By day, she is a web designer. By night, she transforms into a food delivery rider. Riding through the streets and alleys of Singapore, 31-year-old Chen Zihan (transliteration), who goes by @stacy_8lala on TikTok, turns her part-time job into a journey of creativity and inspiration.
According to Shin Min Daily News, Chen is originally from Jilin, China, and has been living in Singapore for more than 10 years.
After finishing her studies here, she decided to stay and work. Now, she works full-time as a web designer, while delivering food is something she does purely out of interest.
Chen shared that she started doing food deliveries a few years ago during the pandemic. Back then, she was working from home and handling a design project for a food delivery app. To understand the user experience better, she decided to sign up as a delivery rider herself. What started as a small experiment became something she truly enjoyed.
@stacy_8lala 后半段vlog #balalasnow #grabfood #送餐员vlog #新加坡 #外卖员 ♬ 原声 – 八拉拉在新加坡看雪
“Working from home gave me more free time, and doing deliveries was a good way to exercise and earn a bit of pocket money too,” she said.
When Chen first started, she did not know how to ride a bicycle, so she had to deliver on foot. It was tough, and she could not complete many orders. Determined to improve, she spent six months learning to cycle.
She recalled how, when she first started cycling, she met with a small accident. “I was not very skilled yet, and another cyclist squeezed me off the path. I fell into the grass and got some scrapes,” she said.
Now, Chen has gotten much better. She even records short videos of her delivery journeys and posts them on social media to show people what life is really like for delivery riders, including all the sweet, the bitter, and everything in between.
She usually takes orders after work, starting around 7pm or 8pm and finishing by 9pm, completing just two or three deliveries each time.
She said:
“I never deliver for the money. It is something I do because I enjoy it. I like experiencing different kinds of life, and through that, I find inspiration for my designs.”
For many like Chen who take on food delivery work, the job offers both flexibility and freedom. Chen is fortunate to have a full-time job as a web designer, but for many platform workers who do this full-time, it is their main source of income. But it was not always a secure one.
Before the Platform Workers Bill was passed, delivery riders and other platform workers had little protection when it came to issues like work injuries or retirement savings. Thanks to years of effort by the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC) and its associations, such as the National Delivery Champions Association (NDCA), these workers now enjoy stronger safeguards.
The new law now ensures that platform workers receive fairer treatment and better support, including CPF contributions, injury compensation, and representation through collective bargaining.
