Stinky tofu stall outside AMK Hub closes after shoppers & tenants complain about smell

Smelly tofu don't mess around.

Nyi Nyi Thet | January 20, 2020, 12:20 PM

There's currently a Chinese New Year bazaar going on outside Ang Mo Kio Hub.

Here is one of the stalls in the bazaar.

Image from Singapore Night Bazaar

It sold stinky tofu, and from what Mothership understands, usually saw one of the most snaking queues during their run there.

However, on January 16, an abrupt announcement was made on the vendor's Facebook page.

It basically stated that this would be the last day after AMK Hub had given them some notification about their stall.

The stall told 8world that this was in part due to complaints received by shoppers at AMK Hub.

AMK Hub staff told 8world that the doors of the mall are often open, and the smell would float into the mall.

The air-conditioning makes the smell bearable, but the smell is greatly intensified once the air conditioning is turned off in the night.

On January 17 though, there was further development in the stinky tofu saga.

The stall apparently struck a compromise with the mall and said that they would continue business until Jan. 23.

But that joy was short-lived, with yet another update the next day on January 18, 2020.
This time they revealed plans to make sure proper ventilation was installed before opening the stall again.

When Mothership went down today, loads of fans appears to have been installed around the stall.

Image by Rexanne Yap

The opening hours are listed as 11am to 9pm.

As of 11:50am today (Jan. 20), the stall remained closed.

Photo by Rexanne Yap.

Other stall vendors Mothership spoke to also expressed reservations about the smell.

Two women tending a store on the second floor of AMK Hub told Mothership that the smell was so bad that they couldn't eat during lunch. According to them, the smell wafts in around 12pm.

Breadtalk service staff, known only as Ms Thao, said that while the smell was quite strong last week, and many customers complained. They also gave feedback to the mall operators.

Ever since the fans were installed, the smell is less strong, she added.

A cashier at a basement stall in AMK Hub said that the smell usually isn't so bad, and she can only smell it when the wind blows into the mall.

Images and additional reporting by Rexanne Yap