But the COVID 19 pandemic hit, a contagion of proportions worthy of a tsunami. World governments, with Singapore’s no exception, enforced restrictions - and human contact came to an unprecedented halt.
With his stall closed for the first time, Jiawei found a gaping hole in his spirit. He still toured the food centre, his mandatory mask an unwelcome, yet necessary shield.
But as he wiped down the counter of his stall on one of these visits, his foot bumped against an opening that he hadn’t come across before. It belonged to a drawer, hidden yet significant, at the counter’s base. Inside it was a dog-eared, yellow-stained recipe book. Tucked purposefully between the pages was a letter from his father.
”When the lion pauses, it not retreating. It’s getting ready to leap forward.
At that moment, Jiawei drew himself upright. He paused in thought, then made a decision that sparked a monumental shift - he wouldn’t let his family’s legacy fade into obscurity.
Turning to Facebook, Instagram and other social media, he told the tale that his father, and his father before him had shared for generations-that of Maxwell Food Centre, and his family’s original laksa recipe.
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