In the age of Starbucks, Costa Coffees and Coffee Beans, where coffee has been commoditised and globalised, it is nice to find an establishment like Lam Yeo Coffee Powder still holding its own in Singapore.
Three generations – selling coffee beans from all over the world
Lam Yeo, housed in an old shophouse in Balestier Road, sells its own roasts of coffee beans from around the world. Enter the shop and it’s as if you’ve walked into the whole universe of coffee – from Ethopia to Columbia to Bali.
Founded by Mr Tan, an assistant editor of the now-defunct newspaper, Nanyang Siang Pau, in 1959, the business has stayed in the family for three generations. It supplies coffee beans to cafes and coffee shops throughout Singapore and, to keep up with the times, it also sells its own brand of coffee which comes in beautifully-designed packages.
Only in Balestier – an American diner named “Botak (Bald) Jones” housed in a Chinese shophouse
It gets its share of regular walk-ins and this morning, when I was there, I met a young Filipino girl staying in one of the various hotels in the neighbourhood buying a pack of Lam Yeo Coffee Beans. She looked delighted to have found this hidden gem and I am sure she will be sharing her find on her social networks.
I was equally pleased to see that travellers like her who are looking for experiences beyond the global are discovering Balestier and its local charms. This is one of Singapore’s more authentic neighbourhoods that have not yet been gentrified and hollowed out in the name of tourism.
It’s an area that’s still lived in and lots of traditional trades continue their custom as they did decades ago. In a young nation like Singapore – it turns 50 this year – this heritage and what’s left of it is pure gold.
During our pre-Race “recee” this morning, I also tasted the most delicious “tau sar piah” (a local biscuit) made by Loong Fatt Bakery, a business that’s been in existence since 1948. I felt right at home listening to the Hainanese family members chatting away as they went about making biscuits, cakes and tarts for home delivery. (This is the dialect I speak at home and I rarely get to speak it anywhere else.)
This is the original Social Network – no devices, no virtual, just people getting together to make something real (and delicious) with their hands so that others can enjoy.
We believe an event such as the Heritage Race has the ability to change the relationship between locals and their heritage, and between travellers and the heritage of the places they are visiting. It makes learning and discovery fun and, at the same time, allows everyone to contribute to a local, worthy cause.
It’s why we and Ramada and Days Hotels Singapore At Zhongshan Park chose to launch the Heritage Race in this neighbourhood last year and why we are doing it again, this year focusing on food – not only the food but the stories behind the local favourites and the places and people behind them.
About The Race
Teochew porridge feast from Whampoa Food Court
The Balestier Heritage Makan Race will take place on Saturday, 4 July 2015, at 9:00am with a briefing followed by flag-off at 10:00am. It’s open to anyone and you can form teams of two to six.
The ideas is to uncover 14 food-related stops on foot, within the Balestier vicinity, trailing under three kilometres. Participants will decipher the clues to the stops and complete a challenge in order to collect a stamp from the station marshalls, made up of volunteers from the Society of Tourist Guides Singapore and students from Temasek Polytechnic’s Diploma in Hospitality and Tourism Management.
Teams that have completed all challenges are eligible for a Winners’ Draw, where they can walk away with cash prizes of $1500, $1000 and $500. All proceeds nett of expenses will be donated to the Lee Ah Mooi Old Age Home.
You can sign up here.
