Yong He Eating House may be closing after boss’ elderly mother was hospitalised
A well-known 24-hour supper spot in Geylang faces closure by the end of this month unless someone buys over the business, its boss said.
Mr Dong Hanzhong told MS News that he’s hoping someone will take over Yong He Eating House after almost 40 years of operations.
Past 2 years ‘tough’ for F&B industry: Boss
46-year-old Mr Dong, the third-generation owner of Yong He Eating House, said the past two years have been “tough” for the F&B industry.
He cited rising prices due to inflation, prompting people in Singapore to “think twice” about eating out.
Instead, they’re heading to Malaysia to eat and shop as “things are cheaper there”.
Some of his long-time customers have also gone to other eateries that have a strong presence on social media apps such as TikTok, he added.
Yong He faces rising costs & manpower shortages
In an interview with Shin Min Daily News, Mr Dong said that Yong He’s business had become worse after the Covid-19 pandemic.
The problems were compounded by rising operational costs and manpower shortages, forcing the eatery to open round-the-clock in order to make just a little profit.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
The eatery is run by himself, his 78-year-old mother and three employees after some of his old employees retired.
He has found it difficult to hire after their retirements, meaning just two employees work during the day, while he mans the eatery at night with another employee.
His elderly mother even had to help out from 5pm to 3am every day, he added.
Mother’s hospitalisation was the last straw
Mr Dong told MS News that the last straw was when his mother was hospitalised last week after her exertions at the eatery.
Due to manpower issues, she was helping to wash dishes, but her leg became inflamed.
She ended up being warded for three days, but went back to the eatery to help out just two days after being discharged.
He told Shin Min that he had in fact been thinking of throwing in the towel for about a year before his mother’s hospitalisation.
“It doesn’t matter if I’m tired, but my mother should be enjoying life at her age”, he said, adding:
It made me feel very heart pain when she worked until she was hospitalised.
Yong He closing unless someone buys recipe for S$300K
Mr Dong now says that Yong He will have to close by the end of this month if no one buys over the business.
But he’s hoping someone can take over the time-honoured brand so “his years of hard work won’t just go to waste”, he told MS News.
He’s willing to sell the brand and recipe for S$300,000, and will also guide the new owners personally, the Chinese daily quoted him as saying.
The decision to sell up is not to make money, he maintained, but purely in the hopes of ensuring someone takes over the business.
Just a day after the news of Yong He’s impending closure, “six to seven” interested parties have already contacted him, he said.
Some of them have made “really attractive offers”, he added.
Yong He opened in 1986
Yong He opened close to 40 years ago in 1986, with his father introducing Taiwanese fare such as salty beancurd, mee sua, you tiao (fried dough fritters) and shao bing (Chinese flatbread).
Its food and opening hours made it a well-known destination for those seeking a late-night supper spot.
Mr Dong, who took over the business about 10 years ago, said he had tried to maintain the business by operating a central kitchen and a kiosk but with limited results, he said.
In 2021, he also opened a takeaway outlet named Yong He Toast in Toa Payoh Central, but it closed in August 2024.
However, a kiosk outlet at Far East Plaza named Yong He 1986, which he opened with a friend, is doing “not bad”, which shows that the brand has development potential, he added.
Thus, he concluded that it is he who failed, not the brand, so he “doesn’t want Yong He to fail” in his hands.
Mr Dong also revealed that he had apologised to his father for the closure, but the father did not blame his son, saying it was the business environment that was not good and nothing to do with him.
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Featured image adapted from Eatbook.
