Feast your eyes on some of Singapore's hottest hawkers

Whether it is a chiselled torso, impish smile or smouldering eyes, these hawkers are drawing customers with their sizzling good looks.

Shirli Ling

8889 Chicken Hot Pot

#01-1635, 133 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 3

Opens: 3 to 9.45pm (weekdays), 11am to 9.45pm (weekends), closed on Wednesdays

She already turns heads as the attractive lady boss of 8889 Chicken Hot Pot.

But customers may do a double take, now that Ms Shirli Ling is also a bona fide movie star.

The 33-year-old mother of five plays tattooed recruit Chow Ai Lian in Jack Neo's new local comedy film Ah Girls Go Army, which is showing in cinemas here.

A spin-off to his popular Ah Boys To Men series, it follows the first batch of female recruits as they serve national service in Singapore's near future.

Together with another mean girl aptly named Lau Lan Lan (Charlene Huang), Ms Ling's "Ah Lian" character makes life difficult for the rest of her bunkmates.

For the hawker, whose children are aged six to 16, this role, as well as joining the entertainment industry, is a dream come true.

She was a calefare for six years, "hoping that someone will spot me", while working as a nightclub dancer-singer and selling cosmetics at a department store on the side.

In 2019, she plucked up her courage to join Star Search, but was rejected and "cried for a whole day".

Afterwards, she solemnly declared to her husband, a 34-year-old field engineer, that she would drop her show-business ambitions and hunker down to being a hawker for more financial stability.

But when the online open audition for Ah Girls Go Army came along, Ms Ling could not resist another try - even though the age limit was 30 years old.

She says: "I don't think they chose me because of my acting, as it was very lousy in the video. I think it was the sincerity in my self-introduction that caught their attention.

"I feel very lucky and happy to finally have this opportunity."

Her debut acting role came at a good time too, providing her with a source of income.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions, the low-key Ang Mo Kio coffee shop she operates at allows only two persons to dine at a table, which has impacted business drastically. She says she is covering costs, but barely making profit, and had to cut down on household expenses.

Her sister mans a second hotpot stall at 447 Bukit Batok West Avenue 9, and Ms Ling is now looking into franchising plans.

Her hotpot stock repertoire includes seven flavours, such as original, mala, herbal and collagen. Her latest addition to the menu is Drunken Chicken, where the chicken is marinated in alcohol overnight.

She is also hoping her new-found stardom will nudge up sales, as being a hawker is her main rice bowl.

On why she chose this unglamorous line of work, Ms Ling says: "I can be my own boss, I set the rules, I'm quite a good cook and I provide good food.

"If you work hard to earn money, people will look up to you."

Prior to the pandemic, business was booming and the lithe Ms Ling - who is 1.63m tall and weighs 47kg - was moving up to 50 kampung chickens a day.

Back when she was the sole cook, she used to arrive at the stall at 9am each day to wash piles of poultry "until I wanted to vomit".

She hated peeling the skin of 2kg of ginger and cutting the vegetables all by herself. She would sell out by 7pm, continue cooking till after 9pm due to overwhelming orders and finish up only past 11pm.

She says some male customers would turn up regularly to take photos with her or buy her drinks, but no one has tried to get fresh with her because her husband helps out at the stall four times a week.

"He has so many tattoos, men won't dare to talk to me. And I'm very straightforward - I will tell you off if you try to be funny.

"I don't think I have a pretty image. I don't put on much make-up, I wear a normal uniform and I don't have a super figure," she self- assesses.

But this article could be a game-changer, she muses. "Because now I have this good-looking hawker title, I think I must go do some yoga to tone up. Last time, your butt is at Level 2. But after you give birth, it goes to Basement 2," she quips.

William Lin

Hong Xing Handmade Fishball & Meatball Noodle

#01-07, Bukit Merah View Market & Hawker Centre, 115 Bukit Merah View

Opens: Daily, 5.30am to 8pm

Small person with a big dream.

That is how Mr William Lin, 29, sees himself, but his self-description could be due for an update.

Three years ago, the hunky China-born Singaporean took over Hong Xing Handmade Fishball & Meatball Noodle at Bukit Merah View Market & Hawker Centre from his ailing parents, who are turning 60 this year.

He quit his job as a Chinese-language tutor and took up the challenge of working 12-hour days, seven days a week, as his father and mother were both suffering from job-related aches and pains.

To avoid that, he hits the gym almost daily to lift weights and keep his physique in tip-top shape, build his confidence and boost his energy levels.

But Mr Lin, who is 1.8m tall and weighs 70kg, is no ordinary hawker. He was a Top 6 runner-up in Mr World Singapore last year and has signed with local talent management agency Beam Artistes, which organised the male beauty pageant.

He was very touched when fellow stallholders from the market and hawker centre turned up at the Dec 9 final to support him. His humble background endeared him to fellow contestants and the live audience.

In his introductory pageant speech, he said: "I work at a hawker centre, but my dream is to be on the stage. So if a hawker is able to achieve (this dream), how about you?"

He joined Mr World Singapore in the hopes of using the platform to gain more exposure for his underdog backstory, positive mindset and "fitspo" (fitness inspiration) message.

