In a tragic turn of events, the 65-year-old owner of Xin Ming Road Bak Kut Teh in Bishan passed away last January due to extreme exhaustion - his final moments spent urging his wife to keep their decades-old family business alive.
The late Ang Yong Seh had been working relentlessly to repay a staggering S$100,000 debt accumulated during the pandemic's darkest days, revealed his grieving widow Lilian Chua, 66, in an emotional interview with Shin Min Daily News.
At their humble stall nestled in Block 36 Sin Ming Drive, Ang would routinely put in brutal 18-hour shifts behind the steaming cauldrons of herbal broth - even while battling a persistent flu during his final weeks.
"I begged him to rest," Chua recounted with visible anguish. "But he just smiled and told me not to worry - that he still had years left." Those would prove to be fateful words when on January 9th this year, Ang suddenly collapsed from breathing difficulties and passed away hours after being rushed to Tan Tock Seng Hospital around midnight.
The couple's culinary journey began in the vibrant 1990s after perfecting their craft at the renowned Rong Cheng Bak Kut Teh - originally founded by Chua's brother-in-law. But COVID-19 brought unprecedented hardship; some days they barely cleared S$100 in sales while facing crushing overheads including S$9,000 monthly rent and S$4,000 staff wages.
"We burned through our life savings just trying to survive," Chua explained. The bank loan became their lifeline - one that demanded extraordinary sacrifice. Their only respite? Four precious days during Lunar New Year before returning to their punishing routine where Ang would rise before dawn at 5am and return home well past nightfall at 11pm.
What makes this tragedy particularly cruel is that Ang had no prior health conditions. Medical professionals attributed his sudden passing directly to chronic overwork destroying his immune system - a sobering reminder of Singapore's relentless hustle culture.
Through tears streaming down her face during a June interview with HappyCat food channel (uploaded June 4), Chua shared her husband's dying moment: "When I asked if I could let go of the stall... he squeezed my hand so tight I understood immediately." True to her promise made beside that hospital bed, she reopened just two weeks after laying him rest - every bowl now served as living tribute.
