I love coming across vivid descriptions of street shops when I’m reading novels, and want to start capturing them. Here’s an extract from the book How Do You Live? by Genzaburo Yoshino (1937): “Fishmongers, greengrocers, grilled sweet potato stalls, rice merchants, candy shops– tiny stores with facades no more than three or four meters wide lined…
A shophouse in the alley
Srey (on the left) migrated from a rural Cambodian village. She moved to the city to earn cash for her parents who are still working in the fields. In the city, she joined her older brother who had migrated earlier, together with his wife and son. All four of them live together in a small…
Making ends meat
Nas sells meat while her husband cruises the city streets in his tuk-tuk as a driver. I asked her why she chose to sell meat in the market rather than sell clothes. She said it is easier to sell meat because she doesn’t need to pay for the supply upfront (unlike clothes where you need…
Juicy competition
Every night, he parks his cart on the street corner and always has an eager crowd milling around him. They loudly call out the names of their fruit juice – watermelon! mango and orange! avocado! – and he nods and whips it up on the spot in a blender. One night, I noticed another enthusiastic…
3 tips to flourish at a market
Thyda can easily detect whether a fish came from a freshwater lake or a madmade farm. She says that farm fish are fed chemicals to keep them healthy, which make them slimy. As a result, they don’t dry well. I would pay attention when Thyda speaks about fishy quality. She’s been in the business of…
A river of protein
A lady chills on a platform surrounded by plastic buckets of iced seafood in the humid market in Cambodia: fish, eels, stingray, water snakes, prawns, cockles– a sea of protein. The Mekong River is the largest supplier of protein in the region with over 1,100 species of fish. Mekong is second in its bio-diversity only to…
Breakfast banter
Early one morning, a few strangers huddled around a vendor who was cooking noodles called “Lot Cha” លតឆា during the bustle of breakfast. The air was thick was humidity. At our corner of the table, a lady broke the news about her friend’s newborn baby who had just died. The other women condoled her in…
Hanging by a thread
When I was browsing elephant pants at the Night Market, Chamroeun introduced me to the variety of clothes at her stall to encourage me to expand my taste, somewhat. I was impressed by her English, and took the chance to learn more about her trade. As it turned out, Chamroeun was also a Literature teacher….
Stronger after a fishy history
Ny comes from a family of fishermen, and she has always sold fish. However, during the Khmer Rouge in the 1970s, all businesses came screeching to a halt. Ny was forced to go to the countryside to labour in the fields. Meanwhile, scholars and artists were shot. When Ny described how everyone had to wear…
What are you cooking today?
I step into a market in Cambodia. The atmosphere is dim. Bulbs hanging listlessly from zinc rooftops. Maret is perched on a wooden platform surrounded by raw meat that she is chopping on a circular wooden block. Softly, she says: “I quit school to support my parents, they live in the countryside. They told me…
Reaping Cash
Chenda used to work in the fields of Cambodia, but the harvest could not support her family, so she started a business in Siem Reap to reap cash. Her advice to shopkeepers: be friendly. Business is all about good relationships! Chenda says that the worst thing about her business is when other vendors undercut her…
“If the stock is stuck, our cash is stuck.”
Two book lovers named Shannon and Mike fell in love with the idea of starting a bookshop together in 2009— and they did it. Ten years later, their shop is an iconic destination for other book lovers, and they even started a second brand. Shannon walks us through the life of a business owner in…
“This is a different space.”
How to keep a bookshop meaningful in an era of online shopping: one business owner shares their approach.
Give them something new to discover
Kenny Leck runs an iconic store in Singapore called BooksActually that sells a carefully curated motley of books, assorted objects from long ago (i.e. vintage), and odds-and-ends that book lovers universally tend to love: notebooks, tote bags, and sealing wax (after all, isn’t the purest of writing found in a heartfelt letter?) This local bookstore…
The bookstore slows you down
Tucked along a row of shops offering carpets, Turkish food, hostels, and a museum of toys, you will find a chalkboard outside a shop that flaunts none of its wares on the sidewalk. To discover what it holds, the curious need to take a step inside. This is Wardah Books. For 16 years, Ibrahim Tahir has…
Surviving as a specialist of books
Basheer Graphic Books is an iconic shop in Singapore that began with Abdul Nasser’s father who went from office to office with a travelling luggage stuffed with books for design professionals who, at the time, did not have the benefit of the Internet to power their creative process. This was the 1980s. So, he chose…
Sharing a table with strangers
The aunty in pink has been working as a hawker for over 40 years. As I sat near her stall chowing down a delicious plate of “hor fun” (flat white noodles), a man in his 70s came by with a bottle of beer and asked if he could sit at my table. I said: sure. Hawker…
Are you stationary?
