Late Prata Hawker Mr Mohgan Told Wife On Day Of Sudden Death: “Take Over The Shop, Don’t Give Other People”

Longtime customers of popular Joo Chiat prata stall Mr & Mrs Mohgan were devastated to learn of the recent passing of its owner Mr Somasundram Mohgan. The veteran hawker, who was 56, died after a fall at home triggered a heart attack.

He had been running his eponymous stall for 15 years alongside his wife Saroja Mohgan, 55. The couple were famous for their exceptionally crispy roti pratas, which typically attract long queues. Customers from all over Singapore throng the stall, waiting up to 90 minutes just for a taste of the prata that Mr Mohgan had finessed after being inspired by the crispiness of Chinese you tiao (dough fritters).

Was due for a health checkup before his passing

The Mohgans first started their business at Crane Road, before moving to nearby coffeeshop Tin Yeang Restaurant at Joo Chiat Road in 2018. During his later years, Mr Mohgan had suffered from health woes. “He had heart problems, but we couldn’t do anything until his blood pressure went down, so he was taking medication for that,” Mrs Mohgan tells 8days.sg.

She recounts that Mr Mohgan had been due for a heart check-up on March 24, though he unfortunately passed on two weeks before his appointment. “It’s very sad lah. Today is actually the day of his check-up,” a visibly thinner Mrs Mohgan shares solemnly. “On his last day, he kept telling us that his body [hurt]. But he refused to go to the hospital. He didn’t like hospitals. It was very hard to bring him there – he was very stubborn about that.”

Mr Mohgan’s hunch

Mr Mohgan passed away on March 11, a Friday. Just before that, he suddenly broached the topic of his stall’s succession to his wife. To Mrs Mohgan, it seemed like a sign. “It was just my feeling. I felt that he knew he was going off already,” she says.

The couple’s conversation happened after they closed their stall that day (the Mohgans’ prata usually sell out by 1pm). Mrs Mohgan recalls: “When we were sitting outside our shop, I saw that he seemed very sad. Before he died, he told me that I must take over the shop. Don’t give it to other people. He said, ‘A lot of people are eyeing the shop. If anything happens to me, don’t let them take over. You continue’.”

“His world was prata”

According to Mrs Mohgan, her husband was “very happy” working as a prata hawker, having started in the trade as a 12-year-old kid helping his mother. “If he wasn’t working, he [felt] pressure. Everything was about his prata. His world was prata. He wasn’t lazy, or the kind who didn’t want to work,” she says.

Among his last words to her, Mr Mohgan was adamant that she carried on his legacy. “He told me, ‘If the time comes when you cannot cope, or you are not feeling well, then you do something about the shop lah. But for now you have to take care of the shop, take care of my customers.”

Mrs Mohgan reopened her stall on March 17, six days after Mr Mohgan’s death. “The first day I came back, I couldn’t stand here. But I can’t stay at home. I keep on thinking of him. At least here I can mix around with my customers, and I fulfil his wishes,” she reveals.

Carrying on the Mr & Mrs Mohgan name

She now runs the stall with “two workers”, whom she refers to as her husband’s “friends”. She says: “They learnt [their skills] from him. He taught them how to cook his crispy prata. If you’re willing to learn honestly, he will teach. One [of them has] worked for him for very long already. He knows how to do things [Mr Mohgan’s] way.”

The making of the famed pratas

The two stall assistants make the prata dough and turn it into crispy discs, while Mrs Mohgan cooks the piquant curry that accompanies the prata. As always, she also takes customers’ orders, which she jots down on a clipboard. “Nothing changed, same lah. I maintain the standard,” she declares with a small smile. Her prata is still as popular as ever – during our visit, most of the customers in the coffeeshop were chowing down on her food.

On selling the business

But Mrs Mohgan looks startled when we ask if she had considered selling her stall and recipes after her husband’s passing. “We never considered selling the business,” she says. But once upon a time, the couple did sell their Crane Road stall - kinda - to a family friend to retire, only to resurface at nearby Joo Chiat Road a month later (it’s a long story - read all about it here).

The family friend, a fellow hawker named Jamaldeen Yosliya, also inherited Mr Mohgan’s stall assistant of six years, though not his prata recipes and usage of his famous name (she renamed the stall Famous Crispy Prata Indian Muslim Food).

Just one week after the handover, there was another plot twist: the assistant, Mohamed Jihath, announced that he intended to leave and start his own prata stall in Jurong with his brother. We point out to Mrs Mohgan about the possibility of her own employees leaving to start their own shops after learning the ropes from her husband. “Hur hur hur, I don’t know much about his business,” she replies vaguely.

Mr Mohgan at his Crane Road stall

The Mohgans have two grown-up daughters aged 24 and 21. “One graduated [from university] already. She’s a financial advisor, studied accounting at SMU. The second one is studying psychology at NUS,” shares Mrs Mohgan, adding that her children both have their own career plans and did not want to take over their parents’ business. On the topic of her own future plans, Mrs Mohgan muses: “Maybe next time when I want to retire, I will teach the next one to do the same thing and carry on the Mr Mohgan name.”

Mr & Mrs Mohgan, 300 Joo Chiat Rd, S427551. Open daily except Wed, 6.30pm-1.30pm (or till dough runs out, usually around 1pm).

Photos: Yip Jieying & Kelvin Chia

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