Tan Kim Liong - 1st May 2020
Tan Kim Liong, or Liong as he’s often called at Huber’s, is
a man of many stories and interests. The youngest in his family, Liong’s mother
works as a hotel cleaning supervisor at Lanson Place for 20 years and his
father (wait for it!) works at Huber’s as our Production Manager, who is also
our longest serving employee since our inception in 2007 – a fact that Liong is
incredibly proud of. Liong himself is the Receiving Officer at Huber’s
Butchery, whose role is to ensure that the goods delivered from our suppliers
are accurate and in good condition for the customers. Furthermore, Liong also
facilitates checks on our warehouse goods, be it the cartons of meat that the
butchers sell on the first floor of the shop, the cold cuts and sausages on the
second floor, or the groceries items ranging from snacks, beers, pastas, BBQ
equipment, and more.
An active man, Liong’s big passion lies in fitness. He’s
done long distance marathons (42.195km) such as the Standard Chartered
Singapore Marathon for 4 years in a row! “Whether I’m happy or sad, I’ll just
either go for a run to clear my thoughts, or if I don’t have the time to run,
I’ll just do 30 to 45 minutes of functional training at home or some simple
bodyweight exercises that require little to no equipment at all, quick and
simple”. What a motivation!
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1. It’s very interesting to see father and
son working together at the butchery! What’s the story behind this?
Actually, there isn’t really any story to this. I wasn't
doing anything much after graduating from school, my dad suggested that I join
him working at Huber’s, and the rest is history.
2.
What’s the one thing you like to tell
your friends from your days of working at Huber’s?
One highlight is seeing customers’ satisfaction on their
faces, as well as the service we rendered, which makes us aware that we are
doing our job well - that’s an affirmation from them to us.
3.
You’re almost always surrounded by fresh meat and sausages every single
day you are at work. Do you get easily hungry looking at these different types
of food?
To be honest, not really. Only on days when I crave for
something like a snack or try some of their cold cuts and sausages, then I’ll
buy them off the counter.
4.
What’s your favourite type of meat and/or
product to get for yourself?
If I have to choose, I’ll go for the fresh chickens because
they are very tender and juicy after cooking. It’s not surprising that I’ll
always receive high amounts of fresh chickens delivered daily to our shop
because the customers too have given good reviews - that the fresh chickens we
sell are of excellent quality and always fresh.
Another item I would get is the Paprika potato chips at the
second floor of the retail shop. There’s one criterion I have when buying
potato chips - if the bag is not filled to the brim, I’ll never buy it no
matter how tasty or affordable it is. It’s not often I’ll have chips but if I
know I put in effort in my workouts, I’ll give myself a cheat day to munch on
chips.
5.
It’s a turbulent period these days. Is
there a place/country you would like to visit once the situation is over?
I’ve got some countries in mind to visit but if I have to
pick one, I’ll pick Taiwan. The answer is obvious - because of their different
varieties of food. So much food to eat but don’t know where to start! I can
only watch them on TV and just drool in front of the screen.
6.
Do you prefer home-cooked meal or
take-aways?
Usually, my mum does the cooking at home because she
emphasises on healthy eating for the whole family. I would only eat takeaways
once or twice in a week when we aren’t eating home-cooked food. I don’t have a
preference on food, but I don’t like ginger and bitter gourd - not to my
liking.
7.
What’s one film that you can watch on
repeat and will never get bored of?
Easy - hands down it’s Avengers: Endgame. I mean, who
doesn’t like superheroes right? It’s 3 hours long and I can keep watching it again
and again. The action sequences, the story-telling of each character and how
one hero sacrifices himself for the better of the universe was just
heart-breaking. It’s the perfect story book ending.
8.
If money is not a concern, what is the
one item you will get from Huber’s as a gift to your loved ones?
Veggies and pasta sauce? My mum loves to cook and I believe
she will be overjoyed knowing that she has lots of dishes she can make with the
ingredients. She makes the nicest pasta at home for the family.
