lunchtime, the sisters were hard at work whipping up hearty bowls of ban mian for their customers. 

Taking the time to sit down with us, we chat with them to learn more about their arduous but fruitful journey of becoming hawkers.

Why F&B? 

Long before the sisters took over the reins, the ban mian stall had already existed for 17 years and was owned by a couple from China. 

In the midst of Covid-19, the couple decided that they no longer wanted to run the business, so they listed it for sale online. 

During this period, the sisters were actually on the lookout for potential business opportunities to try their hand at and were also considering taking over a bubble tea store. 

Catherine explained to AsiaOne that because her degree was related to tourism and she graduated during the pandemic, it was hard for her to find a job as there were no tourists coming in, neither were there any events. 

"It's just a good time to look for other business opportunities because the [tourism] industry is relatively quiet," she elaborated. 

So, when she chanced upon the stall listing, she decided to go and check it out with her mother and Kai En.

"The couple told us how they had been doing this for very long and none of their kids could take over the business," recounted Catherine. 

In August 2020, they bought over the business from the couple and in total, paid $7,000. 

The sisters paid for half the cost upfront using money saved up during their university internship days and the rest of the amount in installments. 

As they had no experience with cooking, they, along with their mother, shadowed the Chinese couple for a month to learn the ropes of making ban mian.

And in September 2020, they were left to manage everything on their own. 

'There were a lot of times we go home crying'

Running a hawker stall proved to be much harder than the sisters anticipated and they found themselves facing challenge after challenge. 

In fact, on the first day of operations, Catherine shared she had to get stitches after cutting her finger. 

Kai En explained that in hindsight, they had embarked on their hawker journey with "naive optimism". 

"Because we didn't know what lay ahead of us as we have never worked in the F&B industry before, we were more optimistic about what the path looked like," shares Kai En before adding, "But when we first started, it was very, very tough."

The women found themselves working a gruelling 14 to 16 hours a day with little to no rest. 

"Before we started working here, I had never stood for 12 to 14 hours," Catherine confessed. 

"I couldn't even feel the pain in my legs because we were so busy." 

As hawkers, they don't even have a dedicated rest day and work all seven days of the week. 

"It's very difficult to have a rest day in F&B as there are many operations ongoing," Catherine told us after we expressed our shock. 

Some of these daily operations include preparing the ingredients, handling money and attending to customers. 

Elaborating on her sister's point, Kai En added, "Rental is also very expensive and there are a lot of operational costs incurred, for example, dishwashing."

Additionally, they were facing a manpower crunch then. As much as the family wanted to hire more people to help them lessen the workload, they couldn't afford it. So they had to do everything themselves. 

And on top of that, they had to deal with rude customers, some who even shouted and spewed vulgarities at them for not serving the food fast enough. 

"There were a lot of times we go home crying and we felt like giving up," admitted Kai En. 

And things only got tougher one year into the business. 

Initially, as Kai En was still in university, she would only work at the stall part-time, leaving Catherine and their mother as the only full-time staff.

She had no intention of dedicating herself to the business either, with plans to work as a nurse after graduating. 

"I wanted to go into nursing because during that period, there was Covid-19, and there was a shortage of nurses in the country," Kai En shared. 

But things didn't go according to plan as their mother was diagnosed with sciatica, a symptom that caused her to feel pain in the nerves of her spine. 

"It was due to prolonged standing. So, she needed to rest at home for a few months and she was hospitalised," explained Kai En.

At that juncture, the family had two choices — give up the stall or have Kai En join them as a full-timer after she graduated. 

And evidently, they chose the latter.  

"It was a pity to give it up, especially since the business had gradually improved," Kai En elaborated, adding that they had also built up a loyal fanbase of customers who missed them every time the stall was closed. 

Though the sisters insisted on persevering, their parents did not feel the same way. 

Both their mother and father had been supportive of them when they first bought the business. 

But this slowly changed over time. 

"They felt that it was not very profitable," Kai En revealed, adding that their parents had urged them to shutter the stall and work corporate jobs instead. 

They may be taking over the neighbouring vegetarian stall too 

Despite the many challenges, business eventually picked up and their parents are no longer as worried. 

In fact, the sisters have even managed to hire six other staff in the last six months to help them out. 

Some of their staff also come from less privileged backgrounds, so the sisters want to teach them useful, lifelong skills. 

"We are very open to teaching anyone who is actually willing to learn. Because they are not very well educated, so we think it is essential for them to pick up roles and learn," Kai En shared. 

Apart from that, they may soon be taking over the neighbouring vegetarian stall owned by a couple in their 70s.  

Earlier this year, the elderly couple found themselves shorthanded and asked the sisters if they could help out "part-time". 

So, before their stall opens for the day, the sisters would work at the vegetarian stall from 7am to around 10am. 

This went on for a few months before the couple asked the sisters if they wanted to learn the ropes of the stall and eventually take over as they wanted to retire due to poor health. 

Currently, as part of their partnership with the vegetarian stall, the sisters run the operations full-time while the elderly couple come in on a part-time basis. 

And on top of all this, the sisters are planning on opening a second ban mian stall in Tampines soon. 

In fact, they are already in the midst of negotiating for a potential stall unit. 

Trying their Signature Dry Handmade Noodles

When I asked what are their personal favourites out of their own menu, Catherine told me she likes the KL chilli ban mian and dumpling noodles, while Kai En prefers the mee hoon kueh soup. 

For first timers at their stall like myself, they recommend the dry handmade noodles, mee hoon kueh soup. But if you love a spicy kick, they say get the KL chilli ban mian. 

Being a ban mian lover, I was spoilt for chance but eventually, I settled for their Signature Handmade Noodle Set ($7), which comes with dry handmade noodles and a side of fried chicken cutlet. 

What makes or breaks a bowl of ban mian for me are the noodles. If it feels factory-made and does not have that irregular texture, it completely defeats the purpose of being called handmade noodles. 

So I was pleased to find that the noodles here at Meeting Mee nailed that and was also cooked to a nice al dente. 

The bowl was also loaded with ingredients like pork slices, vegetables and fried dumplings so you always get a little bit of everything in every bite. 

And if you love pork lard like me, you'll be especially pleased to know that they are very generous with it here. 

The chicken cutlet was also fried to a lovely golden crisp and was crunchy while retaining its moisture. It wasn't too greasy either so it didn't feel cloying.

My only gripe was with the soup, which was served on the side. This was a little too bland for my liking but overall, it was still decent. 

Address: 21 Hougang St 51, #01-48 Hougang Green Shopping Mall, Singapore 538719
Opening hours: Saturday to Thursday, 8am to 9pm

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melissateo@asiaone.com