Former bodyguard for two Singapore presidents takes over hawker parents’ Cantonese porridge stall

Lim Hwee Yi had wanted to become a policewoman since she was young. “I watched too much [Ch 8 drama] C.L.I.F. and Crimewatch,” laughed the 26-year-old, who joined the Singapore Police Force after graduating from polytechnic in 2019.
During the last month of her six-month training at the Home Team Academy, personnel from the Police Security Command came by to give a recruitment talk. “They said we could register with them if we were interested in joining. I found it very interesting – I would get to see a lot of things that people don’t get to see,” Lim recounted to 8days.sg.
She signed up that day, went home and told her hawker parents about the talk. She shared: “My dad used to be a hotel chef, and he had experience dealing with the security command when he was cooking for an event for VVIPs. He had a very positive impression of them, so he encouraged me to join.”
That led Lim to one of the most unusual jobs any Singaporean could have: Being a personal bodyguard for the President of Singapore. During her five-year tenure with the security command, she protected former President Halimah Yacob, current President Tharman Shanmugaratnam and their spouses. In 2022, Lim Hwee Yi also accompanied Mdm Halimah Yacob to the UK to attend the late Queen Elizabeth II’s funeral.
With her diminutive height, big sparkly eyes and bright smile, she debunks every film stereotype of a beefy, hostile club bouncer-esque bodyguard. “Because President Halimah Yacob is female, they needed more female bodyguards. I didn’t know it was even possible for me to join the police force. Since young, I have always had a sense of justice,” Lim said.
So how did she meet the “very stringent” criteria to guard the political elite? According to Lim, there were “three stages” for the job interview. “The first one was a physical test. After that half will drop out already (laughed). But the unit isn’t so rigid about physical attributes. Someone could be very tall, but they might not know how to react when something happens,” explained Lim.
She was the only one chosen from her cohort of over 20 candidates. She explained: “As long as the unit deems that you perform well in other aspects, like marksmanship, you can be selected. Marksmanship was my strong aspect. Even now, I miss holding a gun.”
What set Lim Hwee Yi apart was also her unusual commitment towards her job. “My motivation is to protect our country’s leaders. It’s an honour. I would say my life is more disposable than theirs, as cringey as it sounds. I have goosebumps saying this now!” she chuckled.
In May this year, Lim Hwee Yi made the difficult decision to leave her police job to take over her parents’ hawker stall called Botak Cantonese Porridge. It currently has two outlets, at Our Tampines Hub and One Punggol Hawker Centre.
Why the ‘botak’ name? Lim Hwee Yi’s dad, Ngoh Jook Guan, 61, points at his own bald head. “You can see why,” he chortled. The cheerful hawker runs his two porridge stalls with his wife Ivy Lim, 57.
The affable couple even has a meet-cute love story: They used to be hawker assistants at Golden Mile Food Centre at stalls that were facing each other. Back then, Ivy Lim was working at a porridge stall and Ngoh Jook Guan, at a cai png stall. “Then we found out we lived near each other too,” he shared shyly.
They got married around 12 years ago, and later left to open their own business selling Cantonese-style congee that Ngoh, a Hakka man, learnt how to make when he was working as a hotel restaurant chef.
“The porridge at Chinese restaurants is usually cooked by the Cantonese dim sum chefs. They taught me how to cook it: I was doing stir-frys then,” recalled Ngoh, who used to work at restaurant chain Jumbo Seafood before becoming a hawker.
His Cantonese porridge is very good, with wallet-friendly prices to boot, starting at S$3.30 for egg/century egg porridge, S$3.50 for a bowl of handmade meatball porridge to S$6.50 for seafood porridge with fresh prawns, batang fish slices and cuttlefish. Customers can also top up for extra ingredients like sliced fish (S$2.80), prawns (S$2.80) and minced century egg (S$0.60).
“Good meh? Okay only lah. Hotel restaurant porridge nicer,” beamed Ngoh modestly, typical Asian dad-style, though he looks pleased when we compliment his food. To keep his prices affordable, he came up with his own versions of congee recipes, using ingredients like scallop brine for the congee stock instead of whole dried scallops, which are a lot pricier.
