If you grew up in Singapore anytime between the 60s and 90s, you may remember that unmistakable “ding ding” echoing through your estate – a candy uncle hammering away at a slab of hardened maltose. That was the cue for kids to grab whatever coins they had and sprint downstairs for some freshly cracked ding ding candy.
These days, that once-familiar sound has almost disappeared. But at the pasar malam next to Tampines MRT station, husband-and-wife duo, Mr Cheong, 72, and Madam See, 67, are keeping the tradition alive with not just ding ding candy, but also dragon’s beard candy – another old-school sweet that you rarely see anymore.
In case this nostalgic treat predates your childhood, here’s the lowdown: Ding ding candy is a crunchy, sweet snack made by hammering a hardened slab of maltose until it splinters into little pieces. The rhythmic “ding ding” sound from the hammer striking the metal slab is how it got its name.
“When we were young, whenever we heard the uncle making the sound, we would run downstairs to buy it,” See recalled. “Just hearing that sound made us happy.”
Ding ding candy sold by the couple. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
These days, most buyers are adults reliving their childhood. “Compared to the old days, there are fewer people buying,” she admitted.
“But adults who grew up eating it still come, they’ll buy and let their children try. If your candy is good, people will come. We still have regulars who always look for us.”
And if you’re thinking of trying to make ding ding candy at home, she joked: “If you make this candy at home, the police will come for you because it’s so noisy!”
The couple weren’t always in the candy business. See was once a tailor, while Cheong used to make shoes.
Why the switch in careers?
“We used to do those jobs when we were younger, we just decided to eventually change occupation,” See told 8days.sg.
“We’ve been selling this for 25 years,” Cheong added.
“In the past, people had small tailoring or shoemaking shops. But they slowly disappeared, and now everything is made in factories,” See explains of the career switch.
Is making candy tougher?
“Every occupation has its own hardships. Best is if we have a lot of money and don’t need to work!” she said with a laugh.
From left: See and Cheong. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
Before settling temporarily at their current pasar malam spot, the couple sold their candy near Nex, then moved to VivoCity’s food court in 2016 – a stint that ended because the food court closed for upgrading. Since then, they have been itinerant sellers.
“If people want us to sell somewhere or there’s an event somewhere, we’ll go,” See said.
But making a living from selling candy isn’t easy. “We can still survive, but we don’t earn a lot,” she admits. “We’re old now and we don’t have many skills left, but we can still make candy.” Their income isn’t fixed – some days are better, some days aren’t, she added.
See preparing dragon's beard candy. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
While Cheong handles the ding ding candy, See is in charge of the more delicate dragon’s beard candy.
The process starts with a lump of maltose, which she stretches and pulls into hundreds of hair-like strands before wrapping it around a peanut filling.
The result? A soft, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth cloud that resembles a wispy “dragon’s beard”, hence the name.
How many pulls does it take?
“Maybe around 10 times? I don’t count,” See chuckled. “It really depends on your skill, you need a bit of ‘internal energy’ to pull it!”
But Singapore’s heat makes things trickier. “Because the weather is hot, the maltose will melt easily. It’s best eaten immediately. Some people like to chill it in the fridge for extra crunch,” she says.
Cheong preparing ding ding candy. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
The couple will only be at the Tampines MRT station pasar malam until Dec 14.
But after that? “We don’t know exactly where we’ll be next,” See says. “We can’t confirm if we’ll move back to VivoCity either.”
Not having a permanent shop space can be challenging. “Sometimes it’s hard,” she admitted. “But having a fixed location is expensive. We’re old – we would prefer somewhere near where we live, but if the rent is too high, we can’t maintain it.”
How do customers track them down? “Some will ask where we’re going next or some will even ask for our phone number,” See revealed.
The pair don’t keep fixed opening hours either. “Sometimes we’ll close to take a break because this job is quite tiring, it’s not easy,” See admitted. It takes about three hours to make a batch of both candies.
“I’m scared to be interviewed because we might not be able to cope with the crowd,” she laughed.
Since the couple have no children, will their traditional recipes disappear?
“We’ll see if any younger relatives are interested,” See said. “If they want to learn, we’ll teach them. But we won’t teach outsiders.”
How long will they continue selling candy? “We’ll just work and see how – see how our health is,” See said.
For now, you can get a box of their ding ding candy for S$2, a box of their dragon’s beard candy for S$6 and malt sugar for S$3 a tub.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...
