A notice posted at the canteen and photographed by diners set out the dates and thanked customers for their support over the years, AsiaOne reported.

A diner filed a sign of the announcement and posted it to TikTok, which gave no reason for the closure. The couple who run the place told an Instagram user they planned to take a break and retire, according to Mothership.

Formally named Canteen 398 after its address at 398 Piccadilly, the canteen runs three stalls under a patched canopy, two selling food and one drinks, Mothership reported.

They serve economic rice, ayam penyet, mee hoon goreng, lontong and sambal goreng at prices from SGD1 to SGD5 (US$0.80 to 3.90).

The canteen opens weekdays from 6 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and bars photography inside, according to Time Out Singapore.

Images circulating since the shutdown notice appeared show only the exterior: mismatched stools, louvre windows and overgrown greenery pressing in on the seating.

A view of the Bob Geh Uncle Canteen in Singapore. Photo courtesy of Alex Leong

The premises began as a corporals' mess and opened as a canteen in 1969, when Seletar was still a working British air station, Mothership reported. It later fed Singaporean national servicemen posted to Seletar Camp.

RAF Seletar was the largest British air force base in the Far East, operational from 1928 and under British control apart from the Japanese occupation until British forces withdrew in March 1971, according to the National Library Board.

The eastern half of the site then passed to the Singapore Armed Forces, while the western side was turned over to civil aviation and opened to the public.

The canteen was slated for closure in 2012 to make way for Seletar Aerospace Park, the redevelopment of the old airbase led by industrial landlord JTC, but the plans passed it by, Mothership reported.

Redevelopment began in 2006 and the former RAF officers' bungalows were leased out as civilian homes, becoming sought-after addresses, the National Library Board's records show.

Hangars for business jets and aviation firms now operate within walking distance of the canteen.

Its customers are aerospace workers, taxi drivers and cyclists riding the Round Island Route, which passes the door.