$1 desserts no more: 83-year-old hawker at Commonwealth food centre retires after 50 years

Where can one get desserts for just $1 these days? Well, up until most recently, they were available at Xi Le Ting in Commonwealth Crescent Market & Food Centre. But not anymore.

In a Facebook post by My Community on Saturday (March 16), it reported that the stall has since shuttered, following the centre's two-month renovation from October to December.

"Goodbye Xi Le Ting! Queenstown's favourite tau suan and cheng tng stall have closed.

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"We have never liked green bean soup until we tried [the one] at Auntie Yang's stall. Happy Retirement!!" The post read.

AsiaOne had reported in July last year that the stall, which specialises in traditional Chinese desserts or tong shui, was run by octogenerian Yang Feng Ying (transliteration) for the past 50 years.

According to 8days, Xi Le Ting was "mostly a one-woman show", with Feng Ying's husband offering her his help every now and then. Running the stall required hard work as Feng Ying would typically begin preparations at 4am, before her stall opened at 10am.

The stall, which had a 4.7-star rating from 51 reviews on Google, would often draw a long line of customers eager to savour her day's offerings.

The simple menu consisted of just four hot desserts — cheng tng, bubur terigu, red bean soup and green bean soup.

The amazing part? Each bowl cost just $1, with an extra $0.20 for takeaways.

8days had reported that Feng Ying's retirement had been on the cards for some time but she'd found it "boring" to stay at home, and customers had begged her to continue. However, it seems the day has finally come.

Online, customers reacted with dismay at news of the closure and shared their fond memories of the stall.

Wrote a fan: "I think this stall offers one of the best green bean soups and other desserts as well, and no other stalls seem able to compete. You will never find another other desserts stalls as good as this granny when it comes to her desserts!"

One commenter also lamented that it's "very hard to find traditional desserts", as "almost all are very lousy and expensive".

Said another: "Sad news. The da mai (bubur terigu), red bean and cheng tng is authentic, old school and the best. Will miss very much but also thank you auntie for all these years."

Many others wished them a happy retirement, while another commenter expressed hope that their daughter could take over.

ALSO READ: With no successor, 42-year-old dim sum shop in Bedok set to close end March

candicecai@asiaone.com