The owner of Modern Book Store is Mr Tan. He has been there for the past 30 years. It helps to have expertise in the trade This bookshop belonged to his father, and he took over when his father died. “I had no choice,” he says with a shrug. He had been helping his father…
Expand your small business gradually
Turning a hobby into a retirement business “This is just a way to pass my old age.” Salim Buang is in his 60s and turned his hobby into a small business after getting retrenched during the 2008 economic crisis. His shop feels like a treasure trove of wooden crafts, jewellery, and collectable items that he…
107 Hawker Centres in Singapore
While I was doing my doctoral research in Sociology, I was spending a lot of time exploring hawker centres and markets in Singapore. Every day, I would look for new sites. Where are all these 107 hawker centres located? This led me to wonder: which markets are clustered close together? Which markets are more isolated?…
Canvassing the city
I ran across a delightful little brick-and-mortar store stacked floor to ceiling with the most incredible paintings. The owner showed me around, and introduced himself: “My name is Art.” True enough, I noticed his signature on the paintings. Why this pseudonym? I didn’t ask. Art has seen a fragile existence in the nation. During the…
Rice bowl
Rice is a staple food item in Cambodia which puts Sokun* in the pulse of any crisis. For example, when the country went through a tense border dispute with Thailand in 2008, all her rice got snapped up. In 2013, torrential floods burst across the land and ravaged the streets. Again, she was left without…
Surviving from day to day
Conversations with men and women running small businesses in Siem Reap (Cambodia). Why did they go into business? How did they choose their trade? What helps them to survive? A tale of education, rural-urban migration, and personal aspiration. Fresh juice from the street. Just call out your favourite fruits, and he’ll whip it up on…
Markets in Siem Reap (Cambodia)
We enter the mystical world of Siem Reap, a city in the north of Cambodia and home to the legendary Angkor Wat (“Temple City”) built in the 12th century that hosted around a million inhabitants in its time, making it one of the largest cities in the world before the Industrial Revolution. In the 1970s,…
Angry Birds don’t like advice
Angry Birds needs no introduction, and neither does Peter Vesterbacka, the creator of the massively popular game from the Finnish company Rovio Entertainment. I had a chance to attend a power-packed conference called InnovFest unBound that featured all-star speakers sharing concrete insights from their numerous touchpoints with entrepreneurship. Peter Vesterbacka is an incredibly approachable and friendly guy (how can you…
Not too chicken
“Hi sister! What do you want?” Lai Fun was sitting on a stool reading the newspapers. It was the lull of the afternoon when most market stalls were closing for the day. The signboard above their stall says Fatty Supplier. “My father-in-law and brother-in-law were very fat, so we called them… fatty suppliers!” The husband-and-wife…
Capturing Hearts
Fai and his team have documented more than 300 weddings in Singapore and featured in two consecutive issues of the the magazine Her World Brides. It takes not just talent but grit to shine in a saturated photography market, and Fai shares his experience starting from rock bottom. Never feel discouraged by negative feedback “The most important…
Timeless Gems
Marilyn Tan was a seasoned family lawyer when she decided to quit her job to spend more time with her children as a stay-at-home mother. Brimming with energy, she started experimenting with jewellery designs and, today, Marilyn Tan stands among Singapore’s most acclaimed jewellers. In this interview, Marilyn describes the shift she experienced when she took her…
Junk
“The market is very dirty,” Terence says, tugging gently at his singlet to show the grime. “Dirty and hot.” His mother had been selling coffee powder for over 20 years and decided to bring her son into the business after his National Service. Terence obliged and has continued for the past 13 years. “Surprisingly, and…
Intellectual Property
Murgiana Haq started her own law firm in 1997 and was later joined by her daughters, Tasneem and Ferzana, who are similarly accomplished in IP law. Today, the trio manage an impressive portfolio spannning multinationals and small enterprises in Singapore and across the world. STARTING OUT “It is common in business to start with your…
Taking Stock
“I used to work in an electronics factory and it was exhausting. We had to stand all day at the assembly line, and our eyes got tired from using the microscope. We manufactured parts for cameras and printers. Then one day my friend said: why don’t we do this business? So I said: okay” To…
A gift for you from Shopkeeper Stories
SHARE THE LOVE Share your 3 favourite posts from the Facebook page and I’ll mail you the book for free – no matter where you live in the world! It means a lot to me that you enjoy these posts and this is my way of saying Thank You. Just send me a direct message on Facebook with your mailing address…
Keeping it real
Walking into this shop, you will be delighted with the calming aura of a tropical forest, as though its fragrance was freshly awakened from the rain. The baskets and vases are hand-fashioned out of natural material such as atah roots with designs that leap out for their distinctive style. Rose Ramzan has been in the…
Books Actually
Passion is not enough. You need commitment. “Business is not just about passion: passion only brings you along that much. There are people who decide they want to be a doctor in their early 20s and go through the process and they are still doctors at 60. A person who has chosen a vocation has…
