Elderly hawkers’ bakery sales drop after Dr Chee Soon Juan’s social media post initially claims stall had shut

Bakes n Bites is a 15-year-old under-the-radar hawker bakery at Old Airport Road Food Centre in Singapore. That is, until 8days recently featured the elderly couple behind it and their delicious cakes. Hawker-baker Christopher Lau, 72, was a former manufacturing engineer who pivoted to F&B after he couldn’t find another corporate job after being retrenched at age 55. He is assisted by his wife Christina Tan, 69, who comes by the stall to help after her day job in an administrative role at a construction company. Their signature items are chicken pies, curry puffs, brownies and delightfully moist chilled muffins.

DR CHEE SAYS BAKES N BITES SHUTTERED IN VIDEO

Dr Chee Soon Juan, Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) recently posted a video on his verified Instagram and Facebook page with 137,000 followers discussing Singapore's food and beverage industry crisis. Dr Chee himself owns Orange Teal Cafe at Rochester Mall. He previously had a second outlet at Marina Square that closed down in October 2024, due to rising costs. 

In the video, he referenced a few eateries that had allegedly closed (like Flor Patisserie). It included Bakes n Bites, with a photo of the owners (see above screenshot of the video before it was deleted) with the word "closed" prominently displayed.

However, a quick Google search would have revealed that Bakes n Bites remains very much open for biz.

VIDEO HAD IMMEDIATE IMPACT ON BIZ

Tan shared how their usual morning crowd of customers via WhatsApp pre-orders and walk-ins dropped.

“Usually, we get more than 15 customers in the morning and even more in the afternoon. But today, only two people came. We earned less than $10 in sales within two hours of opening. Very miserable,” she told 8days.

“I already felt business dropping a couple of days ago, but never suspected anything – until today when the drop was terrible,” Tan added.

“Dr Chee’s video was posted on Sunday afternoon (May 25), and I was alerted to it only the next day by a fellow F&B owner.” According to her, sales took a big hit starting May 27 (the stall was closed on May 26). “Before that, our daily sales averaged around S$568, ranging from S$400 to S$900 [day-to-day]. But on May 27 and 28, it plunged to S$157 and S$131 [respectively], that’s more than a 70 per cent drop,” she told 8days.

It appears Dr Chee’s post had pretty impressive reach.

SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT

Her husband then sent an email to Dr Chee seeking an urgent correction. Lau pointed out two key errors: Bakes n Bites is a hawker stall, not a cafe, and crucially, it remains in business. He requested that Dr Chee edit the video to remove references to his stall "to avoid any further misunderstanding amongst my customers and friends, and to prevent further harm to my business and its reputation."

A representative from SDP replied on behalf of Dr Chee, with an apology and confirmation that the video has since been amended. “Dr Chee has removed his original video and uploaded an amended version that doesn't reference Bakes n Bites in it,” the email read. Dr Chee’s edited video was posted on May 27.

To reassure customers, Bakes n Bites posted a Facebook clarification on May 27 on Facebook food group Hawkers United, stating that the business remains open. 

“Recently, a false statement was made by Chee Soon Juan claiming that Bakes n Bites is closed. We would like to clarify that this statement is completely false and has caused harm to our business and reputation.”

The post also thanked the community for their continued support and shared that thanks to an earlier feature by 8days, demand had – prior to Dr Chee’s post – been on the rise. 

However, it was later removed due to negative comments. Some netizens criticised the post as unclear and unnecessary, while others misunderstood it entirely, suggesting that the stall should be thankful for the publicity from Dr Chee. 

Here’s hoping all’s well that ends well.

Bakes n Bites is at 51 Old Airport Rd, #01-164 & 165, S390051. Open Tue to Sun, 11am-8pm. Tel: 8278 2687. More info via Instagram.

This story was originally published in 8Days. 

For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/