A veteran hawker who ran a barbecue stall for more than 30 years died in his sleep just over three months after shuttering his Bukit Panjang stall — before he could fulfil his wish of reopening elsewhere.
In April, Shin Min Daily News reported that the barbeque stall, 163 Ikan Bakar BBQ, located at Block 163 Gangsa Road, would close on May 10 after 22 years of operations, amid rising costs.
Just over three months after the closure, its 71-year-old stall owner, Cai Liang Xi (transliterated), died on Aug 23.
His widow, 73-year-old Huang Chun Hua, told Shin Min at his wake on Aug 26 that her husband had started taking medication for a heart condition decades ago, but was in good health over the years.
“After the stall closed, a friend introduced him to a job selling chicken cutlets at a night market in the Sembawang area,” she said.
Scroll to continue reading
Just a day before his death, Cai told her that he planned to continue the job only until the end of August.
He was supposed to head to Sembawang for work on the day he died, but did not wake up even by 10am.
“I didn’t think much of it and simply switched off the air-conditioning in the room. Around noon, I went in to ask him what he wanted for lunch. But when I touched him, I realised he had no body heat.”
Husband talked about missing the stall before his death
Huang said Cai had asked about the barbeque stall just a week before his death, saying that he missed it very much.
“Many people also called to ask about it. We really wanted to reopen, but unfortunately, he never got the chance.”
Read Full Article At Source
