Our History

The year was 1926. Clutching a black wooden suitcase, 15-year-old Loi Ah Koon scrambled frantically on board an old Chinese junk poised to set sail from Hainan Island to Singapore. After what seemed like an endless sojourn in the South China Sea, Ah Koon finally tumbled out onto Singapore soil, uncertainties swirling around in his head. Knowing neither kith nor kin, he naturally gravitated towards the local Hainanese community. It was there that he was introduced to work as an assistant in a Hainanese coffeestall.

Quick and nimble of mind, Ah Koon picked up the tricks of the trade fast. Before long, he could hear the happy jingling of his meagre earnings in his khaki shorts' pockets. That did more than delight him. It aroused the entrepreneurial spirit in him. He partnered 2 fellow Chinese immigrants to start their own coffeestall business at Telok Ayer Basin. However, the partners later decided to venture elsewhere on their own. Ah Koon was then left to fend for himself.

A determined young man, Ah Koon decided that, sans partners, it was still business as usual. Coffee, tea, egg and toast - he served them all to one and all. The coolies, merchants, money-lenders, police inspectors, boat operators all sprang to life slurping Ah Koon's piping hot coffee and munching on his charcoal-grilled toast.