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Man Claims S’pore TikTokers Have Been Pretending to Help Ice-Cream Uncle Sell Ice-Cream for Contents

2022-11-04 , 3:56 pm

Man Claims S’pore TikTokers Have Been Pretending to Help Ice-Cream Uncle Sell Ice-Cream for Contents

Mr Lai claims that TikTokers have been pretending to help Mr Ng Teak Boon, 90, to sell his ice cream. They filmed themselves in the process, but the number of stocks remained unchanged.

Mr Ng is an itinerant hawker since 1974, selling his ice cream at Sim Lim Tower near an OCBC ATM machine. However, business has been slow and he would normally earn about S$300 a month.

Mr Ng used to sell the traditional ice cream with bread or biscuits, like other ice cream vendors. However, he does not sell them anymore and sells packaged ice cream instead.

Mr Lai then said that buying S$20 to S$30 of ice cream from Mr Ng would be more useful, rather than “sticking their labels on his cart”.

What are Itinerant Hawkers?

Itinerant hawkers were common back in the second half of the 19th century in Singapore. It is a concept where hawkers moved from place to place to sell their goods. Back then, they would sell everything including food, kitchen ware, and textile.

However, itinerant hawkers were seen as a problem by the government. Food items were deemed unsanitary and could be a risk of health issues including cholera and typhoid outbreaks.

Hence, most of these itinerant hawkers were relocated to hawker centres.

Mr Ng is one out of eight of the remaining itinerant hawkers in Singapore. Such licenses will not be issued to new applicants anymore.

Mr Lai Explains Why Mr Ng does Not Want to Move Locations to Sell his Ice Cream

If you are wondering why Mr Ng does not want to relocate to more crowded places like Orchard Road, here’s why.

Mr Ng has considered selling his ice cream at Orchard, but the distance from his house at Geylang Bahru to Orchard is far.

He also added that moving an ice cream cart is not an easy task.

Mr Ng previously got knocked down by a lorry while cycling to Sim Lim Tower.

Waterloo Street was another location he considered, but there is already an ice cream vendor there and he does not want to compete for business.

Mr Lai Looks Up to Mr Ng for Displaying the Spirit of the Silver Generation

Despite his old age, Mr Ng still continues to strive and work hard. Mr Lai said that he “really manifests the spirit and strength of the Silver Generation.”

Man Claims S’pore TikTokers Have Been Pretending to Help Ice-Cream Uncle Sell Ice-Cream for Contents