Kelly then began working for her brother who owns Mellben Seafood, at its HQ outlet at Ang Mo Kio, where she learned how to run an F&B biz for the first time. In 2006, she left to open her own shop, Mellben Toa Payoh, before rebranding it to Kelly Jie Seafood in 2017.
Even though she was no longer performing, the songstresses’ star power followed her into her food biz. Rachel chimes in: “Because of how [sociable] she is, a lot of customers like her, and they would come back for her, rather than the food. It’s also for the food lah, but the bonus is because of her also”. These days, Kelly still performs for the elderly while doing voluntary work at eldercare centers. She no longer visits Kelly Jie daily, but often comes down to help on weekends. As for whether she’ll ever perform at Kelly Jie, Rachel laughs and says: “It’s a restaurant leh, how to perform? But sometimes she’ll chit chat with customers, and at times she’ll sing together with them”.