SINGAPORE – Can couples who are in love get along at work? Two pairs of hawkers and a restaurant owner who hired his wife as a sommelier share what it is like working with their spouse and the impact that work has had on their relationships.More than a year after tying the knot, Ms Emily Tan and Mr Nicholas Ang found their marriage put to the test. Their lives and career paths took an unexpected turn when a family tragedy occurred.While working one morning in November 2018, Mr Ang’s father, who ran a pork stall at 505 Jurong West Market & Food Centre, had a heart attack and became unconscious. He was sent by ambulance to Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead. The millennial couple gave up their corporate jobs to help Mr Ang’s mother, who wanted to continue operating the stall.Today, the couple run their own pork stall at the market at 409 Ang Mo Kio Avenue 10, standing out with their youth and humorous stall name, SG Xiao Xian Rou.Married couple Emily Tan and Nicholas Ang run pork stall SG Xiao Xian Rou in Ang Mo Kio.ST PHOTO: NG SOR LUANThe Chinese phrase “xiao xian rou” means “little fresh meat” in English and refers to a young and handsome man.Ms Tan, 33, who came up with the stall’s name, says: “It’s catchy and customers are tickled by it. Some aunties jokingly insist on Nicholas taking their orders as he is the xiao xian rou.”The couple met during a training programme as recruits at DBS Bank in early 2015. They struck up a conversation after finding out they both lived in Jurong West, within three bus stops of each other.They began dating in March 2015 and registered their marriage in April 2017. Mr Ang,34, says: “I admired how gutsy and straightforward Emily is. When I asked her if we could start dating, she told me she did not want to waste her time on casual relationships and was interested only in dating with marriage in mind.”At the start of 2018, they moved into a five-room HDB resale flat they bought in Jurong West to live near her parents.Six months later, she quit the bank to become an insurance agent, while he stayed on as a customer service officer.Life was taking off for the young couple, with Mr Ang having a chance for a work promotion, when they received the bad news of his father’s death. His mother, now 58, who had been working alongside his father, asked him to help her at the stall.As Mr Ang wanted to remain at his job for a few more months to collect his bonus, Ms Tan jumped in to help her mother-in-law at the stall from Tuesdays to Sundays from 3am to 3pm, while selling insurance policies at the same time. The stall is closed on Mondays. But by March 2019, she decided to give up selling insurance as she could barely cope with the physical demands of working at the stall and having only four to five hours of sleep daily.Ms Tan says: “My husband did not ask me to help at the stall, but I did so as I could not bear to see my mother-in-law take on the full load.”Gung-
Mer. Feb 12th, 2025
