Given 30 Days to Live, He Now Runs Noodle Stall

When doctors told Tan Yong Cheng he had 30 days to live, he decided to prove them wrong.

The Singapore technician was 40 years old in 2018 when he noticed his trousers getting loose. A hospital visit revealed devastating news: late-stage nasopharyngeal cancer, with a prognosis of just one month.

But Yong Cheng refused to give up. His father was in his 90s, and after losing his mother and sister the previous two years, he knew he had to fight.

"You have not tried fighting yet so you may not necessarily lose," he told himself. "You still have your father around, you must be strong and live on."

He kept his diagnosis secret from family and took the MRT alone to 37 grueling rounds of chemotherapy and radiotherapy. The treatment was brutal: by day 20, he couldn't eat or walk and needed a breathing tube.

His weight plummeted from 60 kilograms to just 30. But he wasn't entirely alone in his fight.

Ah Wen, a Vietnamese woman he'd met at a roadside stall in 2016, flew to Singapore when she learned of his cancer. Encouraged by her own mother, she cared for Yong Cheng and his elderly father despite their long-distance relationship.

When Yong Cheng offered her an out, worried she might regret staying, Ah Wen refused. The couple married on August 3, 2018, in the middle of his cancer battle.

Against odds doctors pegged at 40 to 60 percent, Yong Cheng's body cleared the cancer after two years. He still manages side effects daily with stretching exercises and medication, but he's alive.

Recovery brought an unexpected challenge: finding work. His former factory said he'd fallen out of touch with the job, and other companies hesitated to hire someone with his health history.

"This society can be very cruel," the now 48-year-old told local media. "If people know I had a serious illness before, it becomes very difficult to find a job."

So Yong Cheng took out a bank loan and opened Xiao Wen Ban Mian, a handmade noodle stall in Yishun. What started as survival has become his new purpose.

Sunny's Take

There's something beautiful about a man who faced death serving life-giving food to his community. Yong Cheng didn't just survive cancer; he built a second chapter filled with purpose, partnership, and perseverance.

His wife Ah Wen traveled across countries to care for a sick man others might have abandoned. Their love story reminds us that real commitment shows up in hospital rooms, not just wedding halls.

Today, customers at Yishun Street 51 aren't just getting noodles—they're supporting a fighter who refused to let cancer or employment discrimination write his ending.

Eight years after that 30-day prognosis, Tan Yong Cheng is still standing, still cooking, and still inspiring anyone who hears his story.