SINGAPORE — September 5, 2026 — Eight years ago, Tan Yong Cheng was preparing himself for the possibility that he might not have much time left.
Today, the 48-year-old is behind the counter of Xiao Wen Ban Mian in Yishun, serving bowls of noodles to customers after surviving a devastating battle with late-stage nasopharyngeal cancer.
His story began in 2018, when the former technician noticed that he was losing weight. His trousers were becoming increasingly loose, prompting him to seek medical attention.
After being referred to hospital for further tests, he was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer.
According to Tan, the doctor told him he had about 30 days to live.
Instead of giving up, he decided to fight.
He went through 37 rounds of treatment
Tan subsequently underwent 37 sessions of chemotherapy and radiotherapy.
The treatment was so intense that by around the 20th day, he said he was in such severe pain that he could neither eat nor walk and eventually required intubation.
His weight reportedly plunged from approximately 60kg to just 30kg.
Yet even during some of the darkest moments of his illness, Tan kept telling himself that his fight was not over.
His father was already in his 90s at the time, and that became one of the reasons he pushed himself to continue.
“You have not tried fighting yet so you may not necessarily lose,” was the message he gave himself, according to his account.
He went to hospital alone
Perhaps one of the most striking parts of Tan’s story is that he initially kept the severity of his illness from his family.
Instead of having relatives accompany him, he took the MRT to hospital for treatment on his own.
When a doctor asked why nobody had accompanied him, Tan said he did not want his family to worry.
But he would eventually have someone by his side.
His wife, Ah Wen, stayed with him throughout the ordeal.
His wife chose to stay
Tan and Ah Wen had met in Vietnam in 2016 while he was visiting a roadside stall.
The pair subsequently maintained a long-distance relationship for two years.
They married on Aug. 3, 2018 — during the same period Tan was battling cancer.
After learning about his diagnosis, Ah Wen, a Vietnamese national, travelled to Singapore after being encouraged by her mother to care for Tan and his elderly father.
Tan recalled telling her that she could still change her mind if she regretted her decision.
She did not.
She remained with him throughout his treatment.
Doctors had reportedly assessed his chances of recovery at between 40% and 60% at the time.
After two years of treatment and recuperation, Tan said the cancer cells had been cleared.
Surviving cancer did not mean life immediately returned to normal
Beating cancer was only the beginning of another difficult chapter.
Tan continued to experience side effects from his treatment and still needs medication and daily stretching exercises, according to his account.
Then came another problem: finding work.
Before his illness, Tan had spent eight years working as a technician.
After recovering, he tried to return to his former workplace but was turned away after being told that he had fallen out of touch with the job.
His attempts to find another position also proved difficult.
Tan said some companies were reluctant to hire him because of his medical history.
For someone who had already fought for his life, the experience became another battle — this time against the difficulty of rebuilding a career after serious illness.
So he borrowed money to start a noodle stall
With limited employment options, Tan decided to create his own livelihood.
He took out a bank loan to open a noodle stall in Yishun, saying he did so “to survive”.
The result was Xiao Wen Ban Mian, where he now works as a hawker.
His journey from hospital patient to hawker is a reminder that surviving a serious illness does not necessarily mean returning to the life someone had before.
Sometimes, it means building an entirely new one.
Eight years later, he is still working
Today, Tan is eight years removed from the diagnosis that he said came with a 30-day prognosis.
The cancer battle may be behind him, but he continues to live with some consequences of the treatment.
And instead of allowing those difficulties to keep him from working, he has built a new livelihood around a humble bowl of noodles.
The stall is located at 504 Yishun Street 51, #01-07, Singapore 760504. Current business listings show Xiao Wen Ban Mian operating there. Xiao Wen Ban Mian
AsiaOne reported its operating hours as Thursday to Sunday from 9am to 9pm and Monday to Wednesday from 9am to 8.30pm, with Tuesday listed as closed; customers should check the stall’s current hours before visiting.
A story bigger than a bowl of ban mian
Tan’s story is ultimately not just about food.
It is about what happens after a person survives the moment everyone feared they would not.
He lost half his body weight during treatment.
He endured dozens of chemotherapy and radiotherapy sessions.
He struggled to return to his former career.
And when employment opportunities became difficult to find, he borrowed money and started again from scratch.
Today, customers may see only a hawker preparing noodles.
Behind that bowl, however, is a man who once believed he had only weeks left to live.
Eight years later, he is still here — working, serving customers and building a life that once seemed impossible.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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