Chatterbox Chicken Rice Co-Creator, Sergeant Kiang, Passes Away At Age 86
He is credited as being the first to serve deboned Hainanese chicken rice, an early version of the now iconic dish at Chatterbox restaurant. Sgt Kiang also co-founded hawker stalls Sergeant Chicken Rice and Jiang Ji Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice.
One of the pioneer creators of the iconic Chatterbox chicken rice, Kiang Joon Toh (aka Sergeant Kiang), passed away aged 86 on 23 April 2024. He was also the founder of a few hawker stalls, including Jiang Ji Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice, which closed down in 2022.
News of his passing was announced by a netizen on Facebook group Hawkers United. The late Sgt Kiang leaves behind three children, also chicken rice hawkers. No further details on his passing have been shared.
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Part of the pioneer team behind Chatterbox chicken rice
The prolific chicken rice hawker started out as a cook in the British army in the ’60s, where he was known as Sergeant Kiang in the Army Food Battalion Regiment. He later worked in hotels like Mandarin Hotel (now known as Hilton Singapore Orchard) in 1971, where he was tasked by the then-executive chef to create a signature local dish for Chatterbox restaurant. He presented his rendition of chicken rice, which many believe was the first deboned Hainanese chicken rice.
This would eventually become what we now know as Chatterbox’s atas $25 Mandarin Chicken Rice.
Subsequently, Sgt Kiang helmed his own chicken rice stall called Sergeant Chicken at Rasa Singapura in the ’80s, till the Sentosa food court, which was established by the Singapore Tourist Promotion Board, closed in 1989.
He later worked with various food chains, including the Kopitiam group (where he trained staff for their Chicky Fun and Sergeant Chicken Rice chains), and eventually co-founded Jiang Ji Traditional Hainanese Chicken Rice together with his children in late 2010.
The stall initially operated at Havelock Road, before shutting down and reopening years later in Yishun from 2020 till 2022, before it closed again due to “rising rental and food costs”.
Sgt Kiang with his children Susan, Alvin and Raymond at their now-defunct stall
A five-day wake for Sgt Kiang will be held at 787 Yishun Ring Road from 24 April.
Photos: Facebook/Ian Low, Kelvin Chia, Facebook/Jeff Tan
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