SINGAPORE – When a coffee shop stall became available in Serangoon Central, Mitchell Ong snapped up the lease for the ninth outlet of his Shiok Hokkien Mee chain. The location was near his family home, and he wanted his mother to see how far he had come in life.
But she never saw it. His mother died from multiple myeloma, a rare blood cancer that affects the bone marrow, on July 4 at age 63, just three weeks before the stall opened on July 26.
“My plan was for her to see the new outlet and show her how well I have done,” says the 27-year-old, tears welling up in his eyes.
The day after her funeral, he returned to work.
“If I stayed at home, I would be depressed. It feels empty without her around,” he says. “Since she died, I have thrown myself into work.”
Ong is no stranger to rolling with life’s punches.
He started Shiok Hokkien Mee at Golden Mile Food Centre in late 2023. The chain, which now has nine outlets and hires 36 full-time and 10 part-time employees, is furiously expanding.
A tough childhood
Ong grew up in a one-room rental flat in Aljunied Crescent, sharing a mattress on the floor with a brother two years older. His other brother, a year younger, lived with his maternal grandmother. His father worked at hawker stalls as a cook or stall assistant, while his mother ran a two-seat hair salon in Jalan Bukit Merah.
At age six, Ong helped his paternal grandmother, who worked as a wet-market toilet cleaner, collect cans and cardboard to sell on the side. She passed him and his elder brother five-cent and 10-cent coins from each haul to have the occasional fast-food treat. While they were ecstatic at being able to order a McChicken burger each – they could not afford Happy Meals – they had to endure cashiers’ loud complaints about having to count the coins.
“For the sake of eating the burgers, we put down our pride,” he recalls. “Our precious treat was paid for with my Ah Ma’s hard-earned money.”
He did not realise his family was poor until he invited classmates home in Primary 3. They mocked his small, dirty flat and labelled him a “poor kid” and “financial problem kid”.
Being looked down on left him with low self-esteem, he reflects, but also gave him “the motivation and desire to do well in life”.
From age 12, he helped his father sell fish soup noodles and sesame oil chicken at an Ang Mo Kio coffee shop. His father started working at a Hokkien mee stall in 2016, first in Toa Payoh and later at Chomp Chomp Food Centre in Serangoon Garden.
He made his sons fry the noodles, serve customers and handle the till, mostly unpaid. Ong had to help out from 5pm to 9pm after school and from 11am to 9pm during school holidays.
“My dad was very fierce. We had no choice,” he says. “But looking back, I am so grateful that he made us help him. That’s how I acquired my Hokkien mee frying skills.”
From age 15, he took on whatever part-time work he could find. He installed price tags on supermarket shelves before they went electronic, waited tables at eateries Bali Thai and The Providore, and packed vegetables. Much of his earnings went towards defraying household expenses.
Recognition at the workplace helped undo years of feeling worthless. He was often the first to arrive and last to leave. “With hard work and my own abilities, I was able to get recognised, even admired,” he says.
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