Local F&B chain Founder Bak Kut Teh made headlines last week after its second-gen boss issued a public plea calling for public support to save his business, which has dropped by a drastic 85 per cent due to Covid-19. In response, some netizens left savage comments on social media alleging that its second-gen owner, Nigel Chua, 45, lived a lavish lifestyle while his business was floundering. He has since explained his side of the story to 8days.sg (the man lives in a five-room HDB flat and not “landed property”, as netizens had claimed, though he also jointly owns three condo properties with his family).

In Nigel’s open letter, which was posted on Founder’s social media platforms, he highlighted that the 42-year-old chain is “in a dire situation”, and “if we don't turn around in the next two months, we will need to shut down”. He called for the public to consider heading to his shops for a meal, and offered 30 percent off meal sets. “We sincerely seek your support to save our brand, the jobs of our employees and our heritage,” he said.

While there was criticism aimed at his now highly-publicised move, there were also sympathetic folks who headed to Founder’s four branches to makan as a show of support. In response to 8days.sg’s enquiry about whether the bak kut teh chain’s business had improved after the plea, Lem Cheong, 38, the manager for its Hotel Boss outlet, says: “It was crowded for the first four days. There were queues, and then it slowed down thereafter. Still better than before though.”

We called up each of the four outlets at dinnertime today (July 24) to do a queue check, and here’s what we found out:

The Balestier branch is also Founder’s flagship restaurant, which has seen a cadre of A-list stars like Jay Chou and Charmaine Sheh pass through its doors. A staff member tells us over the phone that the shop was “packed for the past week”, but on this Friday night, the crowd situation was “still okay”, with “no queue outside”. As the outlets do not have a reservation system, the staff adds that she “doesn’t know if it will be crowded for the upcoming weekend”.

347 Balestier Rd, S329777. Tel: 63526192. Open daily except Tues,12pm-11.30pm.

“The crowd is unpredictable. Sometimes there’s a lot of people, sometimes it’s average,” says an outlet staff, who also notes that the crowd strength was “so-so” today with “just a few people”.

#01-09 Hotel Boss, 500 Jln Sultan, S199020. Tel: 68162582. Open daily 9am-9.30pm.

Despite being in a central, accessible location, in Bugis, this outlet didn’t see much traffic even with last week’s happenings. “I don’t think there will be a queue this weekend — it was also rather quiet last weekend,” says a staff member, adding hopefully: “Maybe there’ll be a queue at 7pm [at peak dinnertime] later?”

#01-01, 530 North Bridge Rd, S188747 . Tel: 62553889. Open daily 11am-9.30pm.

Like the Bugis branch, Founder’s eatery at Downtown East is similarly quiet. When we rang up the shop today (July 24) at dinnertime, its staff shares, “There were a lot of customers recently, but it has quietened down in the past few days. There are very few people here now. I think it will be crowded later, but I can’t predict anything.”

Market Square @ Downtown East, E! Ave 1, #01-310 Pasir Ris Cl, S519599. Tel: 63442588. Open daily 10am-10pm.