2nd-Gen Boss Of Tanjong Rhu Pau Nearly Lost His Hand In Dough Machine Accident
For more than three decades, Tanjong Rhu Pau has built a loyal following for its petite handmade char siew pau, thin dough wrapped around charcoal-grilled pork, made fresh daily using recipes and techniques passed down from its founder Yap Peng Wah, 78.
The business first operated out of the family’s coffeeshop at 7 Jalan Batu in Tanjong Rhu. By the 1990s, its buns had become so popular that customers simply referred to it as “Tanjong Rhu Pau” — a name that stuck.
The buns are still crafted the traditional way by veteran masters at its shophouse kitchens in Balestier and Guillemard Road.
Today, the brand offers seven varieties, including its signature mini char siew pau, big pork bun, and lotus paste paus. Prices start from $1 for mini buns and $2 for regular-sized ones. New flavours such as sesame paste and vegetable paus will be introduced in March.
Second-gen of pau makers
Peng Wah (pictured in middle) still helps with the pau-making daily, though the heritage brand is now run by his children, Chloe (left), 48, and Wei Jie (right), 43. They joined the business full-time in 2015 after years of helping out at the family’s coffeeshop.
Wei Jie oversees the kitchen alongside veteran pau masters, while Chloe handles operations and administrative work. The siblings also run Chin Sin Huan, a separate cafe concept offering the same traditional buns. The brand has four outlets, including Jalan Besar.
But on 5 November 2020 — his fourth wedding anniversary — Wei Jie nearly lost the very thing that allows him to continue that legacy: his hand.
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Hand caught in dough sheeter
It was around 6am at the Chin Sin Huan outlet in Jalan Besar. As usual, Wei Jie was the first to arrive. Since he was early, he decided to clean the dough sheeter, a machine used to smoothen dough.
He switched on the machine and as he was wiping it, his cloth slipped.
Instinctively, he reached down to grab it. In a split second, his right hand, his dominant hand, was pulled into the rollers. All four fingers were trapped.
“My first immediate reaction was ‘shit’,” he recalls.
He didn’t shout. He hit the stop button, switched off the main power and told his staff to call the ambulance.
“He panicked, but I was very calm,” Wei Jie recalls.
So calm that, while waiting for the paramedics, Wei Jie was thinking about the best way to free his hand.
“I didn’t feel pain, perhaps due to the adrenaline. It was just numbness,” he tells 8days.sg.
Thought it was just a fracture
At first, he assumed it was just a bad fracture.
It wasn’t until a paramedic released his hand and reacted with a horrified gasp that the gravity of the situation sank in.
“I was thinking, ‘Bro, what’s wrong?’” he says.
“High possibility we may have to amputate”
At Tan Tock Seng Hospital, the orthopaedic hand surgeon told him “it doesn’t look very well” and that there was a “high possibility we may have to amputate the middle finger.”
“When I went to the operating theatre, I was mentally prepared that I will come out with just three fingers and a thumb,” he says matter-of-factly.
The finger was saved. After four days in hospital and two more procedures to restore function, he now retains about 90 per cent movement, though he still cannot fully clench his fist.
“I consider myself very, very lucky,” says Wei Jie. “The doctor told me if my thumb had gone in, it would have been much worse. The thumb is the most important.” The thumb accounts for much of the hand’s grip and overall function.
Had to retrain his hands to make pau
For three months, Wei Jie couldn’t make paus.
“I couldn’t pinch hard enough. After steaming the buns, the pau would open up,” he shares.
He went for physiotherapy several times a week to rebuild strength and had to tweak his technique.
His right middle finger doesn’t fully bend, so he relies more on his left hand now. During busy periods, the hand stiffens and aches after working long hours.
“But it doesn’t affect daily life,” he says. “Only I cannot fully clench [my fist].”
Suffered PTSD using same dough machine that injured him
The physical recovery was one thing. The mental hurdle was another.
Wei Jie had to return to using the same dough sheeter — the very machine that trapped his hand. It is still in use at the Tanjong Rhu Pau store in Balestier (pictured).
For about six months, he experienced flashbacks when using it.
“There was this phobia. Sometimes I would just stare at the machine,” he says.
Still, he forced himself to continue using it. He is now more cautious around machinery, doing mental double-checks before every task. And one habit has changed for good.
If something drops near the rollers?
“Now I just let it go.”
A permanent reminder
The accident left a mark he chose not to hide.
Wei Jie got the date — 5.11.2020 — inked on his forearm, along with a line symbolising the scar on his middle finger.
“It’s a reminder to be careful,” he says. “I wanted something to physically make me remember this accident.”
“My heart almost jumped out”
At home, the accident is rarely discussed. But Wei Jie’s dad still struggles when it is brought up.
“I was dumbfounded when I first heard about his accident. My heart almost jumped out,” says Peng Wah, tearing up. “You never know when it comes to machinery. What if his hand was crushed?”
Wei Jie, characteristically calm, never doubted he would continue making pau.
“Even with three fingers, I will continue,” he says. “You just change your habits.”
Five years on, he is still there daily, shaping dough and preparing fillings. Tanjong Rhu Pau now operates four outlets, including Guillemard Road and Tampines. Two new kiosks are slated to open this March at Food Republic in Mandai and Food Junction at Bishan Junction 8.
For the siblings, growth is secondary to preserving the heritage of handcrafted pau and continuing their father’s legacy.
“We just want to keep this craft going,” says Chloe. “A lot of old-school food is disappearing.”
Wei Jie agrees.
“As long as we can still make good pau, we will continue.”
Tanjong Rhu Pau has four outlets including 611 Balestier Rd, S329908. Open Mon to Sat, 8.30am – 7pm. Closed on Sun and public holidays. New kiosks at Bishan Junction 8 and Mandai opening in Mar. More info on Facebook and Instagram.
Photos: Dillon Tan, 8 Days Eat TikTok, Tanjong Rhu Pau
No part of this story or photos can be reproduced without permission from 8days.sg.
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