He tells The Straits Times: "People always complain they are too tired to go to the gym, but I'm more exhausted than any of them. So if I am not giving up, they shouldn't either."

He adds: "I just appreciate whatever I have been given by society and the country, so I told myself I have to do something to give back. Not just to become a rich person, but also a valuable one. I hope that if I can become a public figure or media personality, I can influence and motivate more people."

Mr Lin came to Singapore from a poor farming village in Fujian, China, when he was 15, and studied at Queenstown Secondary School.

He is married to his childhood sweetheart, a 28-year-old from the same village, who helps out at his stall when she is not giving tuition. They have a five-year-old son.

After joining Mr World Singapore, Mr Lin started putting more effort into looking well-groomed - even when he is shaping fishballs and meatballs by hand at 4.30am or dunking mee pok into boiling water.

He blows, sprays and styles his hair just like his Mr World Singapore coif and shaves regularly, even though he dons a face mask all day.

He says: "I don't want to become like (a typical hawker), with a big belly and wearing slippers."

It is not surprising then that he has attracted both female and male admirers. The men, he says, are "more scary" in their forwardness, as they ask for his phone number or invite him for meals. "Guys are more obvious. They will sit in front (of the stall) and keep staring at me when they are eating.

"I respect everyone, so I just smile back. But sometimes, I get scared," he says.

But when aunties compliment his good looks, it makes him "a bit happy".

The morning of the interview, a woman in her 70s passes by and cheekily comments: "Xiao di (Mandarin for young boy), I didn't know you are here, if not I won't eat at other stalls."

He adds: "I can sense when the younger women are stealing glances. But I never talk to them because I am shy and traditional, and I have a family. When there are pretty girls, I dare not even look."

Devid Retanasamy

Golden Charcoal Seafood SG

#01-22, Food Haven Coffeeshop, 5 Upper Boon Keng Road

Opens: Daily, 11am to 2.30pm, 5.30 to 10.30pm

An Indian hawker who whips up mean zi char and is fluent in Mandarin and Cantonese.

As if that is not enough of a novelty, Mr Devid Retanasamy is easy on the eye too.

The 38-year-old Malaysian has been head cook of Golden Charcoal Seafood SG since it opened in January last year. He honed his skills at different zi char joints such as 7 Wonders since coming to Singapore in 2002.

Some of his best-selling signatures include the Jin Tam Jiak Beancurd, which is deep-fried seaweed tofu; Moonlight Hor Fun served with a runny egg in the middle; Har Cheong Gai; and Mala Crab. His latest addition is Fish Head Curry Steamboat.

At the open-kitchen concept at the spacious Upper Boon Keng Road coffee shop where he operates, customers can easily grab a front-row seat and watch the "wok star" in action.

Mr Devid always obliges when diners clamour to take photos with him or stop by to chit-chat, in order to "satisfy their curiosity".

"Image is very important. You must look neat and clean, if not people won't have an appetite when they look at you."

He enjoys the attention and recognition, saying: "I feel like I've succeeded and I'm proud of myself. Because when I was young, nobody appreciated me. Now that I'm older, I'm appreciated."

Mr Devid's biological parents left him, at four years old, at an orphanage in his home town of Ipoh.

He was adopted by a Chinese family, with whom he lived till he was 12, but it was a "very difficult childhood" as they were poor, food was scarce and relationships broke down.

He dropped out of school and earned his keep working in kitchens, cooking professionally since he was 16 - the only career he ever considered.

Mr Devid, who cannot speak English or Tamil, says: "If you didn't study, you had to learn a skill to survive. Being a cook was ideal - you got to eat and lodging was provided. I then discovered I had the passion and talent for it."

Starting from zero when he first arrived in Singapore 20 years ago was a tough and lonely period, he recounts. He felt helpless when various employers' salary and work permit promises failed to materialise.

On the sidelines were Indian customers who wanted to beat him up, and Chinese cooks who wanted to bring him down.

He recalls: "They said, 'How can an Indian not know how to speak Tamil?' They thought I was lying to them.

"And as an Indian entering the Chinese food territory, competitors criticised me and said bad things because they were jealous.

"But as long as you are serious about your cooking, you will definitely get support."

Indeed, Mr Devid has many regulars and loyal fans who followed him through the years to each new eatery he joined.

He has no qualms revealing that many Chinese aunties "like" him and tell him he is handsome.

A woman in her 30s, who frequently orders his dishes online, recently made a special trip to the stall to see him in the flesh.

He says: "When female customers sit down and keep looking, I feel quite pai seh (Hokkien for embarrassed). There are beautiful girls, of course, but I treat them as customers and won't cross the line."

That is because Mr Devid is married to a 38-year-old Chinese national from Shandong, with whom he has three children aged 13, nine and six. His family lives in Johor Baru and he has managed to see them only once a year since the pandemic struck.

When asked if anyone has asked him out on dates, he expels: "Hey, this sort of thing cannot say, if not my wife will kill me, I'll be finished."

He adds: "She's the jealous type, but once I send back money, she won't be any more."