Last Day of Business

I went to my parents' hawker stall with a heavy heart this evening.

It's the last day of the stall business today. After a good 5 years of doing 'zhi cha' at Holland Market Hawker Centre, they have decided to hang up all the woks and pots. The business has not been doing well for the past few years and the deterioriation of my dad's health, they decided to call the day's end.

My brother and I were brought up through the flame and bustle of a 'zhi cha' stall. My parents (& uncles and aunties) are in this business way way before my cousins and ourselves are borned. They have been moving around places to places all this while and this is the 2nd time I had this feeling. The other time was the sale of the coffeeshop that was co-owned by all brothers and sisters of my father. The feeling of lost and not knowing what's next was unbearable for my parents as they are those people that 'cannot sit around not doing anything'.

However, on the bright side, they deserve a good rest after so many years of working. We have grown big and independent so now it's time they should have a good rest and live the rest of their life to fullest, not worrying no income to feed 2 children.

My in-laws and family and myself went down this evening to give our last support as everyone is going to miss the delicious cuisine. Ironically, there was no ingredient left and this mean we got no food ! Ha ha ha, in the end, we made do with whatever was leftover and some good dishes were still served.

Nevertheless, my parents are going to take a good rest and scouting for a small stall to run a smaller 'zhi cha' stall to pass time and make some income for daily butter and bread. But many good dishes will surely be missed by many people and one of them is definitely ME ...... .....