The End of Thye Moh Chan

11 September 2011. The end of Thye Moh Chan.

By the time you read this, this shop is already in history forever. I made a trip down this afternoon specially to take a last peep at this traditional cake house before it is closed for good after almost seven decades of selling traditional Teochew confections. Dwindling customers, rising costs and a lack of young people willing to take over are some of the major challenges facing traditional confectionaries in Singapore.

It was 1.50pm. There was a long queue outside the shop. Some were curious passer-bys while others are long time supporters of this place.

The 68-year-old bakery specialises in Teochew-style mooncakes, which are characterised by their flaky skins. By the time we reached there, mooncakes were gone and we were only left with black sesame cake and savory tau sar pia (bean paste pastries).

Coincidentally, a reporter from a Malaysian newspaper was present. But owner Koh Hong Chua (65 years old) declined to be interviewed. He said: “what else is there to say? Today is the last day already. I am retiring.”

Although Mr Koh has been in this business for the longest time, and being the third generation in his family to carry on the legacy, the legacy will, sadly, have to end.

I politely ask if I can go into the shop to take some photos. In there, there was about 10 old helpers who are still busy churning out traditional tau sar piah.

We queued for approximately 1 hr 15 mins and bought 6 boxes of tau sar piah ($13 each / 4 in a box) and 2 black sesame cakes.

Though the black sesame cake was very oily, but was very fragrant!

Each and every tau sar piah is freshly baked in the kitchen. The crust was really crunchy like a light butter cookie but flaky at the same time.

I guess I am very lucky that I managed to my hands on the very last batch of tau sar piah their shop will produce. I wish Mr Koh and the fellow workers all the best. (Read more in The New Paper & The Silver Chef.)