These days, that once-familiar sound has almost disappeared. But at the pasar malam next to Tampines MRT station, husband-and-wife duo, Mr Cheong, 72, and Madam See, 67, are keeping the tradition alive with not just ding ding candy, but also dragon’s beard candy – another old-school sweet that you rarely see anymore.
In case this nostalgic treat predates your childhood, here’s the lowdown: Ding ding candy is a crunchy, sweet snack made by hammering a hardened slab of maltose until it splinters into little pieces. The rhythmic “ding ding” sound from the hammer striking the metal slab is how it got its name.
“When we were young, whenever we heard the uncle making the sound, we would run downstairs to buy it,” See recalled. “Just hearing that sound made us happy.”
Ding ding candy sold by the couple. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
These days, most buyers are adults reliving their childhood. “Compared to the old days, there are fewer people buying,” she admitted.
“But adults who grew up eating it still come, they’ll buy and let their children try. If your candy is good, people will come. We still have regulars who always look for us.”
And if you’re thinking of trying to make ding ding candy at home, she joked: “If you make this candy at home, the police will come for you because it’s so noisy!”
The couple weren’t always in the candy business. See was once a tailor, while Cheong used to make shoes.
Why the switch in careers?
“We used to do those jobs when we were younger, we just decided to eventually change occupation,” See told 8days.sg.
“We’ve been selling this for 25 years,” Cheong added.
“In the past, people had small tailoring or shoemaking shops. But they slowly disappeared, and now everything is made in factories,” See explains of the career switch.
Is making candy tougher?
“Every occupation has its own hardships. Best is if we have a lot of money and don’t need to work!” she said with a laugh.
From left: See and Cheong. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
Before settling temporarily at their current pasar malam spot, the couple sold their candy near Nex, then moved to VivoCity’s food court in 2016 – a stint that ended because the food court closed for upgrading. Since then, they have been itinerant sellers.
“If people want us to sell somewhere or there’s an event somewhere, we’ll go,” See said.
But making a living from selling candy isn’t easy. “We can still survive, but we don’t earn a lot,” she admits. “We’re old now and we don’t have many skills left, but we can still make candy.” Their income isn’t fixed – some days are better, some days aren’t, she added.
See preparing dragon's beard candy. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
While Cheong handles the ding ding candy, See is in charge of the more delicate dragon’s beard candy.
The process starts with a lump of maltose, which she stretches and pulls into hundreds of hair-like strands before wrapping it around a peanut filling.
The result? A soft, delicate, melt-in-your-mouth cloud that resembles a wispy “dragon’s beard”, hence the name.
How many pulls does it take?
“Maybe around 10 times? I don’t count,” See chuckled. “It really depends on your skill, you need a bit of ‘internal energy’ to pull it!”
But Singapore’s heat makes things trickier. “Because the weather is hot, the maltose will melt easily. It’s best eaten immediately. Some people like to chill it in the fridge for extra crunch,” she says.
Cheong preparing ding ding candy. (Photo: 8Days/Glyn Seah)
The couple will only be at the Tampines MRT station pasar malam until Dec 14.
But after that? “We don’t know exactly where we’ll be next,” See says. “We can’t confirm if we’ll move back to VivoCity either.”
Not having a permanent shop space can be challenging. “Sometimes it’s hard,” she admitted. “But having a fixed location is expensive. We’re old – we would prefer somewhere near where we live, but if the rent is too high, we can’t maintain it.”
How do customers track them down? “Some will ask where we’re going next or some will even ask for our phone number,” See revealed.
The pair don’t keep fixed opening hours either. “Sometimes we’ll close to take a break because this job is quite tiring, it’s not easy,” See admitted. It takes about three hours to make a batch of both candies.
“I’m scared to be interviewed because we might not be able to cope with the crowd,” she laughed.
Since the couple have no children, will their traditional recipes disappear?
“We’ll see if any younger relatives are interested,” See said. “If they want to learn, we’ll teach them. But we won’t teach outsiders.”
How long will they continue selling candy? “We’ll just work and see how – see how our health is,” See said.
For now, you can get a box of their ding ding candy for S$2, a box of their dragon’s beard candy for S$6 and malt sugar for S$3 a tub.
This story was originally published in 8Days.
For more 8Days stories, visit https://www.8days.sg/
Continue reading...