Last year during the Circuit Breaker, 8days.sg ran a story about a Korean NTU student who revived her hawker dad’s business by promoting it on social media. Chela Suh, 23, had noticed her father Suh Chin Won, 53, fretting about sales, and decided to help him out. Her enterprising spirit paid off - the stall in Marsiling enjoyed a surge in popularity and attracted customers islandwide, despite not having any delivery service.

Initially, the family-run operation only had a generic ‘Korean Cuisine’ name. Chela (pictured above with her dad) has since given it a catchier 'Marsiling 136 Korean: Chelabela' moniker. Her dad mans the stove while Chela, her brother Lino and their grandmother help serve customers.

Originally from Seoul, the Suhs had moved to Singapore for their children’s education. Chin Won, who gave up a comfy job as a logistics manager in Korea, started working as a hawker here due to his language barrier.

After teaching himself how to cook home-style Korean food like kimchi fried rice, budaejjigae and bulgogi, he used his newfound skills to open a stall, which now spans a double-unit space at a rather ulu kopitiam at Blk 136 Marsiling Road.

Manpower is a constant worry for Chin Won, who found it difficult to communicate with his stall assistants in English and Mandarin. He eventually decided to run his stall alone with occasional help from his family.

His operations were gravely affected when Chela’s grandmother suffered a recent fall and became temporarily wheelchair-bound. Due to a lack of manpower, Chin Won and his family agreed to close their Marsiling stall and look for another location to reopen. The stall’s last day is on May 30.

Speaking to 8days.sg, Chela says there were “many reasons” why they chose to close. “But primarily because we want to develop a system where my dad can work alone,” she shares. “It was a long-term decision for us. And we also want to move somewhere more accessible for people.”

According to Chela, sales at her dad’s stall fell by a quarter since Phase 2 (Heightened Alert) started. “But it didn’t have a huge impact on his decision [to close]. It was mainly because of my grandma, and the fact that manpower is so difficult to get. Many Singaporeans and PRs do not wish to work at coffeeshops,” she explains.

Moving out of the two-unit stall, she says, will allow her dad to “find ways where he can better cope with manpower issues and change the menu so that he can do deliveries given the current climate”.

In the meantime, Chin Won will be “going around hunting for a good stall and coming up with new recipes”. Chela says, “He's thinking of [delivery-friendly] kimchi-based dishes. He’s revamping his kimchi fried rice and expanding on side dishes options like radish kimchi and more.”

#01-2188, Blk 136 Marsiling Rd, S730136. Open daily 10am-8pm. For large orders, call or text Suh Chin Won in advance at 9689-4007. For more updates, go to www.instagram.com/chelabela.kfood.

Photos: Chela Suh