\n<\/p>\n
At first glance, Ms Aisha Tan Xiuzhi is often mistaken for being Malay, something she has grown used to.<\/p>\n
The 53-year-old wears a tudung, a beautiful, long dress that resembles a traditional Malay cultural outfit, and a warm smile to welcome patrons into her halal restaurant in Joo Chiat.<\/p>\n
But the moment she speaks, a stream of Mandarin flows effortlessly.<\/p>\n
“Because of what I wear, people assume I’m Malay, or I’ve converted to Islam. When I say I’m from China, they say they wouldn’t have expected that,” she told me in Mandarin.<\/p>\n
We sat in a cosy nook of her noodle restaurant, our conversation occasionally punctuated by soft clattering from the kitchen. Customers were few, but the midday quiet was not business as usual for the establishment. Our visit coincided with Ramadan, the Islamic month of fasting from dawn to sunset.<\/p>\n
Ms Aisha has been living in Singapore for the past 14 years. Born in Xinjiang, China, she later married and moved to the neighbouring province of Qinghai, where her husband is from.<\/p>\n
Back then, she had no plans to go abroad. She was more than content to run the foodstuffs trading business she and her husband owned and operated, specialising in Qinghai specialities such as cordyceps, a type of fungi used in Chinese medicine.<\/p>\n
And then she had children, and began thinking about their education and their future.<\/p>\n
And so, at 39, the intrepid mother of two arrived in Singapore with her 14-year-old son in tow. A year later, her nine-year-old daughter joined them and enrolled in Primary 3.<\/p>\n
The plan was simple: Stay for a few years, help the kids settle in, then return to China.<\/p>\n
But when a few years had passed, she found it difficult to leave her kids behind.<\/p>\n
“I felt they were still too young, so I stayed a bit longer. Then, before I knew it, 14 years had passed,” she said.<\/p>\n
Today, Ms Aisha runs Yi Zun Noodle, a halal Chinese restaurant known for its hand-pulled noodles and Xinjiang-style dishes that now boasts not one but three branches.<\/p>\n
Besides the original Joo Chiat outlet, she’s opened two more at Marina Square and City Square Mall.<\/p>\n
But how did she go from study mama to successful entrepreneur and restaurateur?<\/p>\n<\/div>\n