Ngoh is now teaching his stepdaughter Lim Hwee Yi, an only child, the ropes to helm his business, while he and Ivy Lim plan for their retirement. Lim noted: “I see my parents getting older. One day I looked at them and felt like, eh, how come they have so many wrinkles and white hair? I want them to relax and have an easier life.”
She had originally wanted to work at her parents’ hawker stall right after graduating from polytechnic, but was dissuaded by her mother. “My mum said I should take five years to pursue my other goals. After poly, at 21, I haven’t seen the world. After that, if [hawking] is still the path I want to take, I can do it,” she recalled.
The stability of a government job ended up being a comfort zone for her. “I’m very happy with the five years I have spent in the police force. It was a dilemma to leave for sure. I loved my job. My colleagues and supervisors were great and everything was going very well. Wun wun jiak bee hoon,” she joked, referring to a playful Hokkien phrase to describe unshakeable stability.
Lim Hwee Yi felt more reassured about taking over her parents’ hawker business after meeting and getting engaged to her fiance, who runs his own online cake delivery business and also now helps her out at Botak Cantonese Porridge. “When I first finished my bond, I was single so I didn’t have the courage [to change jobs]. Then I met my fiance, and the idea popped up in my head again,” Lim said.
The hardship of being a hawker was a deterrent. “My previous job was physically and mentally demanding, but hawking has longer hours. Now, even on my off days, I sometimes come back to help out. For a government job, you definitely get two days off a week,” she pointed out. 
Botak Cantonese Porridge’s two outlets have extraordinary opening hours: Lim and her family, plus hired staff, take turns to helm shifts, seven days a week, from 7am to 9pm.
It was a fateful conversation with Ms Jane Yumiko Ittogi, President Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s wife, that gave Lim the final nudge she needed to make her career switch.
“When I was still 60 to 70 per cent [leaning towards becoming a hawker], I had a conversation with Mrs Tharman in the car one day. I told her I was thinking of quitting my job to go help my parents, and she pointed out that I was very fortunate to have them build up this business for me. That was when I made my decision,” she recounted.
She added: “Personally, I admire those hawkers who started from zero. If my parents didn’t build this up for me, I would be having a hard time now.”
But Lim took to her new working environment naturally, having grown up helping her parents at their stall. She now cooks, cleans and serves diners at both outlets. “It’s not intimidating for me to interact with customers or do odd jobs like cashiering. When I see my parents happy having me around, I feel it’s all worth it,” she chirped.
She plans to open a third outlet for Botak Cantonese Porridge and rope in more young hawkers. “We are looking for young people who don’t mind hardship to build this together with us. We give them attractive salary offers with career progression. It’s not just a hawker job. We hope to groom one or two young people; they get salary increments when they hit milestones. When business is good, we earn more together,” said Lim.
She still gets to hold a ‘gun’ at her current job. “The stove gun!” she exclaims with a laugh. Due to her around 1.55m-tall height, she also has to stand on an oil drum to stir and wash the massive vat that her family uses to cook congee in.
Lim pointed out: “Maybe for this job, I don’t meet the height requirement.”
A thoroughly comforting bowl of Cantonese porridge, loaded with tender pork liver, sliced pork, handmade meatballs, shredded chicken and minced century eggs. The velvety congee is delightful with the extra crunchy, savoury house-fried youtiao served on top.
Generously-portioned congee served with three springy large prawns, batang fish slices, cuttlefish slices and fried dough fritters. We recommend adding an egg to make this decadent, silky treat extra shiok.
This humble pick with less frills is just as good; the smooth, flavourful congee is perked up with bits of earthy century eggs, minced pork chunks and fried shallots. Soul-lifting stuff, and especially good in cooler weather on the rainy day we dropped by.
Botak Cantonese Porridge, two outlets including #01-65 The Hawker Centre @ Our Tampines Hub, Singapore 529684 and #02-14 One Punggol Hawker Centre, Singapore 828629. Open daily 7am-9pm (Punggol), 7.30am-9pm (Tampines).
This story was originally published in 8Days.
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