Posted on 08/20/2022 6:04:21 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Most people dream about having a cushy retirement to make up for their decades of toil.
However, there are some who insist on working despite their old age and that includes one 90-year-old hawker who goes by the surname Liu.
Liu, who was born in 1932, runs a tau kwa stall at Blk 628 Ang Mo Kio Ave 4 and is one of the oldest vendors in the market, according to Shin Min Daily News.
Currently, his son helps out with the family business as Liu is too frail to do hard labour. But the passionate man still makes it a point to go down to the stall to help out.
"The elderly still need to have something to do to pass their time," explained Liu's son, who is the youngest of eight children.
Liu's first encounter with beancurd happened after the Japanese Occupation. Due to the war and his family's poor financial status, he was unable to receive an education, which prompted him to do door-to-door deliveries for the tau kwa factory that his mother worked at.
He would also try to make more money by buying and reselling noodles and soft tofu to customers during his delivery stints.
Unfortunately, when Liu was in his twenties, the beancurd factory shuttered for good, causing Liu and his mother to lose their jobs. But, the tenacious mother-and-son duo did not give up and decided to start something of their own.
They purchased stone mills and soybeans to make their own tau kwa. Eventually, with the concerted efforts of their family, the business picked up and they even managed to upgrade from a delivery bicycle to a small delivery lorry.
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When their kampong was demolished, Liu, then 43, became a tau kwa hawker.
When food production became regulated to be done in proper industrial areas, Liu sourced for his products from suppliers.
Till today, he refuses to retire and would arrive at his stall at 1am every day for another day of work.
He isn't the only elderly hawker who still wants to work. Lawrence Chua, 78, who owns 96 Kwai Luck Cooked Food, continues running his mee siam stall after years of being in the trade.
Despite having a heart bypass surgery a few months ago. Lawrence said that despite his age, he believes that work is good for his well-being and "old people must have something to do".
Wow. Selling vile tofu for half a century and never having been prosecuted for it. Amazing
I dont claim to know anything about these life extending genes Ive heard some Asians supposedly have. I dont know a great many that retired “cushy”.
I do know that my (non-Asian) family members that continued to work, like my grandmother that worked full time length weeks into her 90s, lived a lot longer than those who retired to watch TV.
I m not sure if it’d genes or lifestyle. A lot of Asians who were long-lived in their own country revert to U.S. health when the move to the U.S.
Older people, like myself, at 87 don’t need something to Pass The Time.
They need to be doing something that useful, fulfilling and has value.
Example learn to play a musical instrument. I am learning to play Guitar.
I assume this is Singapore.
Arrives at his stall everyday at 1AM? Could that be a typo? Unless maybe at that location there are pre dawn shoppers out. Anybody know?
Unless there’s another Ang Mo Kio somewhere else.
My mom is almost 101 years old. She must have work to do or she gets very antsy and frustrated. I bought a scanner and give her piles of paper to scan every day. It’s the same pile, but she doesn’t know that and it gives her a great feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction that she is being productive. As she says, we don’t age, only our bodies do. She is now asking me for other tasks and I’m not sure what to give her.
I thought you were going to say you gave her old family photos to scan. I have no idea if she is capable of scanning them and saving them to a pc, but that would be a lot more useful.
I’m glad that she is getting satisfaction from the “work” that you gave her.
Unfortunately she can’t see photos and it would just upset her if I asked her to scan them in. We also have the beginning of dementia starting, so she’s limited with what she can do. I’m wracking brain trying to think of tasks.
I’ve read where music is often soothing for folks with dementia. In some cases where they can’t remember a thing but then can sing an old hymn perfectly!
Maybe it would be as simple as “Hey - I have all of these old CD’s and can you listen to them to see if they still sound okay? Put the good ones in this pile and the bad ones in that pile?”
Find some CD’s of the stuff she used to like. Of course that means being able to handle a CD player which isn’t the most simple thing.
I don’t know. You’re a kind and loving child to find activities for her.
Deaf.
I have a decorative long-handled shoe horn from my Norwegian grandmother. It has a saying on it that is translated as “Those know best how the shoe fits that wears them.”
I can’t imagine what it must be like for you. Or your mother.
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