Owner of famous Amoy Street Food Centre fish soup stall to sell business for at least $700k, will close if no successor

A sight that many Central Business District office workers are undoubtedly familiar with are the long queues at Piao Ji Fish Porridge during lunch. 

But this may soon be no more as the 79-year-old owner, Yar Choon Phiow, is trying to sell the business. 

In a Facebook post on Friday (Oct 13), the establishment, which is one of the popular fish soup stalls at Amoy Street Food Centre, announced that they are looking for someone to buy over the business. 

And it's because Choon Piow's health isn't doing too well. 

The elderly hawker told Shin Min Daily News that although business is booming, he has no choice to sell the business because he has "run out of energy". 

In fact, earlier in May, Choon Piow suffered from heatstroke, which resulted in a lung infection. 

As a result, this has caused him to become breathless easily especially when he works fast during peak hours at the stall. 

To cope, the hawker has shortened his opening hours and the stall only opens on Fridays to Sundays from 11am to 3pm. 

He wants to sell the business for at least $700K

The asking price for Piao Ji Fish Porridge is between $700K to $800K. 

And if the elderly hawker isn't able to sell it, he plans on shuttering the stall for good. 

While Choon Piow has a younger brother, Yar Choon Niong, who used to work with him, Choon Niong too finds it physically taxing to continue on with the business. 

The hawker also has a daughter but she will not be taking over the business as she has her own career. 

Choon Piow is the first-generation proprietor of the business and has run it for a whopping 54 years since he was just 25 years old. 

Pao Ji Fish Porridge first started out in 1969 as a humble pushcart stall along Hong Kong Street and in 1983, it was one of the first stalls to move into Amoy Street Food Centre.

In an interview with Timeout Singapore back in April 2017, Choon Phiow revealed that the life of a hawker is not a glamorous one, especially with the long hours and difficult customers. 

"Tell everyone: don’t work in this industry," he told the lifestyle publication.

AsiaOne has reached out to Choon Piow for more details. 

Other elderly hawkers are trying to sell their business too 

Just last week, it was reported that Phua Gek Sia, the owner of famous Michelin Bib Gourmand brand To-Ricos Kway Chap, is trying to sell his recipes as he is retiring.

Speaking to AsiaOne, the 70-year-old hawker shared that he made the decision because his age is catching up with him.

"Actually retirement is not my main motive. But I am not getting any younger, I would like [to] take [a] backseat and have a strategic investor to assist in expanding the business.

"As we all know, manpower shortage is always an issue. Especially for hawkers, we can only hire local and PRs. And for kway chap, it involves a lot of cleaning of the organs [meat], not exactly something that people aspire to do," he shared.

In the event there is no buyer, Gek Sia will continue to work but with reduced hours.

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melissateo@asiaone.com 

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