In April this year, hawker Thian Le Yong went viral. His stall 543 Laksa, a curiously gritty joint in Bukit Panjang, is where he cooks a very limited batch of about 75 bowls of laksa a day, which usually sells out in under three hours.
After being featured by media outlets like 8days.sg, long queues started forming at Le Yong’s stall, which is located in a quiet coffeeshop within Senja-Cashew Community Club. “I teared a bit — I was happy and touched,” the 29-year-old tells us of his overnight business boom, which also saw Minister of Foreign Affairs Vivian Balakrishnan dropping by for laksa.
But when the June holidays rolled around and borders started opening for travellers, Le Yong saw his number of customers plunge steeply by as much as 50 per cent. It also didn’t help that more people had stopped working from home after Covid-19 restrictions eased, which affected the footfall for heartland eateries like Le Yong’s (who only operated his stall in the morning). "And some people were only intrigued by my laksa at the start," he observes.
Closed his stall to avoid losses
Despite being in business for just four months, Le Yong forfeited his deposit to shut down his stall early. He had started reducing his food quantity when his customers dwindled, but still struggled with wastage. “I ended up cooking and not selling — it's very frustrating when people are not coming [to my stall],” he shares.https://www.8days.sg/eatanddrink/hawkerfood/543-laksa-bukit-panjang-closed-657056
https://forums.fuckwarezone.com.sg/...l-after-business-abruptly-fell-by-50.6774491/
