Rice vermicelli, or bee hoon, is a staple for Asians, and it is commonly used to prepare a lot of Asian dishes. Have you ever wondered how rice vermicelli is produced? We had the chance to go on a behind-the-scenes tour at People Bee Hoon to find out more about the production of rice vermicelli.

Most people should be familiar with People Bee Hoon – its Chilli Brand Rice Vermicelli is one of the more well-known brands and can be found at most leading supermarkets in Singapore. It was established in 1943, and it has been around for years, feeding generations with their rice vermicelli.

Desmond Goh, the director of People Bee Hoon, took us on a tour around the factory, and we had the chance to understand the entire production process – from the grinding of grains, soaking, blending and steaming to drying, cutting and packaging.

We started with the grinding of grains. The machine allows them to have precise control over the temperature and volume of water and broken rice grains. Then, we moved down the chain to the soaking, blending and steaming of the rice vermicelli. It was quite fascinating to see rows and rows of rice vermicelli hanging on the rack as they were put in the huge steamers. After the steaming process was done, the racks of rice vermicelli were left aside to cool and dry, before they were sent to the packaging department, where they were packed accordingly. Strict process controls are exercised at every stage of the production to ensure quality-consistent rice vermicelli.

In this modern-age where technology is used for almost everything, it surprised us to learn that the manufacturing of rice vermicelli – in particular, the packaging department – was very labour-intensive and it was largely dependent on manual work, until a few years ago.

When Desmond took over the business from his dad, one of the main problems that he faced was while there was an increasing demand for rice vermicelli, People Bee Hoon was not able to meet the orders on time. He had to find a solution to help his workers produce more bee hoon stocks faster but they were already working overtime till 9 pm.

People Bee Hoon approached NTUC’s e2i for assistance, and used the grants from their Inclusive Growth Programme (IGP) to purchase machines to semi-automate the packing processes which were causing bottlenecks and slowing production down.

It worked. Not only did the packing team increase their production to meet orders, they could end work at 5pm. They were also paid more by an average of 15%. Imagine your boss paying you more to work less.

The low wage workers like People Bee Hoon’s staff often work long hours to earn extra to feed their families, and work-life balance for them is something rare. I am sure the workers are happy that they can work four hours less yet receive a pay increment.

It was a very interesting journey to go to the source and find out more about how rice vermicelli is produced. There is a lot of hard work behind the scenes – I will never look at rice vermicelli the same again.

This message is part of a ladyironchef x Labour Movement project where we seek to share with you insights on the different initiatives by the Labour Movement to give workers in Singapore better jobs, better pay and better work-life balance.