There are a few levels of sibling rivalries. At the elementary level, most of us are battling our siblings for the “paiseh piece” of fried chicken.
Elevate that a few dozen levels, and you’ll get the Tanglin Curry Puff rivalry. While the feud has been ongoing for some time, it recently intensified over an online post and after one of the brothers allegedly got physical.
Summary of Tanglin Curry Puff Rivalry Thus Far
Haven’t heard about the Tanglin Curry Puff rivalry yet? Here’s a quick TLDR.
In 1952, Ng Yong Cheong, the father of the two brothers involved in the current Tanglin Curry Puff rivalry, founded the original curry puff business.
Little did Yong Cheong know that his curry puff legacy would split into two upon his retirement.
Yong Cheong’s original store at Hong Lim Market & Food Centre is currently operated by his older son, 57-year-old Peter Ng. The store is presently called “Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original”.
However, Yong Cheong’s younger son, 51-year-old Ray Ng, operates “Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff” merely one store down.
Don’t let the “originality” of things mislead you. Although Peter runs the original storefront, Yong Cheong apparently favours Ray’s store.
This is Singapore’s version of a Christopher Nolan movie. So confusing.
The full explanation for why the two brothers run two separate curry puff stores is the paramount of “he says, she says”.
Essentially, the two provide differing recounts of who was supposed to take over the business and who eventually decided to split the business.
Thanks to such disagreements, the brothers now operate their independent stores and constantly compete with one another to pull more customers. It’s a brutal rivalry—and it has since escalated.
You may read more here if you’d like to know how the rivalry started.
Rivalry Intensifies After Peter Makes Several Claims About Curry Puff Business’ History
The Tanglin Curry Puff rivalry intensified after Peter made several claims about the curry puff business’ history in a statement made on 14 May.
Yes, you read that right. The rivalry escalated over an online post.
Hais… The digital age.
The most controversial claim made in Peter’s post was that his “Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original” store was the authentic store, while Ray’s “Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff” was not.
In the statement, Peter shared that he was operating a separate curry puff store at Maxwell before joining his father’s curry puff business.
However, he allegedly returned to his father’s Hong Lim curry puff store to help out at his father’s request. Otherwise, he claimed that his father could not keep the Hong Lim store up and running.
This is disputed by Yong Cheong, who claims that he only asked Peter to help out at Hong Lim out of goodwill, knowing that Peter’s Maxwell curry puff business was on the rocks.
The father-son pair also disagreed on who was responsible for the curry puff business earning a Michelin recommendation in 2017. While Peter credits this to his efforts, Yong Cheong disagrees.
The two also provide differing recounts of the events leading to Ray’s involvement in the curry puff business.
Peter’s story is this: Ray was roped in in 2019 to be Peter’s assistant as business was booming.
However, Yong Cheong shares that Ray was roped in because Peter was getting involved in a relationship and had apparently “changed”.
Wait, there’s more.
While Yong Cheong initially planned to pass on his curry puff legacy to Peter, thanks to Peter’s gradual estrangement, Yong Cheong decided to pass the business on to Ray and his two daughters instead.
Of course, Peter wouldn’t be very pleased with this.
Fast forward to 2021, Ray wanted to start a new curry puff store, which Peter was fine with.
However, to Peter’s surprise, Ray opened the new store next to Peter’s (which is the original store they all worked out of) and trademarked the name “Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff”. This eventually led Peter to change his store name to “Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original” instead.
Or at least, this was what transpired, according to Peter.
Peter is painted as the bad guy on Ray and Yong Cheong’s side of the story. Ray claims that Peter has wrongly misled customers into thinking that “Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff Original” is the original and authentic store.
Well, in terms of location, it is, I guess…
Ray also claims that Peter messed with the two stores’ Google business listings and put both under Peter’s store—presumably, to bring business from Ray’s store over to Peter’s store.
And, of course, Ray was livid about this.
Regardless, Peter claims that merging the two stores’ listings wasn’t his call. Instead, he claims that it was Google’s.
Hais… With this much beef between the two brothers, we don’t think there’s a need to sell curry puff already lah.
Tanglin Crispy Curry Puff? Pfft. What about Tanglin Crispy Beef Puff?
Younger Brother Allegedly Got Physical Due to the Rivalry
Here comes the cherry on top of the Tanglin Curry Puff rivalry. Tensions at some point were so high that one of the brothers allegedly got physical.
Peter claims that Ray frequently used vulgarities against Peter and his fiancée. On separate occasions, Ray also allegedly pointed a knife at Peter and even assaulted Peter’s assistant.
Relax lah guys, we’re sure the curry puffs from both stores are equally delicious… No need to get physical.
Peter and his assistant have since lodged a police report against Ray for the assault.
Of course, Ray denies Peter’s allegations and points out that there are gaps in Peter’s claims. In addition, Ray also shares that he is looking to start a legal suit against Peter.
Ah, the classic “sue until your pants drop” solution.
According to Ray, the context for him pointing a knife at Peter was this: he was cutting things using his knife and merely happened to be holding it when Peter’s fiancée started arguing with him.
See lah. Open a store right next to your rival somemore.
Ray also claims that more context is needed to the alleged assault of Peter’s assistant. According to Ray, Peter’s assistant had walked over to Ray’s store and started shouting at Ray.
Ray is only 51 years old lah; his hearing should still be okay. There’s no need to shout…
Regardless, Ray claims that Peter’s assistant had assaulted him first and that Ray merely retaliated to the assistant’s assault.