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Sim Lim Tower Ice Cream Cart Hawker Ng Teak Boon Passes Away At 92

['One of Singapore’s last licensed itinerant hawkers, Ng Teak Boon, has passed away. He was 92. He was cremated today (Jun 22) without a wake.', 'No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from ', '8days.sg', '.', 'Earlier this year, the hunchbacked Uncle Boon told ', '8days.sg', ' that due to age, he had been unable to sell his wafer and bread-wrapped ice cream blocks as he no longer had the strength to split the frozen blocks. Instead, he offered pre-packaged ice cream from a supplier.']

One of Singapore’s last licensed itinerant hawkers, Ng Teak Boon, has passed away. He was 92. He was cremated today (Jun 22) without a wake. No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg . 1 2 Known affectionately as Uncle Boon, he was a well-known sight outside Sim Lim Tower, where he has been selling old-school ice cream blocks from a mobile pushcart for over 50 years. 2 2 News of his passing was first announced by hawker Melvin Chew on his Facebook group Hawkers United - Dabao 2020 . He wrote: “Sad to announce the passing of Sim Lim ice cream uncle Ah Boon last night. Uncle Boon will be cremated this evening at Mandai [crematorium]. I will be dropping by later to pay my last respects to Uncle Boon. Two weeks ago I saw him at Jalan Besar hawker centre. And I still talked to him. Passed some kopi money to him. Today he passed on. RIP Uncle Boon. Earlier this year, the hunchbacked Uncle Boon told 8days.sg that due to age, he had been unable to sell his wafer and bread-wrapped ice cream blocks as he no longer had the strength to split the frozen blocks. Instead, he offered pre-packaged ice cream from a supplier. 1 1 As ice cream pushcarts become a dying trade, Uncle Boon’s sales gradually dwindled over the years. He earned a few hundred dollars a month selling ice cream, and lived alone in a one-room rental flat in Geylang Bahru.  When his income took a huge hit during the Circuit Breaker when everyone stayed home, netizens rallied to help him sell more ice cream and spruce up his rental flat, which was sparsely furnished. One Mr Chetan, a business owner working in Sim Lim Tower, told 8days.sg that he had been patronising Uncle Boon’s ice cream cart since 2007. He shared: “I would always buy the ice cream from Uncle. He was always earlier than me to start [his day for business]. Very nice uncle, very humble.” 8days.sg . www.tiktok.com/@8dayseat

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