To many Singaporeans, hawker food is an indispensable part of life, and some hawkers take their vocation very seriously too.
One hawker in Hong Lim Food Centre showed how serious she was about feeding Singaporeans after she fell and broke her arm.
Source: Google Maps
Shrugging off the injury, she proceeded to open her stall the next day as normal.
The heroic hawker, 72-year-old Madam Li Youjiao (transliterated from Mandarin), reportedly turns up for work at Ji Ji Noodle House every day.
She apparently does so even though her two daughters have taken over the operations of the stall.
Madam Li and her daughters. Source: Shin Min Daily News
She’s rewarded by good business at the stall, which usually sees healthy queues of customers ordering their wanton noodles during peak hours.
Source: Google Maps
Unfortunately, a mishap occurred last Wednesday (15 Feb).
Madam Li’s daughter Zhong Xueli, 48, told Shin Min Daily News that her mother slipped and fell while closing up in the early hours of the morning.
As she used her right arm to shield her head from impact, she ended up breaking the limb.
However, she said she was alright and went home to sleep.
After waking up later that morning, Madam Li found that her arms were limp.
Nevertheless, she maintained that she was not in pain and insisted on going to the stall anyway.
She kept saying that she was “afraid the customers won’t have anything to eat”, Ms Zhong said.
Source: Google Maps
Acting as if nothing was amiss, she continued working till 3pm, washing dishes and even carrying buckets.
At that time — about 15 hours after the fall — Madam Li’s arm had already swollen to a few times its size, prompting customers to tell her,
Auntie, your arm is very swollen, you need to see a doctor.
Madam Li finally agreed to go to the hospital, where she was diagnosed with a broken arm.
She subsequently underwent surgery to install a metal plate in her arm.
When asked how it went, she said the injury wasn’t painful any more and that she was going to be discharged soon.
Source: Shin Min Daily News
Meanwhile, the family decided to shut the stall for a few days from 16 Feb as Madam Li recovered, posting a notice informing the public of the mishap.
This prompted customers to express concern for her well-being and send Ms Zhong countless well-wishes via text message.
However, these concerns were short-lived as Madam Li was discharged on Monday (20 Feb). The stall will thus resume business on Tuesday (21 Feb).
The injury will take about a month to heal, but Madam Li asked to be released when she realised that others were waiting for beds at the hospital.
Ms Zhong told Shin Min that this wasn’t the first time her mother had fallen while at the stall.
Previously, Madam Li was wiping down the signboard when she also fell and broke her arm.
Like the latest incident, a metal plate was also inserted into her arm.
She additionally underwent about seven operations a few years ago due to glaucoma and varicose veins caused by standing at the stall for a long time.
Ms Zhong said her mother still cares greatly about the stall despite her age.
After all, her family has been running it for 58 years.
She’s grateful for the concern from the public, adding,
Mum seems to care more for the customers than me and my sister.
We thank Madam Li for her dedication and wish her a speedy recovery.
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Shin Min Daily News.
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