26-year-old co-founder of S’pore mala chain diagnosed with rare blood cancer

Co-founder of ‘A Hot Hideout’ mala chain diagnosed with Stage 3 blood cancer

With a thriving mala business to run, Mr Lee Ray Sheng has received the unwelcome news that he has a rare form of blood cancer.

The 26-year-old co-founder of A Hot Hideout revealed the news in an Instagram post on Thursday (29 Jan), saying he was diagnosed earlier this month.

Mala chain co-founder ‘in & out of hospital’ in 2025

Mr Lee said he was “in and out of hospital” on multiple occasions last year, while suffering from constant fevers and “really ill” from small viruses.

His resting heart rate was also “super high”, but doctors initially could not discover the reason why he was falling sick so easily.

The symptoms persisted even after he adopted a healthier lifestyle, cutting down on drinking and boosting his exercise regimen.

Mala chain co-founder diagnosed with cancer after PET scans

Position Emission Tomography (PET) scans finally revealed the cause — showing active spots across his abdomen, legs, neck and possibly lungs.

He was diagnosed with Stage 3 Subcutaneous panniculitis-like T-cell lymphoma (SPTCL), a rare type of blood cancer.

According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the disease occurs in patients with an average age of onset of 36 years — 10 years older than his current age.

His brother died from a similar disease

Mr Lee noted that his younger brother had passed away from a “similar disease”.

In a Straits Times interview last year, he said his brother died from a rare immune disorder when he was nine.

Mr Lee was found to carry the same genetic risk.

SPTCL is connected with an autoimmune condition in approximately 20% of cases, according to NIH.

He will spend a year on treatment

Mr Lee will now “probably” undergo about six months of chemotherapy, he said.

A stem cell transplant will take another six months, meaning he will have downtime for at least the next year.

He will be using this time to cultivate and keep his brain stimulated, with several activities planned.

That includes learning, going “deep” on Artificial Intelligence (AI), and building and inventing new tools and games, he added.

Mala business has grown to 11 outlets

The bad news comes at an inconvenient time for Mr Lee, whose business had grown in the past year, doubling in both outlets and revenue.

Since A Hot Hideout opened in 2023, his business topline has soared, increasing yearly to S$23 million in 2025, he said on his LinkedIn profile.

He now has 11 outlets across Singapore, making the brand Singapore’s fastest-growing F&B chain in the 2020s.

Mr Lee and co-founder Ye Anran were also named on Forbes’ 30 under 30 list.

The duo famously met as undergraduates at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and launched their first mala stall in the university.

He’s staying positive

Despite the long road ahead, Mr Lee is staying positive.

He said he is beginning the battle with “strong optimism” as he has support from his family and some “world-class doctors” from Singapore.

Thus, he is in “great hands”, he proclaimed, adding:

I can’t wait (to) see you guys again as soon as I’m on the other side of this.

Also read: Cancer-stricken Yishun hawker continues working despite undergoing chemotherapy, Shanmugam calls him a ‘fighter’

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Featured image adapted from @raysheng_ on Instagram and @ahothideout on Instagram.