GEORGE TOWN: At 72, Lum Kum Thoh could have retired from the hawker trade and take life easy.
Instead, he is up early six mornings a week, serving bowls of duck koay teow th’ng (noodle soup) in the heart of the city’s bustling tourism area.
With two grown sons in stable careers and little interest in chasing bigger profits, Lum sells his noodles for just RM4 a bowl, saying he simply enjoys staying busy and seeing familiar faces at his stall.
“If I stay home, what would I do? I enjoy coming here and seeing my customers,” he said.
For more than 22 years, Lum has built his livelihood around the humble bowl of noodles, which comes with chopped duck meat, fish cake slices, fish balls, chicken gizzard and bean sprouts, with a choice of koay teow, mee or mee hoon in a garlicky duck broth.
“I used to sell it for RM3 but raised the price to RM4 about nine years ago.
“To make sure it is worth the money, I put drumstick-sized portions of duck meat in each bowl. If I have extra pieces like a duck wing, I put that in too.
“I just want people to enjoy the meal and still make a small profit,” he said at his stall at the corner of Jalan Penang and Lebuh Kimberley yesterday.
Despite rising ingredient costs, Lum said his loyal customer base had allowed him to keep prices affordable.
“I am old now and I don’t know how many more years I will be doing this. It doesn’t seem right to raise my prices,” he said.
Lum moved to his current stall several months ago after the rent at his previous location increased.
He now pays RM35 a day and sells about 200 bowls daily.
At 6am when Lum and his helper arrive to open the stall, some regulars are already waiting.
At times, he has to ask them to wait another 30 minutes because the duck is still cooking in the broth.
“But they are willing to wait. Many of my customers are seniors and retirees like me.
“My two sons are grown up and doing well, so this is my passion. I will continue for as long as I can.”
By noon, Lum shuts the stall and heads home.
For him, there is little reason to slow down just yet – there is another morning, another pot of broth and another group of customers waiting for him.
