Hong Rong Sheng, 65, who owned Xin Ming Road Bak Kut Teh at Kola Food Centre, Block 36 Sin Ming Road, passed away on 10 January 2025.
His wife Cai Ju Hua, 66, said doctors told her he died from overexertion after working 18 hours daily to repay over S$100,000 in debt accumulated during the pandemic.
Cai Ju Hua now runs the stall alone following her husband’s death at the hospital in the early hours of 10 Jan 2025.
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Pandemic Losses Force Couple into S$100,000 Debt to Survive Business Downturn
The couple started their bak kut teh business in the 1990s.
Cai Ju Hua had worked as an assistant at Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh in Sin Ming Road for over 20 years. The owner was her brother-in-law. She asked her husband to help out at Rong Cheng for a few years before the couple started their own business.
Business dried up during the pandemic, causing losses for three consecutive years. Daily sales sometimes dropped to only S$100. Their monthly rent was over S$9,000 and they had one employee earning S$4,000. The daily sales were not enough to cover expenses.
The losses drained their savings. They also accumulated over S$100,000 in bank debt.
Before the pandemic, the stall would close for one or two days each month. After the pandemic hit, they only rested for four days during Lunar New Year.
Ang left home at 5am every day and returned at 11pm, working behind the stove for 18 hours a day throughout the year.
Husband Dies Despite No Previous Health Issues
Ang had been suffering from a cold for three weeks before his death but continued working at the stall as usual. He only stopped working four days before his death when he could no longer carry on.
On 9 Jan 2025, he told his wife not to worry and that he could “live for a few more years.” Around 11pm that same day, he suddenly experienced breathing difficulties and was rushed to the hospital.
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Chua stayed with her husband at the hospital that night. She told him she would find it hard to keep running the business without him and asked if she could let the stall go.
“He held on to my hand very tightly, meaning that he didn’t want me to,” Chua said in a 4 Jun interview with online food channel HappyCat.
Ang squeezed his wife’s hand tightly until she promised to do her best to keep the stall running. He died shortly after 5am on 10 Jan 2025.
Doctors told Chua that her husband died from overexertion, which weakened his body’s resistance. Ang had no history of hypertension, high blood sugar, or high cholesterol.
Chua described their partnership as being “like a pair of hands for many years.” She said losing her husband meant she had “lost one hand.”
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Following her husband’s funeral, Chua took only two weeks off before reopening the stall to honour his final wishes.
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