Hawker, 71, dies in his sleep 3 months after closing Bukit Panjang BBQ stall: ‘We really wanted to reopen’
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.
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.”
She said her husband had learnt the trade from relatives in the 1980s and went on to run the business for more than three decades.
The couple had hoped to return to Clementi, where they first started the business, and had been looking for a coffee shop where they could reopen the stall.
However, there were no suitable vacancies at the time.
Shin Min previously reported that the couple started their barbeque stall in 1989 at Block 378 Clementi Avenue 5 before moving to the Gangsa Road stall in 2004.
In April, Huang had told the Chinese daily that the stall was not merely a source of income for the family, but also another “home” where they could spend time together.
Knew each other since young, married for 40 years
Huang said she and her husband had known each other since they were young, having both grown up in a kampung near Sixth Avenue in Bukit Timah.
The couple were married for 40 years.
In her eyes, her husband was not perfect, but she would give him 80 out of 100.
“Which married couple doesn’t argue? He was a good husband and would never raise his voice. Most importantly, we learnt to accommodate each other. Our way of getting along was to be tolerant and give way to each other,” she said.
Huang added that Cai enjoyed being around people and listening to Chinese opera, so she had specially arranged for a qingchang performance — a live Hokkien opera performance — at his wake.
Huang said her husband had worked as a driver when he was younger and had also sold kueh chap before eventually setting up the barbecue stall.
The couple have a son and a daughter.
Family had planned Taiwan trip in October
Their daughter, Cai Hui Fen (transliterated), said the family travelled to Taiwan in June, but her father did not join them on that trip.
She subsequently booked flights on Aug 21, hoping to take him along on another family trip to Taiwan in October.
Two days later, he died.
The family never got to make the trip together.
Explore more on these topics
See something interesting? Contribute your story to us.
