Unlike most freshies who would get part-time jobs or take the opportunity to travel before starting university, pals Gerald Lee (left), Kelvin Ching (centre), and Tan Kuan Feng (right), all 20, decided to set up their own F&B venture: mee hoon kueh hawker stall Jiak Mee.

Located at the cafeteria above Bishan bus interchange, the two-week-old Jiak Mee (which means ‘eat noodles’ in Hokkien) is already attracting queues despite being so new. Their stall offers traditional hand-made ban mian and mee hoon kueh, as well as sides like fried chicken wings and luncheon meat sticks.

It’s an offshoot of Kelvin’s family mee hoon kueh chain 

The guys, who have known each other since they were 14, have just completed their National Service. They will begin their undergrad studies at the National University of Singapore in August this year – Kelvin in the College of Humanities and Sciences, Gerald in industrial engineering, and Kuan Feng computer science. 

While the lads were working part-time at Kelvin’s parents’ hawker chain called Traditional Handmade Mee Koon Kueh, his folks suggested that the pals start an offshoot of their brand. The mee hoon kueh business, which started in 2023, quickly expanded to its current four outlets in Boon Keng, Holland Drive, Jurong, and Tampines. Kelvin’s parents also own zi char chain Ching Seafood and a cai png stall.

Jiak Mee has the same menu as Traditional Handmade Mee Koon Kueh and uses the same recipes as its outlets. The difference is that it operates under a snazzier name and a trendier image. Some of the ingredients, like dough for their handmade noodles, fried ikan bilis and chilli are supplied by the ban mian chain’s central kitchen.

The guys gave their biz a fun moniker and got someone to design a signboard featuring cutesy Y2K-style mascots supposedly modelled after themselves, though they gamely admit that these mascots… look nothing like them. The prices are comparable to the chain’s other mee hoon kueh stalls, which starts from $4.50 for a bowl.

Why start a business when they are entering uni soon?

Though they didn’t have any cooking experience before opening Jiak Mee, these guys had no qualms about jumping into F&B. Their parents are also very supportive of their endeavour. 

"Rather than just working for someone else, we felt it was a good idea to start something that belongs to us. That way, we can earn some passive income when we are in uni. Such opportunities don’t come often," reasons Gerald. Furthermore, they have the guidance and support of Kelvin’s parents, who are ever ready to step in to help out.

The partners invested around $25,000 to open Jiak Mee on Jan 3. The young towkays hope that the business will stabilise in the next seven months, so they can hire workers to run the stall when they are in school. Meanwhile, they are tending to the stall themselves for now.

While they admit that getting manpower will be a challenge, they have already started looking for extra help and are confident that they will be able to juggle their side hustle and studies when the time comes.

“If we really need help, we can always ask my family or workers from the other stalls to come over,” says Kelvin.

Business is better than parents’ best-performing outlet

To prepare for their first hawker venture, the guys trained for two months at Kelvin’s parents’ various mee hoon kueh outlets. But they didn’t expect business at their new stall to be so good right from the start that they could barely cope with the demand.  

According to Kelvin, business exceeded their expectations and is “better than [his] parents’ best-performing outlet” in Tampines. For the past two weeks, the stall has been selling more than 200 bowls of noodles daily and sometimes the wait can stretch to 20 minutes during peak hours. The three of them take turns to cook.

“We need three people at the stall, if not we can’t manage the crowd. We open daily and have not had proper rest since we opened,” says Kelvin.

They are quite the auntie killers

They credit the good turnout to their accessible location as well as their youth. “Customers are more willing to support a business when they see that it is run by young hawkers. They find us more approachable and are more willing to offer feedback about our food, which we appreciate,” notes Gerald. 

“I think Singaporeans really want to support young hawkers ‘cos the hawker culture is slowly dying out,” adds Kelvin.

While the stall gets a good mix of students, office crowd and senior residents patronising the joint, the guys get the most attention from aunties.

“A lot of them will come over to give us advice and feedback on our food after they finish eating. They will say, ‘Don’t feel that auntie is luo suo (long-winded in Mandarin), but auntie just wants to help you.’ And some aunties buy us fruits too. We were shocked,” laughs Kelvin. 

The menu

There are two options on offer — Dry ($5.30) or Traditional Soup ($4.80). Customers can choose from mee hoon kueh, ban mian, you mian and ee mian for their carb. The first three are hand-made with dough supplied by Traditional Handmade Mee Koon Kueh’s central kitchen daily.

Dry Mee Hoon Kueh, $5.30 (8 DAYS Pick!)

The dry mee hoon kueh is kinda like Malaysian pan mee – dressed in a blend of black sauce and sesame oil and topped with well-seasoned minced pork, mani cai, fried ikan billis, shallots and a runny-yolked egg. 

Ban Mian Soup, $4.80

The soup version comes with the same fixings. Our home-style ban mian was cooked al dente and the clear soup, made by simmering ikan bilis for at least three hours, was a little bland during our first tasting. 

The guys tweaked the recipe and a much-improved version was served at our repeat visit a couple of days later – this time, the soup boasted a more robust ikan bilis flavour. It is light yet tasty. Those who prefer a cleaner palate will enjoy this.

Chicken Cutlet, $6 (8 DAYS Pick!)

Chicken Wings, $6  

Crispy Luncheon Meat, $6

The luncheon meat fries, though nicely chunky and crunchy, are a little on the dry side. We also find the panko coating a bit thick and unwieldy to eat — so much so that at first glance this dish looks more like fish fingers.

Jiak Mee is at Bishan Cafeteria, 514 Bishan St 13, #02-494, S570514. Opens daily, 7.30am to 8.30pm. More info via Facebook and Instagram.

Photos: Aik Chen

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