Heng Foh Tong Medical Hall
Lee Chin Siong (4th generation owner)
Could you share with us about your heritage business?
Heng Foh Tong Medical Hall was started by my great-grandfather in 1957 along Upper Bukit Timah Road. We’ve been providing medical dispensary services for over 70 years to all walks of life, and have been situated in the Bukit Batok neighbourhood since 1984.
What made you decide to return to the family business?
Initially, I never did intend to return to the family business, but as the eldest sibling, I wanted to repay my parents for supporting me through my education and corporate career as an engineer.
I first started in 2019 with a simple wish to put Heng Foh Tong online, then came COVID in 2020, and I found myself faced with both challenges, but also opportunities to develop projects that could make the most of my family’s knowledge and skills in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) practices to a wider and younger audience.
Image with Caption
Lee Chin Siong (1st from the left) the 4th generation member of Heng Foh Tong Medical Hall with his parents, Mr Peter Lee Khee Lian and Mdm Chye Nyuk Lian, daughters and nephew in front of their stall that has been in the Bukit Batok neighbourhood since 1984.
Each of the new traditional-Chinese-medicine (TCM) based products introduced by Chin Siong are developed based on the knowledge and skills of his parents who have over 100 years of experience combined.
One of Chin Siong's early foray into modernising the business was developing a range of 'cooling teas' with higher quality ingredients, repackaged to appeal to a younger audience. He often confides in his daughters as well for inspiration to connect with audiences their age.
Can you tell us more about the project you developed through the Organisation Transformation Grant?
We developed two items from the Grant, all of which were developed in-house and based off over 100 years of knowledge that my parents have with TCM.
The first was a series confinement herbal packaging for post-partum mothers. I was drawn to this from my own gratitude and experience from how my mother took good care of the herbals needs of my wife during the critical period of healing and revitalising. Happy to share that I have four wonderful and healthy children today thanks in part to her!
The second project was a series of triangle tea bags with modern packaging for new audiences. You can simply pour hot water over it and enjoy the full benefits of the medicinal herbs. This greatly complements my other projects under our HFTea part of the business.
Can you share more about the challenges faced and how you overcame them?
When I was young, I would often see tai tais (affluent women) purchase pearls for them to be ground into power and consume, as this was known to promote fair and glowing skin. I wanted to include this in my triangle teabags but was told that no manufacturer in Singapore was able to do so.
As an engineer, my mind often wonders and tinkers about solutions to problems, and after some Research & Development, we came up with a solution to place the powder into a plant-based capsule that would dissolve under hot water of 80 degrees. I also needed to walk the production floor to ensure that the manufacturing was done right and am proud to say that we are the first in the world to launch a consistent 600mg of pearl powder in a ready-to-drink teabag.
What have the results of the project been like?
Our initial pilot of 800 tin cans of teabags sold out within the first month at NTUC Fairprice. We have since produced a further 13,000 tin cans for sale since and are positive of the results.
The redesign supported by the Grant has also helped boost sales of our confinement packages by 20-30% since it was launched in 2023.
Mdm Chye selecting some herbs from the medicine cabinet that have been in the family's business since the 1950s, a testament to the importance of the family's heritage till today.
Chin Siong and his mum, Mdm Chye, together with the array of products produced with the help of the Organisation Transformation Grant. They include HFTea, a series of triangle tea bags, ready-to-cook herbal soup packages, and designs for customised confinement packages for post-partum mothers.
Being in the heartlands, Heng Foh Tong Medical Hall has customers of all ages and ethnicities who appreciate their dedication to customising remedies for their health.
How has Heng Foh Tong benefitted from the Organisation Transformation Grant?
The Grant has helped us to jump start our brand building journey, and to develop more sophisticated herbal solutions for new audiences. We now have a wider variety of products, and it has also provided us with the impetus to work with bigger partners like NTUC Faireprice Finest and Xtra to have flagship displays and corners to reach an even bigger market.
I’m also continuously innovating new ideas for the business which aim to retain the holistic benefits of TCM but presented in newer forms (e.g. capsules). I’m even looking at how to improve my economies of scale and production with the help of Artificial Intelligence.
Any words of advice for other heritage businesses looking to innovate?
You may find that your current heritage offerings may not be able to catch up with the time, but you are part of this generation to find a relevance to evolve. Even as a small business, nothing is stopping you from being creative and imaginative.
Find out more about Heng Foh Tong at their Website or Instagram @hengfohtongmedicalhall