https://mothership.sg/2026/06/chinatown-sachima-fingers-hand-stall-cancer/

some customers fly in from Ipoh and Hong Kong to buy his sachima.

Chinatown sachima hawker, 70, born without fingers on left hand, reopens stall after cancer treatment

He is one of the last sachima makers in Singapore who still makes the snack by hand.

Images via Chinatown Singapore & Shin Min Daily News

At 70, Poon Sum Hay is one of the last traditional sachima makers in Singapore.

He makes the snack by hand each day despite being born without fingers on his left hand, enduring an eight-hour process that begins at about 6am.

Sachima is an old-school snack made of strands of fried batter bound together with sugar syrup.

In 2024, Poon, the second-generation owner of Chinatown Complex's Pan Ji Cooked Food, discovered he had colon cancer.

He was forced to shut his stall to undergo treatment.

Labour of love

But after a six-month-long recovery, he returned to the stall in August 2025 to resume his craft.

This year marks over 50 years of running the stall, according to Shin Min Daily News.

After first learning to make sachima at the age of 12, Poon inherited the stall from his father.

Despite a birth defect that left him without fingers on his left hand, he continued making fresh sachima the traditional way.

Making sachima is a laborious process that involves kneading and flattening dough before deep-frying it.

"You can't take any shortcuts, otherwise the result will be completely different," he told Shin Min.

In December 2024, Poon was diagnosed with colon cancer during a hospital check-up for abnormal bowel movements.

He underwent surgery to remove a portion of his large intestine and was hospitalised for eight days.

Upon recovery, he commenced 16 rounds of chemotherapy.

The physical and mental exhaustion Poon faced during this period forced him to stop working to recuperate.

He soon grew bored and missed his craft, however, and returned to serving his regular customers just six months later in August 2025.

Despite his earlier illness, Poon starts work from as early as 6am.

There is no real skill in making the snack, he told Shin Min.

"It's all about how much effort the person puts in. If the learner lacks passion and sincerity, the result won't taste good."

Poon has his fair share of regular customers who have continued supporting him despite an increase in the prices of his snacks.

He is also unconcerned about the lack of a successor, the childless man told Shin Min.

"If there is a successor, there is. If there isn't, there isn't."

Poon is currently supported by his girlfriend of 10 years, who helps out at the stall on a regular basis.

"We're getting older, we help each other out; it's also a way to keep each other company," she said.

She also spoke proudly of her partner's achievements, saying that some customers fly in from Ipoh and Hong Kong to buy his sachima.

"He is a very down-to-earth person," she added.