"Are you going to take over the shop one day and become lao ban niang (ladyboss)?"

This is one phrase that has been repeated throughout my growing years, but deep down, I'd always known the business would never be mine.

My parents are the second-generation owners of a tiny provision shop handed down by my grandparents after they passed away in the early 2000s.

A fixture of the Clementi neighbourhood for over three decades, most of the long-term residents have watched me and my siblings grow up, and I've always joked that I've been working all my life.

A "cashier-in-training" since my schooling days, helping out at the shop was something that's expected, and hauling gunny sacks of rice around was but one of the many chores I had to do as a kid.

While being your own boss can seem like a dream come true for many of my business-minded peers, I decided early on not to go down that path, although I understand the appeal.

For one, you answer to no one, and there's no appraisals, no probation and no office politics. And while we may not be rich, we live a relatively comfortable life, and there's no fear of being retrenched.

Although some millennials have made headlines recently for taking over their family's business and continuing dying trades, I have zero intention at this point in my life to learn the ropes and becoming boss of the shop one day.

Here's why.

A PIECE OF HISTORY STUCK IN MODERN TIMES

Once a common sight in Singapore, more than 2,000 provision shops were scattered around the country in the 70s. But this number has since dwindled to less than 200 and owning a mom-and-pop store is now a dying trade.

The early provision shops functioned as a 'hub' of the community, where locals had access to everyday goods, in addition to being the only places with an official address, telephones and electricity.

With the proliferation of megamalls, one-stop supermarkets and online shopping, such stores of the past face an uncertain future and are under threat from being displaced by digitisation because so many elderly owners have difficulty getting their business online.

Small case-in-point: When my parents had to register their business for GST (Goods and Services Tax), the paperwork gave them such a headache because they're not IT-savvy. Cashless payment as well as social media marketing are also things that they're still learning.

THE PAST GENERATION'S NETWORK

In an era where money was collected in giant Milo tin cans and receipts handwritten in messy mandarin characters, the forced adaptation to our digital society has driven many of my parents' suppliers into retirement or to give up the business completely.

With our youth becoming increasingly skilled and educated, many of these businesses are facing labour shortages. This is also because most of us would rather find employment in industries that align with our interests and explore our options when we're still young.

As a teen, my mum started training at the shop under my grandpa, learning about the business and forging connections with customers and suppliers.

By the time she was in her early 20s, she was calling the shots, and my grandparents trusted her enough to leave on long trips back to their hometown in China.

Having never grown up with the mindset that I would take over some day, I didn't make the same effort to create such a network, and from what my mother told me, her suppliers who are looking to retire also face similar problems of finding the next successor.

A "FROG IN THE WELL"

One of my mum's greatest pleasures in life is travelling and seeing the world. However, in her possession, is a passport that's completely blank, representing the decade she didn't leave the country — not even to nearby JB.

Although I never resented my parents for not bringing my siblings and I for family vacations abroad as I understood the nature of the business, I almost feel a need to make up for all those years stuck in Singapore — by travelling at least once or twice a year once I was independent enough to.

Having seen almost half the world during my student exchange to Europe and adventures in the US and Southeast Asia, I can't imagine being confined to the four walls of the shop, and working non-stop for a decade.

And because my parents are stuck within the 80sqm property "all day err day" from morning to night, my mum would sometimes confide that she felt like a "frog in the well", with a microscopic view of the world.

It was only once we grew up and were able to take over the business for short stints that she could enjoy a little freedom and have a holiday every once in a while.

PERKS TO WORKING UNDER A BOSS

Although I do get the Monday blues some days and drag my feet to office, I recognise some of the perks to being employed even if I have bosses to answer to, KPIs to meet, clients to handle and interns to oversee.

First of all, with a regular nine-to-six job and five day work-week, I have time to recharge before slogging it out for another week.

But I can't say the same for my parents. Being self-employed, they work longer hours than I do (from 8am to 7pm), Mondays to Sundays. Only in the past year have we managed to convince them to take a half-day on Sundays because they're not getting any younger.

In addition, working for a company means I have this thing called AL (annual leave) to burn, perks like watching the final Avengers movie first, free food in the pantry and most importantly, I'm able to take sick leave and recuperate when I'm not feeling well.

My mum has worked through the sniffles, endured exhaustion during sleepless nights and even went back to work one day after giving birth to my brother, waving off the doctor when he asked if she needed an MC.

While I have no intention right now to take over the business, who's to say what the future holds? Perhaps one day the shop will have a third-generation owner in the form of one of my siblings.

Until then, my parents will have to hold the fort.

joeylee@asiaone.com

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