Kopi O Gao

Three decades ago, a woman took over her father's coffee stall business to feed her family of seven. She's my grandmother.

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Where the coffee aroma lingers on...

I call her ahma. Others call her Kopi-Sou (咖啡嫂/The Coffee Auntie）.

My great-grandfather was a street hawker selling drinks at Lim Chu Kang. My maternal grandmother, Mdm Liew Khuan Fah(72 years old), took over her father's legacy and went into this beverage business in 1979, learning everything from scratch and from the memories she has of her father. She operated a coffee stall at Tong Hoe Hawker Centre located in Lim Chu Kang, all the way until 2001, when the estate went through an en-bloc development. 

She's the pillar of the family. She defines for me what a family is, and what are the values we should have. Her love and perseverance brought her two strayed sons back to the right track. She kept the family ties strong, just like the aroma and intense flavour of her Kopi O Gao (strong black coffee, the Eastern counterpart of double shot espresso).

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I am Tiffany Goh, a student at Wee Kim Wee School of Communication & Information. This tumblelog is created for the purpose of CS2006 (Visual Literacy & Communication) individual assignment. This is where I show what my family means to me, through a curation of old and new photographs. Enjoy.

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1. Once upon a time in 1980s.

The old photo shows my grandma and my youngest uncle at the coffee stall. The background shows the current state of the hawker centre in 2013: fenced and gated.

The juxtaposition of the old photo against the background shows how my grandmother used to spend half her day, everyday, at the coffee stall.

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2. Lost glory (1989)

This is an old article in 1989, posted in Shinmin Daily. It talks about the decline in business at the hawker centre after the residents at the nearby kampongs moved out in 1983.

She was interviewed for the article and she mentioned  that her business was sustained by the few workers or NS men who came to the hawker centre to take a break and that my mother helped her manned the stall, so there were lower costs.

When I asked her why she continued the business until 2001, when they had to relocate due to the en bloc project, she said:

"My family and friends are there, I have feelings for this place."

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3. Fighting on

This is another newspaper cutting from ShinMin Daily in 1992. The article was on serial thefts that occured frequently at night. The thief stole canned drinks and eggs kept in my grandma's stall. 

The caption of the photo says: "Security in the market has always been lax."

This shows some of the problems and obstacles my grandma faced throughout her 23 years managing the stall. Despite the challenges, she pressed on till the very end.

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4. Back to where it began

From left to right: My 3rd Uncle, my grandmother, my mother We revisited the old hawker centre and Lim Chu Kang estate. It was part of the en bloc project development in 2001, when the area was set away for military training purposes. The old estate is now under a plan to be converted into a new agri-tainment site.

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5. Trepassers will be prosecuted

The barricade with the stop sign, preventing people from entering, as it is now a protected area.

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6. One kopi, please

A photo illustration of how my grandmother looked like when she's at work.

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7. "Here's your usual breakfast."

My grandmother would always deliver the drinks personally to her customers, and often engage with them in conversations. She would know what the regulars liked and soon, her loyal customers became her friends. This is how the hawker centre bonded people.

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8. Can you smell the love?

This is my ahma making coffee for me at home.

There's no stopping for Kopi-Sou（咖啡嫂）, even twelve years after her retirement. She asks every member of the family what we want to drink for breakfast every morning and proceeds to boil the water.

"Making coffee is an old habit already," she said in Chinese. 

Although it's just instant coffee, it smells and tastes as good as the cup of kopi-o-gao she made almost a decade ago - because it is filled with her love for her coffee and family.