While many heritage eateries in Singapore are shuttering as their owners grow older, Chua Chwee Whatt is refusing to do the same.
Chwee Whatt, who started Founder Bak Kut Teh 40 years ago, has no plans to stop working even in his later years.
He is known for always being at the brand’s Balestier restaurant, keeping an eye on operations from his “throne” — a chair which he brought to the restaurant for himself.
Speaking to 8world during his 80th birthday celebration on Tuesday (Aug 25), he said: “I won’t retire. As long as this chair is here, it means I’m still here.”
Chwee Whatt, who used to be a pig farmer in Seletar, enjoyed patronising bak kut teh stalls but found the ingredients to be lacking in quality.
This led him to open Founder Bak Kut Teh in 1978 at a Choa Chu Kang coffeeshop, where he experimented with recipes and prepared the dish using his own pigs.
The business moved to its Balestier location in 1998. Its name came from the fact that all of its recipes were self-created.
Chwee Whatt eventually handed the business over to his son Nigel, but continues to show up at the eatery at 3am to chop up meat and bones and prepare the bak kut teh soup.
Nigel told 8World that he had felt a lot of pressure working alongside his dad for 28 years as the latter was a strict teacher who strove for perfection.
His father often told him that in the F&B industry, it is not enough to simply give orders. One must lead by example.
To survive in today’s competitive food scene, Nigel said he has also come up with new dishes aimed at the younger generation’s taste buds while still preserving the traditional recipes his father passed down to him.
Over the decades, Founder Bak Kut Teh became a popular dining spot for celebrities visiting Singapore, including Chow Yun-Fat, Jay Chou and Charmaine Sheh, whose photos are plastered on the walls of its restaurant in Balestier.
In 2021, the homegrown chain shuttered two outlets along North Bridge Road and Jalan Sultan as the Covid-19 pandemic had affected business significantly.
Founder Bak Kut Teh currently has three eateries in Singapore — the Balestier flagship, a Bedok outlet and the Jalan Sultan outlet which reopened in 2024.
It also has branches in Indonesia, Vietnam, Taiwan and China.
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