HE IS loud, boisterous and fits right in with the other local hawkers who beckon passers-by with calls to patronise their stalls.

Australian Paul Crinis, 34, is the owner of Crazy Ang Mo in Bishan. But when he first came to Singapore in 2000 as a tennis coach, he felt out of place.

'I'm from Wollongong where people are more expressive,' he says of the city in New South Wales. 'Here, however, people are generally reserved, so I often came across as being loudmouthed.'

After leaving school at the age of 16, he helped at his father's produce store selling everything from fruit and vegetables to bread and eggs.

Eager to make his own mark at 21, he sold potatoes door-to-door in his hometown, which became a fresh produce wholesale business.

But after five years, he grew bored of the business and, through a friend's recommendation, found a job in Singapore as a tennis coach. He started a tennis coaching school in 2001 and now runs a tennis and swimming school.

He met his Singaporean wife, Ms Ong Bee Ling, 33, at a pub in Mohamed Sultan Road in 2001. She is now Crazy Ang Mo's operations manager and they have a five-year-old daughter, La-Mia.

The businessman in him saw a demand for Australian food, so in August, he decided to open a store selling burgers in the Orchard Hotel Shopping Arcade. But talks fell through.

The day he learnt of the news, however, he ended up securing a unit at the Hawkerway coffee shop in Bishan. 'I was waiting for some materials to be photocopied nearby and popped into the coffee shop for a drink. I struck up a conversation with the coffee shop manager and learnt that they have a vacant outlet so I grabbed the opportunity.'

From the get-go, his store - which he invested some $30,000 into - has been doing well. He sold more than 120 orders of fish and chips and more than 80 Crazy Burgers With The Lot on the opening day. Last week, the numbers doubled.

The self-taught chef who grew up with backyard barbecues has now taken over the adjacent stall at the coffee shop to increase food production and reduce the waiting time for customers.

The ambitious man hopes to expand the current 10-item menu to include Australian dinners such as lamb roast on Sundays and oxtail stew in the future.

As for branching out, he says: 'I'm on good terms with the owner of Hawkerway and should he open more outlets in ideal locations, I'll definitely consider setting up shop within.'