The Mee Pok man passed away a week ago. Odd as it may seem, he was a special part of our school and many of us remember him fondly. Ask any SCGS girl and they will say his noodles were one of the best – if not, the best they’ve had.
He was, in short, an icon in an all-girls’ school.
I was an SCGS girl from Primary 1 to Secondary 4. As a seven year-old kid, the first stall I patronised was the Mee Pok man’s. At the time I ate the yellow Hokkien noodles with soup. My favourite line was “Thirty cent mee, mai tau geh”. Which translated to “thirty cents’ worth of noodles, without bean sprouts”.
As I grew older I realised the Mee Pok man’s prices increased as well. I can’t remember exactly when I switched to the flatter ‘mee pok’ noodles but it probably occurred when he (or my friends in school) suggested that I try something different. Combined with a bit of lard, oil and Tianjin vinegar, the taste was heavenly.
His noodles were famous enough that the neighbours in Emerald Hill would place orders too. I remember that our principal (another SCGS icon) Miss Heng insisted that the food must go to the schoolgirls first and not to outsiders. The price for outsiders was also higher – but $1 was still a very fair price.
When you learn that someone you’ve just met is an SCGS girl, one common point of understanding is the Mee Pok man. On a few occasions we’ve even discussed what other mee pok dishes from other stalls in Singapore are comparable to his.
Uncle, we’ll miss you. Thank you for being a special part of our school tuckshop, and our childhood memories.
[ This is a belated post as I got the news late, and procrastinated about writing it. Search Google / Technorati with the keywords “SCGS, Mee pok” and read other girls’ blogs about him.]
Comments
I was sad to learn about the mee pok man passing away too. He really was one of the SCGS icons and was one of the few remaining memories of the school I used to know. I always ordered either mee pok or mee kiah gan (dry), no chili.