A queue started forming around 9am and peaked at lunchtime. When CNA arrived at 2pm, many supporters were still there taking photos in front of the stall or talking to a livestream audience as they tucked into a bowl of lontong.
Mdm Aidah estimated that while she and her aunts usually cook two batches of rice a day, they had to cook four or five batches to feed Wednesday’s crowds.
She and her aunts will prepare a bit more food for the subsequent days, but are not planning to extend opening hours past 2pm.
The attention has been “a bit” disruptive, said Mdm Aidah, as their regular customers had to wait for a long time or were turned away after the food sold out.
But she thanked the Chinese fans, and added: “I’m sorry if there’s not much food left and it’s sold out very fast, because it’s unexpected crowds.”
She also said that Hassan, who was due back in Singapore from Bangkok on Wednesday, would be busy preparing for another match on Saturday.
China’s match with South Korea, which it lost 1-0, ended before Singapore’s match with Thailand on Tuesday night.
Chinese national Niu Chunxi, 35, said that tens of millions of eyes in China would have been trained on Singapore’s match with Thailand on Tuesday night.
He pointed out that apart from Hassan’s saves, the goalie was also given a yellow card for delaying the game in stoppage time. This contributed to denying Thailand a chance to widen its victory.
Mr Niu, who attended China’s fixture in Singapore in March, also said that the harmony between fans when China and Singapore played against each other stood in contrast to the friction between fans at China’s matches with South Korea and Thailand.
This contributed to Chinese fans’ good feelings towards Singapore and its football team, he said.
