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Fans of famous Tian Tian Hainanese Chicken Rice flocked to the new stall opened by its ex-chef two stalls away yesterday and today.
That was after the media reported that Mr Wong Liang Tai, 53, decided to start his own business after he was fired following a spat.
As Tian Tian stall was closed today, it was only natural that fans hopped over to Mr Wong's stall as the chicken rice should taste about the same since he had been their chef for more than 20 years.
Mr Wong and his partner, Mr Chen Sim Kwang, a key helper at Tian Tian previously, told SoShiok.com that they had thought of opening their own stall because of "differences" with Tian Tian owners.
Mr Wong had told the media that he was unhappy with the management style of the owners' daughters, Ms Loi Mui Yin, 39, after she started running the company in 2010.
But Ms Loi, who also manages Tian Tian's newer air-conditioned outlets in Bedok and Joo Chiat, said as she was now running a much bigger company, she had to be fair to all staff, even though Mr Wong is her relative.
Mr Wong's elder sister was married to Tian Tian's founder, the late Mr Foo Kok Heng. Mr Wong had worked for him at two previous locations of Tian Tian - Tampines and Whampoa, before the Maxwell outlet was set up in the 1980s.
Mr Foo's younger sister, Madam Foo Kui Lian and her husband, Mr Loi Chi Sam, took over the Maxwell stall in the late 1980s. Miss Loi is their daughter.
Mr Wong was upset that she had blamed him for "minor wrongdoings", like not managing the staff well, while she accused him of threatening and shouting at co-workers over minor mistakes, to the extent that they felt unsafe at work.
The last straw came in October last year when Mr Wong apparently slapped the manager who accused him of causing food poisoning to a customer.
Mr Wong felt aggrieved at being the receiving end of problems at the stall, instead of being acknowledged for his contributions as a chef.
The stall had won a number of awards, including SPH's Hawker Master award.
Although he was always behind the scene, many Tian Tian regulars recognised him and Mr Chen.
In fact, they were happy to see them back in business and enquired about the opening hours of their stall.
But Ms Loi had expressed her unhappiness over the opening of the new stall as the food centre already had more than four stalls.
There are now six chicken rice stalls at the food centre.
