The famous Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow stall at 20 Ghim Moh Road Market & Food Centre has called it a day after the owner fainted on Nov. 21 while stir-frying the dish, Shin Min Daily News reported.

This triggered the owners' official retirement a week later due to the health scare.

Business boomed

The boss, Tan Hock Guan, 77, told Shin Min that he experienced a boom in business at Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow over the past five years, before, during, and after the pandemic.

This resulted in him working more days a week.

In response, he decided to open the business earlier.

He went to the stall at 2am every day to prepare ingredients.

He would fry more than 200 plates of char kway teow a day, and clean up at 4pm.

In total, he spent about 13 hours at the stall almost daily.

By the time Tan and his wife, Chang Kha Noi, who ran the stall together immersed themselves in the more hectic workload half a decade ago, they were in their 70s.

Fainted at the stall

The breaking point for Tan came on Tuesday at around 1pm.

He was stir-frying char kway teow and was down to the last 10 plates before he called it a day.

Just when he was about to press on, he lost consciousness.

After waking up in the hospital, his wife told him that he had suddenly fainted.

Tan said: "Fortunately, I didn't hit my head. I only had a slight pain in my arms and ribs."

Told to rest for a month, decided to retire

The doctor told Tan to rest for a month and preferably not drive in the meantime.

However, this health scare made the couple fear for their well-being, and they decided to take this opportunity to close the business for the sake of their health.

Tan said: "Actually, we had the idea of ​​retiring two years ago due to my wife's health. But she was unwilling to disappoint customers, so we persisted."

"We just gradually reduced the number of business days from four days a week to three days and then to two days."

"However, after this incident, we also realised that health is the most important thing. If something happens again when we fry char kway teow in the future, we may not be as lucky as this time."

Credits late friend for showing him how to make char kway teow

Tan's success was due to a late friend, he also revealed.

He said he would not have achieved success with his char kway teow business over 54 years if not for his late friend, who showed him the ropes and taught him how to make the dish with a signature taste that customers have come to love.

Tan said: "I was just a grocery store employee. It was my friend who suggested fried kway teow and gave me guidance. I improved it and created a unique flavor, which is why I am where I am today."

When Tan first learned how to fry char kway teow, he was unemployed, he revealed.

Established in 1969, Tan Hock Guan and Chang Kha Noi began their hawker journey as a street stall at Thye Hong Centre in Redhill, before moving to their current location in 1978.

Top photos via Shin Min Daily News & Guan Kee Fried Kway Teow Facebook