Singapore, January 10, 2010
EGGS
Who: Mrs Maria Lim (above), 50s
What: P & M Eggs Store
Where: Tekka Market, 665 Buffalo Road, 01-102, open: 7am to 6pm (Tuesdays to Saturdays), 7am to 5pm (Sundays and Mondays)
When Mrs Lim supplies eggs to hawkers who cook them hard-boiled, she makes sure the eggs are a few days old.
The reason: It is easier to peel the shell off the cooked egg.
She also delivers eggs to eateries in the neighbourhood at no extra charge when they order in bulk. Her husband, a taxi driver, helps with the delivery.
Her three grown-up children are not involved in the business.
Her thoughtfulness is why Ms Siti Mastura Alwi, 46, owner of baking school Siti’s Delights in North Bridge Road, has been patronising the stall for more than 15 years.
Ms Siti says: “Maria knows I need large eggs for baking and she will take the trouble to pick the largest of the large eggs for me.”
Mrs Lim says good service comes naturally to her because she worked as a waitress at a now defunct coffee house in Orchard Road before she began to help her mother run the egg stall in the early 1980s.
“Courtesy is very important and I am always patient with customers.”
She adds: “I check the eggs that I get from my supplier daily and those that are not nice or cracked, I set them aside and I do not sell them.”
Guide to the best stalls:
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| Guide to the best stalls: Fruits |
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| Guide to the best stalls: Vegetables |
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| Guide to the best stalls: Meat |
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| Guide to the best stalls: Tofu & Noodles |
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| Guide to the best stalls: Fish |
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| Guide to the best stalls: Spices |
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