Clad in his uniform of choice - short-sleeve collared shirt, bermudas and knee-high rubber boots - he would start to make soya bean milk and beancurd, from scratch.
“I’m a traditionalist. Nobody makes soya bean milk this way anymore.”
Using a custom-made ladle with conical scoop, Mr Loh, 65, stirs and swirls the frothy raw soya milk. He detects a whiff of charring. Nimbly, he flicks the gas switch off, pours in more raw milk, turns up the fire again, and continues stirring. All through the 30-minute process, not a drop of milk spills from the precarious edges of the 1.5 metre-wide kwali (an Asian wok made of heavy cast iron).
Each time he finishes cooking a batch of soya milk, he scrubs the wok thoroughly, so that the next batch of soya milk doesn’t burn. He repeats this routine 7-9 times. At about 5am, he would clean all his tools and stack them neatly. Mr Loh then takes a short break at home and returns to the stall at 7am - when a snaking queue starts to form.
For 35 years, Mr Loh has abided strictly by his own rules of making good soya bean milk and curd by hand. The only mechanical process is grinding the soya beans into raw milk. Everything else - cooking, straining and setting - require sheer physical labour and a careful attention to details.
Colour coded buckets, neatly-packed ziploc bags of gypsum powder, and squeaky, shiny containers, all speak of the meticulous care Mr Loh puts into his daily pursuit - the rich, aromatic soya bean milk and the silky smooth beancurd he serves to a loyal following.
Every day, he soaks between 50-90 kg of soya beans for at least 4 hours. These beans are then grinded to raw soya milk, cooked to perfection, and strained for impurities. Part of the milk will be coagulated into soya beancurd, while the rest are sold as drinks. Everyday, he serves hundreds of portions of soya bean milk and curd.
“It gives me a great sense of satisfaction,” Mr Loh said, beaming.
Indonesian customers would make his stall the first stop whenever they come to Singapore. The Japanese media has also made a programme about him.
But Mr Loh didn’t plan his career this way.
In the 1950s, Mr Loh’s father started selling “tau huay” (Hokkien for soya beancurd) on a mobile pushcart, finally settling down to a permanent stall in 1979, located at what was then known as Seng Poh Market (now Tiong Bahru Market).
As a young man, Mr Loh would help out at his father’s business during the weekends, even as he pursued his own career as a dispatch driver at an engineering firm, where he worked for about 10 years.
In 1985, the economy went into a recession and many staff were retrenched, including Mr Loh. At the age of 30, he took over his father’s trade, and named the stall “Teck Seng”, after his own name. Not content with doing everything the same old way, Mr Loh refined the processes handed down from his father.
His wife Mdm Tan Chia Imm, 63, and daughter, Ms Loh Hui Shan, 32, help him man the stall daily. But the actual work of preparing the soya bean milk and curd in the traditional way requires a lot of physical strength, and according to Mr Loh, is a task more suited for men.
Like him, Mr Loh’s only son, Ying Zhou, 30, is working elsewhere - serving Western food and coffee at a modern cafe. Occasionally, he would come on weekends to apprentice under his father.
“Of course, I hope to pass this business to the next generation. But I won’t pressure my son, just as my father never put pressure on me. All in its good time,” said Mr Loh.
At 65, Mr Loh is in no hurry to retire. Throughout his career, he recalls only having been unfit for work once, when he sprained his back. He credits his physical health to a consistent diet of soya bean milk and curd.
“My father lived till 91 and my mom, who is now 89, has never worn glasses! I am 65 and I don’t need glasses either.”
Self-discipline doesn’t just apply to his daily work - Mr Loh is just as unswerving with the way he spends his rest time. “Every Sunday I will go and style my hair at the salon, and catch up with old classmates over karaoke!”
Teck Seng Soya Bean Milk is located at Tiong Bahru Market, 30 Seng Poh Road #02-69 and opens daily from 5am except on Mondays. More information can be found on their Facebook Page.