SINGAPORE: Like many of us in midlife, Galvin Sng’s health has had ups and downs, including a relatively serious scare in the form of a stroke. However, Galvin is a man with a sweet purpose in life, one that keeps him going and is now more important to him than ever.
Galvin, now 43, founded Ketojiak in 2024, a shop with sugar and gluten-free, low-carb ice cream, whose popularity quickly spread beyond the community of people who follow the keto diet because of the sheer deliciousness, not to mention the affordability, of its offerings.
His journey from working as a family life educator to business owner began in 2019, when his doctor told him that at the rate he was going, he might end up developing fatty liver disease.
Empowered rather than alarmed, Galvin embraced the ketogenic lifestyle, lost weight, and, perhaps most importantly, he began to make his own ice cream that was so good it got a thumbs up from his wife, Charmaine. After operating a home-based business for a while, he eventually gained a new mission.
“I’m here to support those committed to taking charge of their health by offering sugar-free, ultra-low-carb desserts of uncompromising quality,” he says, adding that these desserts help people with a sustainable way to enjoy life with fewer carbohydrates and sugars.
His first shop was a 12-seater on Owen Road, but then, wanting to expand, he decided to open a bigger shop on Bain Street at Bras Basah Complex late last year.
The stroke
However, on August 13, 2025, while Galvin was alone in the old shop preparing a batch of ice cream before opening time, he suddenly felt dizziness and heaviness on his left side, to the point that all he could do was sit down on the floor.
Fortunately, his phone was close at hand, and so he could text his wife, Charmaine. He could not even complete the word “HELP,” but merely sent her a message that read “ELP.”
Without hesitation, Charmaine called for an ambulance, and when the paramedics and officers arrived within minutes, they broke through the back door to get to Galvin to bring him to the hospital.
Amid what was going on in his body, he still had the presence of mind to ask them to switch off the ice cream machine, Galvin told us with a smile.
As it turns out, the stroke was caused by a congenital heart condition known as a patent foramen ovale (PFO), a flap in his heart that never closed at birth, and Galvin underwent a procedure to correct this in December.
A new lease on life
Fortunately, though the stroke was full-blown, it only kept him in the hospital for seven days. However, Galvin’s complete recovery has taken time.
One of the biggest changes since then is that while he used to run everything in the business himself, Charmaine stepped up, as did two part-time staff members who volunteered to be trained to become part of the ice cream production, for which Galvin has been very grateful.
What keeps him going nowadays is not just this new lease on life, but the immense satisfaction of seeing families enjoy Ketojiak’s sweet treats. Family members with metabolic conditions such as diabetes no longer need to be left out when the time comes to have dessert, but they can enjoy ice cream at Ketojiak together with everyone else.
He told The Independent Singapore about one of his customers whose daughter has Type 1, or juvenile diabetes, and how thankful her parents were that they could enjoy ice cream as a family.
This is part of the reason why Galvin chose to have a bigger shop, to give more families, couples, or friends the opportunity to gather together over some healthy gelato. /TISG
