Poh Heng

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Today is the last day of Year 2008.  Whoa, what a year it has been to me and my family and it is the right time to review 2008 before welcoming 2009.

Health

Being diagnosed with prediabetes (which can be reversed) in 2007 means a total upheaval in my life.  No longer can i just drink Coke or any other drinks.  Looking at the food labels is my favourite activity now…..err…not for  Made In China on melamine but more for sugar and glucose contents.

No more tidbits, crackers, potato chips for me…. not to mention missing out my favourite food like roti prata, lor mee  (i haven’t eat for one WHOLE year) though i do eat fried hokkien mee about once in a blue moon.

Fishball kway tiao soup, Yong Tau Hoo beehoon soup and wholemeal bread have completely taken over my diet.  And as expected, my weight is at all time low of ~53 to 54kg and an enviable waistline of ~27 to 28″, hee.

BUT not everything is gloomy as my efforts have paid off handsomely when my blood glucose test results HbA1c was down from 7.0% to 5.3% in Sep this year.  It means that my glucose levels are in the normal range now though i still need to take care of myself.

Looking forward to the next blood glucose test and if my HbA1c reading can hold steady, i could probably relax a little on my diet control.  Wish me all the best okay.  You can show your support for this illness by visiting stopprediabetes.com.

Business

This year has been an eventful year for my business Xiao Bei Taiwan Food as well.  We started the year with rising raw material costs of which many are in the range of >50%.  This is in contrast with “official” reports of 10% inflation as in the news.

We were hit especially hard as many of our materials are directly imported from Taiwan (see our menu page) which inflation had skyrocketed and shipping costs at unbelievable levels.  With the margins being squeezed so thinly, we have no choice but to raise our prices across board which did not go down too well of course.

In July this year, Boon Kiat and I “took over” the running of the business as we have more time on our hands.  Through various cost cutting measures and cost control, we were able to bring cost down a little and pass the savings to our customers in terms of price cut (bear in mind the raw material costs still has not come down) and aggressive promotions.

We also celebrated our business’s 3rd year anniversary with the introduction of a new product – Taiwan Chicken Cutlet | Xiang Ji Pai.  In addition, we set up our new home page www.sgxiaobei.com to reach out to more customers.  We have also identifed our Beancurd Chicken Wings as our Unique Selling Product USP and a new slogan – The Best Chicken Wings in Town is in place now.

In December 2008, we welcomed back one of our pioneer staff Mr Lau, my brother in law, who is also very experienced in the food industry.  With these changes, we managed to break our single day sales record (new location) on Christmas Eve and Dec 2008 is the best in monthly sales for 2008.

We are very encouraged.  Do come and support Xiao Bei Taiwan Food if you are around Century Square Tampines.

Outlook for 2009 – To push for our first Franchise outlet.  Interested parties please contact Boon Kiat at boonkiat@sgxiaobei.com or myself at pohheng@sgxiaobei.com

Family

2008 is the year for family – i quitted my job in Semitool to recuperate from my prediabetes and also spend more time with my family.  Being together with my wife  and children, Ashton and Ashlyn, are the best things in life.  I have the chance to witness every single nitty gritty details about them.  From Ashlyn’s first words to witnessing Ashton dancing and singing, nothing beats it really.  These are things that i would have missed if i am holding a full time job.

Ashton is studying both in Little Neuro Tree and Growing Up Gifted and we plan to enrol Ashlyn into Little Neuro Tree when she hits 20 months.

Elaine and i have also made the major decision to go into IM full time and i would say is not easy and we have gone a long way since.  Elaine’s New Age Parents blog is receiving good reviews and feedback and is planning for a magazine soon.  If you are a parent, you could play a part in this Free Parenting Magazine too.

In addition, we have also “reserved” the domain names for both my darlings as www.ashtonseow.com and www.ashlynseow.com which we will update when we are not so tied up with time.

My wish for 2009 is for Elaine, Ashton, Ashlyn, my mother and all in my family, Elaine’s parents and family good health and prosperity.

Finally, I am looking forward to Year 2009 and still drafting my resolutions and financial goals.  Elaine has written her 2009 Parenting resolutions in her Toddler Parenting Tips blog.  I also wish her every success in her Parenting Magazine Motherhood Monthly.  HAPPY NEW YEAR to all my friends and readers.