Deaf Hawker Sells Carrot Cake For 40 Years, Has Clever ‘Pointing’ Menu To Understand Customers

Deaf Hawker Runs Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway For 40 Years

Those who frequent Zion Riverside Food Centre would be familiar with Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway, a carrot cake stall that’s been there since 1993.

However, the business is much older than that — its owner, Peter Goh, has been running it for 40 years after taking over from his late father.

Although he is hard of hearing, the 65-year-old has successfully found ways around his condition, developing a ‘pointing’ menu for customers to place their orders.

Deaf hawker inherited carrot cake stall at the age of 26

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News with the help of his son, Mr Goh revealed that he can’t remember if he was born deaf or if he developed an illness as a child.

After graduating from a primary school for the deaf, he went to a factory to learn to be a welder. He and his siblings would also go to help out at their father’s carrot cake stall whenever they were free.

The three of them eventually took over the business in the 1980s after their parents died.

Then, Mr Goh’s younger brother passed away and his older sister started her own family, so he continued operating the stall by himself. He was just 26 years old at that time.

In 1993, he moved the stall from its original location in People’s Park Food Centre to Zion Riverside Food Centre, where it has remained ever since.

Came up with menu ‘pointing’ system during pandemic

Despite having a hearing disability, Mr Goh hasn’t had much trouble communicating with customers as there are only three items on the menu — white carrot cake, black carrot cake, and a mix of both.

He also wears a hearing aid and is able to read lips, but the latter was impossible during the pandemic when people started wearing masks.

That’s when he came up with a simple but genius solution.

Mr Goh put up a new menu, which customers could point at to indicate what type of carrot cake they wanted, whether they were eating in or taking out, whether they wanted chilli or not, as well as the different prices.

Deaf hawker sells 500 to 700 plates of carrot cake a day

8world News reports that Mr Goh is able to sell 500 to 700 plates of carrot cake a day on weekdays, and over 700 of them on weekends.

He starts preparing to open his stall at around 11am and closes up shop at 9pm.

According to Mr Goh, people travel from all over the world to try his carrot cake. He reported that Singaporeans prefer the black version, while the Japanese and Europeans tend to favour the white one.

Photos of him posing with numerous local celebrities adorn the front of his stall, along with various awards he has received over the year.

While many hawkers have been announcing their plans to retire after decades of working, Mr Goh has no intention of doing so any time soon.

“Seeing customers finish up all the carrot cake on their plates is what makes me the happiest,” he gushed. “I’m proud that I was able to raise my children by selling carrot cake. I will keep on doing it.”

If you’re thinking of dropping by to try Mr Goh’s carrot cake, here are the deets:

Lau Goh Teochew Chye Thow Kway
Address: 70 Zion Rd #01-26, Singapore 247792
Opening hours: 12pm – 9pm daily

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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News and 8world News.