50-year-old hawker Zhong Caifa, a single father who used to run a rojak stall at a Telok Blangah coffeeshop, had to close down his business on Chinese New Year’s eve because he was earning little to no money for the last 6 months, according to Shin Min Daily News.
His stall was not making much money and he then had to get a part time job as a security guard at a hotel to make ends meet, and it eventually became too much for him and he ended up closing down his stall.
Zhong told SMDN that his stall’s operating costs had risen by 20% and he kept his prices stagnant so as not to lose his regular customers.
But it didn’t work out for him as he earned only $400 over 2 months, and sometimes he would only earn about $12 a day.
The most he made a day was $65.
He considered moving his stall somewhere else but the rental fees at other locations were too high – he recalled finding a place at a Toa Payoh coffeeshop but the rent was $3,000 per month.
Zhong told SMDN that he has a 9-year-old son who lives in Thailand with his ex-wife, and he has to remit $1,000 every month to take care of his son.
Earning little to no money from his Rojak business, he got a part time job as a security guard at a hotel and worked from 8pm to 8am, before taking a short nap and after that, going out to open his rojak stall.
He managed to earn about $100 more each day from doing this, but he got too tired and would often end up falling asleep at his stall.