Retrenched at 48 with 6 Kids: Our Founder, Paul Ooi’s Story

              In 2002, at the age of 48, our founder, Paul Ooi was retrenched from a global multinational company after more than 20 years of service to the company. As the sole breadwinner with 6 young children to provide for, he found himself at a loss. Retrenched in the midst of the SARS crisis, he knew the road ahead would be tough. Nevertheless, he took a leap of faith, revisiting his childhood dream of starting a Penang Restaurant. After 17 years, Penang Place is still here because of you. Whether you’ve dined or ordered with us once or you’ve been regularly supporting us – from the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Thank you for making our Founder’s and our Dad’s dream come true! Check out our #HumansOFFnB feature to find out how Paul faced his challenges head on and managed to turn his life around with Penang Place, while discovering the fire and passion that drives him and his work. Read More Order Island-Wide Delivery To thank you for your support, we’ve decided to extend our Weekday Promotions till the end of October! Continue to enjoy a FREE Ala Carte Buffet (5th Buffet is free with every 4 Adult Buffets)

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By divine appointment: Penang Place’s Paul Ooi reveals his CEO (taken from Salt & Light.sg) April 5, 2019

Walking into Penang Place with Paul Ooi is like stepping into his family home. It is a little more than an hour to the lunch-time opening as he leads the way into his establishment at Suntec City. He stops often to greet his staff, even taking time to introduce them to this Salt&Light writer – in very much the same way you would, when you bring friends home to visit. “It was a scary time. My family prayed a lot.” Nicely groomed and dressed in khaki twilled cotton slacks, 64-year-old Ooi looks every inch the modern successful restauranteur you would come across in glossy magazines. Affable, well-spoken, he has the stature of someone who has been a businessman all his life, but no, the aura of calm comes from having lived out his faith through tough times. At 47 years of age and in the prime of his career, Ooi was laid off. Penang Place Paul Ooi “We treat others the way we like to be treated ourselves. It’s the golden rule,” says Ooi, who also serves as a lay pastor at Rivers of Life Church. Photo by Glen Goh. The year was 2002. He had been working in the

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Penang Place: Buffet with Character by Dr Leslie Tay (ieatishootipost) June 26, 2018

Ala Carte Penang Big Prawn Hokkien Mee $12.90++ I generally eschew buffets.  I find most of them to be pretty generic and nowadays I usually only have them when it is part of the hotel breakfast package.  Oh, there was a time when I used to love buffets.  But that was a long time ago when my appetite was much bigger and my palate, less discriminating.  Buffets were a great idea then.  You starve yourself for the whole day, then pay one price and try to eat more than your money’s worth of food.  It used to be a profitable venture for me, but not anymore since I can’t eat as much and the prices of buffets have gone up significantly in the last decade. Penang Place is quite the exception.  Not only does the food have character, but it is one of the few places where you can eat all you want for less than $26. (weekday lunch) For me, that doesn’t mean that I get to eat myself silly, but that I get to try as many different dishes I want at prices reminiscent of the 90’s. The man behind the authentic dishes is Head Chef Alvin who

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