This hawker stall pays only $1 in rent and opens just on weekends for 2 hours

With more than 270 stalls housed on the second level of Block 335 in Smith Street, the Chinatown Complex Food Centre resembles something of a maze. 

In fact, organisers of a scavenger hunt may well use the place in tasking participants to find Kook@Chinatown — a stall selling Indian-style mutton soup.  

Many would fail the test. I almost did when I arrived there on a random Sunday afternoon. 

The stall, run by Singaporean Ng Khai Choon, exists on the perimeter of the hawker centre — far from the Michelin-rated chicken rice and char kway teow stalls in the centre of the labyrinth, where long queues snaked in between tables packed with diners. 

Though the row housed a dozen units, only six were open and running during the busy lunch hours. 

"The footfall here is very bad," said Ng. "The hawker centre is great — it's the biggest in Singapore — but the visibility for the corner stalls is very low. People don't even know you exist. 

"And because there are so many good food options here, if you're new, few people would give you a chance."

Ng, 57, isn't complaining too much though. After all, his monthly rent costs just a single dollar — as he brazenly advertises at the front of his stall.

He won the tender in September 2023, and has been operating the stall since January.

"Basically, how it works is, if the stall has been in the tender process for months without bids, I will recce the place to see if it meets my criteria. This stall is near my home, it's the ideal size and is quite airy. So I placed a bid for $1 and got it," he explained. 

"I don't want to overbid, so the whole idea is to bid low and take my chances; see if it works out."

As a result, Ng, who ran an advertising firm in his 30s before selling the business to a big corporation, sees fit to run his stall for just two hours a day twice a week — on Saturdays and Sundays, from 11am to 1pm. 

During the week, he runs another stall, selling the same dishes, at Hong Lim Food Centre, also in Chinatown. For that stall, his rent is a little higher than $1. 

"Actually if I had bid $1 for the Hong Lim unit, I would have got it," he said with a laugh. "But I didn't want to be in the news — too many stores for $1, people might question. So I bid for $44 — that was the stall's unit number." 

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Kook@Chinatown sells just four dishes — aloo gobi chapati, lentil soup, mixed salad and mutton ribs soup. Save for the latter, everything else is vegan. 

The mutton soup ($8.50), which came with six tender pieces of rib meat, reminded me of mulligatawny soup — a Tamil dish comprising lentils and rice. This version, of course, came without rice.  

Unlike typical versions of mutton soup found at prata joints up and down Singapore, Kook's version is yellowy, almost like it's made with a lentil base. The best part about it is the choice of spice level — mild, spicy and very spicy. I chose spicy and was greeted with a welcoming kick of heat on the first slurp. It was, in a word, delicious. 

If you're like me and put a premium on the quality of the meat, then Kook's mutton soup ranks supreme. The meat could be prodded off the bone with a gentle nudge of the plastic spoon, and unlike other Indian mutton soup dishes, the meat here is as fresh as they come. 

"It's another reason why I open just two days a week," said Ng, who says he makes a profit of about $1,000 each month. "So that I don't have to serve frozen meat."

But what inspired a Chinese lad like yourself to make this dish? I ask.

"I love mutton soup — both the Indian and Chinese versions; I eat it all the time," replied Ng, who cites the soup at Upper Boon Keng Road Food Centre (Haji M. Abdul Rajak) as his favourite.

"About 12 years back, I tried different versions of the dish in Singapore, and sad to say, it's not very consistent. Some days the meat is tender, some days no. So basically, I wanted to make my own perfect version.

"It was all through trial and error. I'll taste it, then add this and minus that. Luckily, I've got great taste buds." 

On each day, Ng prepares enough ingredients for just 10 bowls — the same goes for his Hong Lim branch. Though he also takes pre-orders on occasion.

"If someone was helping me, I could open for more than just two days a week and two hours each day. I've tried looking, but it's difficult. For 10 months, I hung up a 'Help Wanted' sign," said the hawker who explained that hawker stall workers must be citizens or PRs — they can't hire cheaper labour from overseas.  

"We do get help from the government. For instance, a hawker can terminate a lease with just one month's notice, unlike coffee shop leases that are usually binding for three years. 

"There are also grants like the energy efficient grant (for chillers and freezers) and the hawker productivity grant that reimburses 70-80 per cent of equipment purchases.

"Most importantly, I enjoy the job."

His $1 monthly rent term is for only two years. In 2026, the National Environment Agency will re-look the premises and dictate the new rental rate.

So if it increases to say, $300, would you continue with the stall? I ask.

"No, I'd rather bid for another stall for $1."

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This article was first published in Tabla. Permission required for reproduction.