Popular Cantonese tapas bar Sum Yi Tai has permanently shuttered operations at 25 Boon Tat Street. Previously spanning three storeys within a conservation shophouse that encompassed a ground floor bar, rooftop bar plus cocktail back room, it threw in the towel after six years, citing rental pressures as a key consideration for doing so.
In a Facebook post dated 14 November 2020, Sum Yi Tai alleged the landlord was most adamant about collecting arrears accrued prior to the Covid-19 outbreak, which it was unable to cough up at present owing to dismal takings during these past few months - circuit breaker period, social distancing protocols and whatnot having largely hampered business conditions.
Sum Yi Tai was due to hand over the keys by 4pm on 18 November 2020, in addition to clearing the premises of loose furniture and residual clutter. Unfortunately this didn't materialize, as two assessors dispatched by landlord Taiko Properties (representing Ricardo Portabello Peralta) insisted cleanliness standards weren't met upon inspection of affairs, at some point even threatening legal action against the soon to be ex-tenant. Photos taken of the physical compound are shown below. Clean or not, you be the judge.
In any case, the ballyhoo eventually died down, and the Sum Yi Tai team managed to walk away - keys returned to Taiko of course. Nevertheless, it felt rather aggrieved insofar as the bullying tactics demonstrated by the assessors onsite were concerned - what's up with that seriously?