2nd-gen boss of pork leg rice hawker chain Shi Nian responds to complaints of small portions after viral video

First video on $500K loss invited backlash about portion sizes

Instead of garnering support and sympathy from his elaborately produced video that attracted 61K views on TikTok, it attracted a flood of complaints. Mostly about the fact that his $5.90 pork leg rice ($6.90 at some outlets with an onsen egg) left diners unsure if they were eating “a proper meal or just a snack”. Other comments included: “even my 9-year-old rice-loving girl will not be full”.

The young towkay joined the family’s popular Bai Nian Niang Dou Fu chain after graduating from poly with a diploma in banking and finance. He later took over his parents’ yong tau foo biz in 2019. That same year, he launched Lin Ji Pig Leg Rice at Albert Food Centre, before branching out under the name Shi Nian in 2021. 

These days, Tommy and his family run a slew of other F&B brands such as porridge joint Peng Jia Zhou, Hae! Mee, Hae! Prawn Claypot, and Bai Nian Food Court (with more projects on the way, he tells 8days.sg).

Follow-up video details high price of pig legs 

In Tommy’s recent follow-up video, this time with motivational music playing in the background, he explains that pig legs don’t come cheap. “You could get close to two whole chickens for the price of just one pork leg,” he says, adding that’s before factoring other costs like staff wages, stall rental, handmade prawn cakes and braised onsen eggs.

To prove his point, Tommy breaks it down for 8days.sg: “One pork leg can usually be cut up into six portions of pig leg rice, but one whole chicken can offer a lot of plates of chicken rice,” he explained. We called up a few chicken rice hawkers and they said one bird can serve about ten plates of chicken rice. However, if you have a bigger appetite like us, one chook comfortably feeds around six pax. 

Promises to increase portions sizes, but not prices

Still, he concedes that his pricing woes aren’t enough to satisfy hungry customers’ stomachs. Or their desire for a value-for-money meal. So Shi Nian is now “adjusting its portion sizes” while maintaining the same prices to “give [customers] the most we can while balancing long-term sustainability”. Cool… but how much bigger is the new portion exactly, 8days.sg asks the towkay?

How much more exactly?

“It’s a bit hard for me to say, but from our video, it’s a lot more in terms of the portion, rice, veggies, and meat. Overall, it is a lot more,” Tommy tells 8days.sg.

When we probe further, he adds that the portions will be increased through “standard operating procedure, based on the weight and utensils that we use to take each portion, so everybody will be using the same scoop”. 

8days.sg’s further questions about the exact weight of meat now vs before went unanswered under press time. 

Larger portions limited to five Shi Nian outlets for now

For now, the upsized portions of the pork leg rice are only limited to five non-franchised Shi Nian outlets that Tommy personally owns: Albert Food Centre in Bugis, 29 Eunos Ave 6, Kovan Market and Food Centre, Chong Pang Market and Food Centre, and ESR BizPark @ Chai Chee. 

“When portion size changes, costs also increase, so the owners of the other five franchised outlets need to agree [first]. We plan to meet up with them and change [things] one by one,” Tommy tells 8days.sg.

The reason behind Shi Nian’s rapid expansion

So why the rush to expand in the first place and tear through half a mill in six months? Tommy explains: “At that point, we had Bai Nian and other businesses. So I had enough cash flow to expand Shi Nian. After partnering with franchisees (see below), I was only required to come up with half the start-up cost, so that allowed me to expand even more, and not because we have deep pockets. The hawker group Fei Siong is one of my role models, and I had a dream to be just like them”.

He concedes that he couldn’t open so many outlets by himself. “That’s when I partnered and helped a lot of young students and Grab delivery drivers to open outlets. It was a lot more than money, my goal was to help as many people succeed as possible,” he shares.

Approached young strangers to become franchisees

Tommy tells 8days.sg he did not charge his franchisees a fee. Instead, he asked them to put up 50 percent of the start-up costs, and gave them equal stakes in the biz. “A lot of my existing employees were ageing, so this was a way to bring in young blood to preserve hawker culture,” he elaborates. 

“For these [young] people, it was their first time in business. At the start, things went well, we were making money and excited to be the next big thing. But challenges came up, standards dropped, and eventually, I was the one covering the losses. It was a hard lesson, but ultimately, my mistake. I could’ve created a better system,” he admits. 

Tommy recalls literally approaching strangers: “I would be at North Point looking at all the youngsters. I’d approach them and ask how much they were making. I felt that this might be my calling. With my current ability, I could help these people do well. There is a Chinese saying: ‘The more people you help, the less you need to think about money, and you will be rewarded in other ways’.” 

What did Tommy’s hawker parents say about his $500K loss? 

In hindsight, Tommy says those tough lessons were valuable. “It made me a better leader and strategist. I’m still learning, but those mistakes will not be repeated. I really wanted to help people but in the end, I cannot help everybody, only those around me,” he muses.

What did Tommy’s parents say about his $500K loss? “It was painful, but they didn’t rub [salt into my] wound because they saw what I went through. I was in a very bad place, I was very down and stressed. They saw the hard work I put in. They also knew there were some mistakes I made. But at least it’s not too late, and I can restart,” he shares.