Putien’s founder Fong Chi Chung on his humble beginnings, giving back and the value of an egg
This year marks the 25th anniversary of Putien, the Singapore-based restaurant that popularised Hinghwa cuisine across Asia. Restaurateur Fong Chi Chung reflects on the past quarter-century of food, entrepreneurship and personal fulfilment.
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Off the coast of Putian city in China's Fujian province, we bobbed along on a boat together with Putien's founder Fong Chi Chung.
We’d just admired the thriving yellow croaker fish and oyster farms from which the Putien restaurants in Singapore and all around Asia get their fresh produce, as part of a tour that Mr Fong was giving of his hometown.
The restaurants, numbering more than 100, may be named after the Chinese city, but awareness of Putian as a place or destination is low.
It is not on the usual tourist maps and few people have an understanding of what it is like.
Although Mr Fong lives in Singapore and is a naturalised citizen, he sources produce from Putian for his restaurant chain.
Known to everyone – workers and reporters alike – as “Uncle Fong”, the 57-year-old also leads the occasional private tour for people of Hinghwa descent, or to show the media what the area has to offer.
At one point, he gestured to the wild, hilly islands surrounding our boat. “What do you see?”, he asked. The answer came: “Nothing.”
“Right, even the hills are bare. There are no trees. Nothing grows. In the past, the people who lived here were so desperate, that there wasn’t even tree bark to eat when they had no food. They would jump on the first ship that came along and say, ‘We don’t care where you’re going. Just get us out of here'.”
THE YEARS HAVE PASSED "VERY QUICKLY"
This year, in October, Putien will celebrate its 25th anniversary. A quarter of a century in Singapore’s tough dining scene surely means the business must be doing something right.
However, Mr Fong looked blank when, back in Singapore, over the course of tea at his black-and-white bungalow, I asked if he was planning to celebrate this milestone.
“Is it our 25th anniversary?” he wondered. He hadn’t realised it.
“Every day is full, so I don’t think much about it,” he said with a chuckle as he brewed some tieguanyin tea leaves at the table.
At home, the best food we had was eggs from our chickens. The value of each egg was about 12 cents. They were so precious that we never ate them. Even as her grandson, I was never allowed any. But, when we had guests, she never hesitated to cook them eggs
A Trip to Singapore zoo
- On why he is known by the intimate name of "Uncle Fong", there is a funny story behind this.
- At the start, he trained Singapore cooks to replicate the flavours of his home. Later on, he hired cooks from China who moved to Singapore with their families.
- While the cooks were busy at the restaurant one day, Mr Fong decided that he would take their young children on an excursion to the Singapore Zoo.
- “We entered the zoo and the first thing we saw was a giraffe,” he recalled. “All the children immediately cried, ‘Boss, there’s a giraffe'. And then, it was, 'Boss, there’s a monkey’.
- "I was so embarrassed. Their parents called me ‘boss’ in Mandarin, so they thought that was my name.”
- Lest the other zoo visitors thought he was leading a syndicate exploiting children, he hastily instructed them to address him as “Uncle Fong” instead.
LIMBS, HEAD AND HEART
Of course, through 25 years, Putien has had its ups and downs, Mr Fong said.
The COVID-19 pandemic, for instance, was "a period of daily nightmares". He was thinking if the whole company might collapse in three months.
After the pandemic now, it hasn’t been good either because there is so much competition. "Recently, my hair has been going white,” he exclaimed.
Eating into the "China food" pie are Xiang Xiang Hunan Cuisine and Yun Nans, for example, not to mention the popular brand Haidilao, as well as the numerous eateries specialising in hotpot and mala meals.
Putien has built its success on the home-style food of the Putian people, but until just recently, “Putian people would never serve Putian food at feasts", he added.
"They would serve Cantonese food instead, because Putian food is peasant food.”
His view is that if you don’t know the food of your own people well, "you are letting subsequent generations down".
He mused: “I was also thinking, as a person, if I'm able to do one thing that’s meaningful in my life, I’d be happy. How do you define meaning? It’s not about doing business and making money ... in my mind, I wanted to bring Putian to the world."
