Choon Seng Teochew Porridge is a famous 90-year-old stall

Jeremy Tan looked no older than 30. Dressed in a Nike dry fit T-shirt and wet market boots, the young man sat down with us after closing up shop for the day. And though he had spent the last half-hour vigorously cleaning the stall, he was at ease as we posed him questions regarding his family’s nine-decade-old business, Choon Seng Teochew Porridge, a famous stall in Farrer Park whose existence can be traced back to before World War 2.

The 32-year-old breezed through most of our queries, but there was a momentary pause as he pondered the last one. Why, unlike so many in his situation, has he decided to join his parents in their hawker business?

“Because I am proud of it,” he finally said, as if he couldn’t be surer of anything in the worl...