So long, farewell: Ah ma who owns Maxwell Teochew Rice & Porridge retires, closes stall

For over four decades, the elderly lady boss of Maxwell Teochew Rice & Porridge - more fondly known as ah ma - has served nostalgic Teochew porridge and dishes to hungry diners. 

She first started the business 40 years ago to earn a living and raise her three children. 

Sadly, she's decided to hang up her apron for good. 

In a Facebook post dated Monday (Dec 4), hawker and foodie Melvin Chew shared in the group Hawker United - Dabao 2020 that he received news of ah ma "retiring for good", so her stall will be permanently closed.

One netizen also shared an image of a closure notice that had been stuck outside the stall front. 

"In view of ah ma's current health conditions, we have decided to cease our stall operations," it reads. 

"We would like to express our heartfelt appreciation for the great support and love shown to her over the many decades. Thank you." 

AsiaOne has reached out to Maxwell Teochew Rice & Porridge for confirmation. 

In their most recent Facebook post on Nov 4, they also shared that the stall had already closed for some time because of ah ma's health conditions. 

However, back then, the post wrote that the closure was temporary. 

Fans from Singapore and beyond 

In the comments section of Melvin's post, several netizens expressed their sadness over the bad news, as well as wishing ah ma well. 

There was also an English couple who shared that they've patronised the stall several times whenever they had a chance to do so in Singapore. 

The most recent time they did so was earlier in August and they added that her dishes still taste the same as how they last remembered. 

Like many other Teochew porridge establishments out there, ah ma would display a variety of dishes at the front of her stall and diners could pick and choose what they like. 

Some of her more popular menu items were braised pork belly, spicy shark meat, cabbage and hae bee hiam. 

These dishes can be paired with ah ma's iconic Teochew-style porridge, which she has perfected over the years. Either that, you can enjoy them with rice. 

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melissateo@asiaone.com