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The stall is closing for good on Mar 29. Despite their health challenges, the couple behind it hosted a farewell meal for elderly residents one last time.
The cancer-stricken Charlie Soh, who opened 88 Katong Laksa in 2018, and his wife, Irene Soh (right), will be permanently closing the stall on Sunday (Mar 29). (Photo: Facebook/Charlie Soh)
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88 Katong Laksa at Circuit Road Hawker Centre first made headlines in March 2022 after Melvin Chew, founder of Facebook group Hawkers United Dabao 2020, visited the stall and shared the hawker couple’s story on the Facebook hawker group.
Owner of the stall, Charlie Soh, affectionately known as Uncle Soh, has been battling Stage 4 cancer for the past 15 years, though the exact diagnosis is unclear. He says he has undergone multiple surgeries on his kidney, pancreas and spine.
After being diagnosed with late-stage cancer in 2010, Soh opened the stall circa 2018 so that his wife Irene Soh would have a livelihood after he passed on. With doctors giving him only one and a half years to live back in 2022, Charlie Soh has defied the odds.
In April 2025, the stall closed for a week after he was hospitalised at Changi General Hospital for swollen ankles from his first immunotherapy treatment.
After he was discharged from the hospital, Irene Soh reopened the stall alone. "Irene has no alternative but to open her stall to recoup her losses [sic] of incomes for the past 12 days," Charlie Soh wrote on Facebook back then.
Earlier this year, the stall again closed for a month while Irene Soh recuperated from second-degree burns “to her hands and leg whilst doing her cooking at the stall”, Charlie Soh wrote in a post on Jan 4. She had also undergone knee replacement surgery.
Charlie and Irene Soh will be permanently closing 88 Katong Laksa on Sunday (Mar 29). (Photo: Facebook/Charlie Soh)
The stall reopened on Jan 26 and less than two months later, they have made the call to close – for good this time.
In a post announcing the stall’s closure, he wrote of himself and his wife, “Charlie is still battling his 15 [years-long] stage 4 cancers whereas Auntie Irene has just [been] recovering from her second degree burns over her hands whilst at work at the stall. Furthermore, she had undergone her knee replacement surgery.” Their health challenges have clearly taken a toll on the couple.
Their last day of service will be on Mar 29, 2026.
Before the stall’s final day, the couple hosted a farewell meal for about 50 seniors from the MacPherson constituency on Monday (Mar 23). They have hosted similar events at the hawker centre for seniors in partnership with sponsors from their constituency in the past.
“The feeling of this happening gives us the happiness and satisfaction that no money can be bought with to see your wishes fulfilled,” Charlie Soh said in his Facebook post.
The couple hosted a farewell meal for about 50 seniors from the MacPherson constituency on Monday (Mar 23). (Photo: Facebook/Charlie Soh)
88 Katong Laksa’s last day of operations is Mar 29, 2026. It’s located at #01-49 Circuit Road Hawker Centre, 79 Circuit Rd, Singapore 370079. More info via Facebook.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
