SINGAPORE — Two brothers who left careers in finance to pursue their dream of becoming hawkers are closing their Chinatown stall just five months after opening it, saying the demanding lifestyle ultimately was not what they wanted.
Scott Lee, 29, and Troy Lee, 31, announced that New Horse Noodles at Chinatown Complex Food Centre will serve its final customers on Oct. 25.
The brothers said the decision was not because the business was failing. Instead, after experiencing the realities of running a hawker stall, they concluded that the long hours and lifestyle were not sustainable for them personally.
From finance careers to hawker life
New Horse Noodles opened in June 2026, marking a dramatic career change for both brothers.
Scott had previously worked as a fintech product manager, while Troy was a trader. Scott had left his corporate job in 2025, and the brothers later became food vloggers before deciding to take the much bigger step of running their own stall.
The pair invested about S$20,000 of their savings into the business.
For Scott, the move was partly driven by a desire to find work that felt more meaningful. Troy was also attracted by the opportunity to build something of his own and serve the kind of food he enjoyed.
But the reality of hawker life proved considerably more demanding than they had anticipated.
The brothers were working around 70 hours a week, with preparation beginning early in the morning and their only nominal day off often involving food preparation for the following working day. Scott had previously said that his earnings from the stall were far below what he had made in his former career.
They learnt their recipe from an 85-year-old hawker
The story behind New Horse Noodles began in Malacca, Malaysia, where the brothers encountered an 85-year-old Hakka hawker.
They were impressed by her yong tau foo and learnt how to make it from her over about 10 days. The brothers subsequently adapted the recipe and brought it to Singapore.
Their version differed from the fish-paste-heavy yong tau foo commonly found in Singapore.
The brothers’ filling was pork-based and incorporated seafood and more than 10 ingredients. It was used to stuff items such as tau pok, tofu, tau kee and bitter gourd.
They paired the handmade yong tau foo with Malaysian-style dry noodles tossed in a dark sauce, creating the stall’s signature combination.
The Handmade Hakka Yong Tau Foo Set was priced at S$6.50 and came with noodles, five pieces of yong tau foo and soup.
The business was not necessarily the problem
Despite the closure, Scott stressed that the brothers were not shutting down because they believed the stall had no future.
In videos explaining their decision, he said the business had potential and that there was room for it to grow.
But the brothers had come to a different conclusion about whether they wanted to spend the next several years building that business.
Scott said that while hiring staff and eventually reducing their own workload might have been possible, reaching that point would still require considerable time, effort and commitment.
For him, that meant giving up years of his life to make the business work in a way he was no longer certain he wanted.
The brothers therefore decided that the better choice was to acknowledge that the lifestyle did not suit them rather than continue simply because the business appeared to have potential.
They knew by August that hawker life might not suit them
Troy said the brothers had already begun questioning their decision by early August, only about two months after opening.
However, they chose to continue until the end of October.
Part of that decision came from their sense of responsibility towards customers who had supported the stall and, in some cases, become regulars and friends.
Rather than abruptly shutting down, they gave themselves a deadline and continued serving customers for as long as they could.
The brothers have since thanked diners who travelled from different parts of Singapore to try their food.
Some customers even offered to help with marketing after hearing about the impending closure.
A calculated risk that gave them an answer
The brothers acknowledged that their decision to enter the hawker trade had been a risk.
They had no extensive background in the food-and-beverage industry, and Troy described the decision as one that involved a degree of optimism.
But they also felt that they could not decide whether hawker life suited them based solely on what other people had told them.
They wanted to experience it themselves.
That experience ultimately gave them an answer.
Although the work was exhausting and the financial returns were substantially lower than their previous careers, the brothers said the experience had also brought valuable rewards — including meeting customers, learning a new craft and gaining a better understanding of the work that goes into running a hawker business.
What happens next?
The brothers have not yet announced detailed plans for their next chapter.
Troy has expressed interest in pursuing technology and building something of his own, while the brothers have indicated that they will continue documenting their experiences and lessons through their social-media platforms.
They have also not completely ruled out returning to other fields.
For Scott, the experience of becoming a hawker appears to have been as much about discovering what he did not want as finding a new career.
The decision to leave finance and enter the food business may have lasted only five months, but it gave the brothers an opportunity to test an idea they had been curious about rather than wondering what might have happened if they had never tried.
Final chance to try New Horse Noodles
New Horse Noodles is located at #02-148, Chinatown Complex Food Centre, 335 Smith Street.
The stall operates Saturday to Wednesday from 9.30am to 2pm and is closed on Thursdays and Fridays. The brothers have advised customers who want a final visit to come before 1pm.
Its final day will be Oct. 25.
For a pair who began the year leaving established careers to learn the demanding craft of hawking, New Horse Noodles’ closure marks an unexpectedly short ending.
But the brothers’ experience also highlights a reality of Singapore’s hawker trade: having a promising food concept and enthusiastic customers does not necessarily make the lifestyle sustainable for the people behind the stall.
After five months behind the counter, Scott and Troy have decided that they would rather move on — with the lessons, friendships and memories from their brief but ambitious venture staying with them.
