Bedok Reservoir dim sum shop closing in end-March as owner unable to find successor

Bee Kee Hong Kong Thiam Sim in Bedok closing after 42 years of selling dim sum

Another long-running food business in Singapore is closing down due to its ageing owner not being able to find a successor.

Bee Kee Hong Kong Thiam Sim, a dim sum shop in Bedok Reservoir, will reportedly call it a day at the end of this month.

Its elderly owner has said that he is unable to cope with the business.

Bedok dim sum shop run by people in their 60s & 70s

Bee Kee Hong Kong Thiam Sim, located at Block 632 Bedok Reservoir Road, is run by 66-year-old Ye Mingrong (transliterated from Mandarin).

He is helped by his wife Huang Yaping and three employees.

All of them are in their 60s and 70s and his staff work only part-time, he told Shin Min Daily News.

They help make the food and run the shop for just a few hours a day, so it doesn’t cost much to hire them, he added.

Owner’s strength began to decline 2 years ago

However, Mr Ye said his physical strength began to decline about two years ago.

He began to feel pain in his hands and feet, as well as numbness in his hands. This made it difficult for him to make the dim sum.

He ended up having to take two months off due to his condition.

After he returned, he and his wife continued to head to their shop at 4am, two hours before their employees arrived.

They would go home to take a rest only at 9am, letting their employees take over operations.

In the afternoon, his 68-year-old sister would sell the dim sum until evening.

Bedok dim sum shop closing but exact date unconfirmed

After Mr Ye’s four children learnt of his health problems, they advised him and his wife to retire and enjoy life.

However, none of them are interested in taking over the business as they have their own careers, he said.

While it has been decided that the shop will shut down by the end of March, an exact date hasn’t been confirmed yet.

Mr Ye intended to shutter after using up his ingredients, but word spread after they started informing customers of the closure.

He plans to hand the premises over to relatives who sell vegetarian food, but seemed open to handing down his culinary skills, saying:

If someone is willing to learn, I don’t mind teaching.

He started out making dim sum 50 years ago

Mr Ye started in this line as an apprentice at a Hong Kong-style dim sum shop in Chinatown about 50 years ago.

In the 1970s, he began working at Bee Kee Hong Kong Thiam Sim, which was founded by his wife’s aunt.

Later, he and his wife became the main operators of the shop.

Bedok dim sum shop has affordable prices

The shop is known for its inexpensive and tasty dim sum, with a rating of 4.6 out of 22 reviews on Google.

A highlight is its siew mai, which a customer described as “big and juicy and affordably priced” at just S$0.70 each.

In fact, a price list posted on Google Maps in October 2023 shows that all its items are reasonably priced. For example, lotus paste pau and red bean paste pau are S$0.80 each, while the most expensive item is fan choy (char siew with rice) at S$1.80.

Mr Ye said the shop has raised its prices only twice over the years. The first time was 10 years ago and the second was at the start of 2023.

Each time, its prices went up by just S$0.10.

Customers sad that Bedok dim sum shop is closing

Consequently, customers have lamented the closure of Bee Kee Hong Kong Thiam Sim.

Mr Bai (transliterated from Mandarin) a 66-year-old regular, said he has patronised the shop every week for more than 10 years.

He added that it was a pity it was closing as the siew mai is “not bad”.

He thought the shop was just relocating but didn’t expect that he would soon never taste its food again.

Other customers have also decried the closure online, saying that the shop is part of the collective memory of residents in the area.

Here’s some information about the shop if you want to head down before it closes for good:

Bee Kee Hong Kong Thiam Sim
Address: 632 Bedok Reservoir Rd, #01-878, Singapore 470632
Opening Hours: 11am to 9pm (Thu to Sun, Tues), 7am to 9pm (Wed), closed Mon
Nearest MRT station: Bedok North

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Maxwell’s China Street Fritters Closing Down After 81 Years, Hawkers Couldn’t Find Successors

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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Google Maps.