A minced meat noodles stall in the coffee shop at Changi Simei Community Club really sells its bak chor mee with hum.
The stall that serves the unorthodox combination was sussed out by Lianhe Zaobao on Sep. 1, 2021.
Where can you find hum in bak chor mee?
This was after the Chinese daily heard that foodies flocked to that stall in particular after Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong posted a photo on Instagram on Aug. 31 showing cockles in his minced meat noodles.
Cockles are typically added to laksa, which is typically sold at minced meat noodles stall.
Putting cockles in minced meat noodles is almost unheard of.
National Day Rally talking point
This whole hum in bak chor mee talking point stemmed from PM Lee's Aug. 29 National Day Rally speech.
He emphasised that consumers have to help share the cost of higher wages for low wage workers in Singapore, adding that he is glad that many Singaporeans are willing to show their support for those earning far less.
“But businesses will still have to pass on some of the costs to their customers. So all of us, as consumers, must also chip in. Pay a little bit more for some of our favourite things, like bubble tea or bak chor mee, with or without 'hum', to help the shop cover higher cleaning and waste collection costs,” Lee said.
PM Lee's "hum" reference is likely a nod to his 2006 National Day Rally, where he said "mee siam mai hum".
Using the Instagram post as a lead, Zaobao traced the photo to its source, which was then confirmed as a stall opened by Fei Siong Group.
Uptick in business
A Zaobao reporter quizzed the 32-year-old stall assistant about minced meat noodles business at the community club coffee shop and was told there was an uptick in sales following PM Lee's enthusiasm for putting hum into his bak chor mee.
Zaobao reported that it is understood that a Prime Minister’s Office staff had gone down to the Changi Simei Community Club Fei Siong stall to pack minced meat noodles and asked for cockles.
The stall assistant admitted to Zaobao that he felt strange when he first received this request.
But any sort of news is still publicity and there is bound to be buzz.
Chen Jinming, the director of Fei Siong, who is in charge of the business, told Zaobao: "The prime minister's post has indeed given us good publicity, but there is also some pressure, because the food standard must be getting better and better now."
Top photos via PM Lee Hsien Loong & Google Maps