Many Jars
Little shops express a sense of home where people spend their days and their lives. The shop is a home away from home that interacts with the community: welcome, and let us help you however we can. When I stepped into this medical hall tucked into a row of shops in the neighbourhood, Jie Sheng,…
Provision Shop
“People in the older generation still buy all the individual ingredients to make soups and curries— they know the recipes well and have more time to cook, but younger people prefer using premade mixes where the spices are already combined. They are busier, and maybe they are not as familiar with the recipes. So we sell…
Spice of life
Poonam runs a provision shop selling Indian ingredients in a market cluster where you can find hawkers selling fruits, poultry, vegetables, dried beans and other goods for the kitchen. Her shop was open for less than a year at the time of interview, and this is her first business. Poonam does not need to work…
Snack Shop
“This is my mother’s shop. I’m helping her out.” “She’s lucky to have you.” “I’m lucky to have her!” Wendy Fam drops into her mother’s shop after school to help whenever she can. Her mother works every day from 7.00am to 7.00pm (except Mondays) which leaves less time for housework, but her husband and children…
Fast Lane
Shirley stood out in bright pink while working amidst motorcycles and vehicle equipment. How did she enter this trade? “My grandfather sold bicycles, my father sold motorcycles, my brother is doing repairs, and we also make license plates. My son talks to the dealers.” I asked whether she rides a motorbike and she shook her…
Fruits of labour
Say hey to May! May and her brother work together selling fruits at the Clementi West market. “My mother is old, she stays home to rest.” In this dizzying array of fruits, her favourite is the avocado which she loves to “blend with milk to drink.” There are about 5-6 fruit stalls located in close…
The sole of business
In a culture where it is common to buy and throw things away at an increasing rate—phones, friends, furniture—Chia Chong Sin is in the business of preservation. His work reminds us that there are more to material things than their monetary value, and that another value—sentimental value—still matters. His trade is not just about reviving…
What’s your beef?
“I started helping my father in primary school. At first it was only during school holidays, but then I left school to help him every day. While he was doing deliveries, I took care of the stall. At the time, I was still quite young, so I found the work quite fun. I taught myself…
Free gift for you from Shopkeeper Stories
Here is a free gift for you! A gorgeous coffeetable book showcasing interviews from 20+ vibrant trades in Singapore from books to lingerie to electronics! This medley of photographic essays will delight you with inspiration and insight. To get this free gift, simply share any of your 3 favourite posts from the Shopkeeper Stories Facebook page…
Please don’t stop the music!
In downtown Bogotá, you can find plenty of music stores where music lovers can find whatever quirky tastes they have in music. These places, where fancyness is not an issue, resemble little garages that have been rearranged to serve as a music store. The man in the picture is Mr. Jose Beltrán. He has devoted…
Bogotá, Colombia
Shopkeeper Stories is a project that celebrates small business owners around the world, and it is an honour for me to feature a guest entry from Juan Manuel who introduces us to a music shopkeeper in the city of Bogotá, Colombia. Juan worked as a consultant at a bank for many years with a degree in…
Sweet Stalker
You can get a cold mug of sugarcane juice at almost any market in Singapore where hawkers extract sap directly from the stalks without using any additives. (You can see the pressing machine in the photograph.) Sugarcane is not a fruit but a type of grass that resembles bamboo. From plantations around the world, the stalk voyages across multiple…
“Not what you know, but who you know.”
If you search online for business tips, you will find plenty. But what I love about these in-depth interviews is the concrete and complex detail that emerge from the rough-and-tumble experiences of ordinary people who boldly seized their ideas and found a way to “will the sucker into existence”. Each person draws on strategies unique to their context….
Branding an online electronics business
Every success story has a plot that is littered with bruises from tripping and falling. Stories of sharp regret. That moment when you think with paralysing horror: “Whoops” on realizing that you messed up an opportunity, and wishing you could turn back time, and do it all over again. However, here’s an unremarkable truth: we don’t need to…
Building an e-commerce business from the ground-up
I had a wonderful opportunity to chat over coffee with Abel Neoh and explore the nuts-and-bolts of his electronics business that started in 2010. The interview was rich, textured, and brimming with insights. His insights came in handy for my PhD research about small businesses, so I decided to capture the key points in this…
Staying with the story
Chrissy Lim is no stranger to starting and steering quality businesses. She is the founder of Paperplane, a visual storytelling studio, and her trail of remarkable projects includes Quickcut and Kitchenomics. In this interview, Chrissy looks back on her business journey and shares an honest perspective on what it takes to strike out and wander into business for the first…
Shopkeeper Stories 