Meet Tan Huan Ah, a hawker cleaner. The 67-year-old retired hawker, who describes herself as “happy-go-lucky”, approaches life with a smile, declaring that even though she’s getting on with age, she’s still healthy and can work.
Her non-stop cleaning shift, which goes from 10am to 1pm, sees her moving as quickly as she can to clear tables and trays, so that customers won’t have to wait long for a seat. One of the misconceptions she often deals with is customers who believe they should not clear their trays, or else cleaners will be out of a job.
“But the truth is, even if we don’t go table to table to clear the trays of food, we still need to clean the tables and mop the floors,” she explains. “If they return their own trays, it will lighten our workload a little.”
And why not? Most hawker and food centre cleaners tend to be elderly people, and it’s not that hard for us to walk a couple of steps to make their job a tad bit easier.
“Seeing our customers happy and thanking me after I’ve helped them, it makes me feel good too,” she says with a smile. “If you can live happily and embrace each day as it comes, that’s what’s most important.”
