Worried that business at the coffee shop would keep getting worse, a well-known fish soup stall owner decided to take matters into his own hands. He now pays more than $30,000 every month to rent the entire coffee shop, switching from stallholder to full operator. His hope is that by offering cheaper rent, he can bring in new vendors and pull more customers back.
According to Shin Min Daily News, the stall owner is 39-year-old Low Boon Chuan, who runs the popular Boon Keng Road Fish Head Bee Hoon. He shared that he has been operating in the coffee shop at Block 416 Bedok North Avenue 2, for about 20 years.
He believes high rental pressure, plus tough competition from many nearby coffee shops, caused three stalls in the shop to sit empty for almost half a year.
“The previous operators seemed uninterested in continuing. I also didn’t want this coffee shop which has accompanied me for so many years to decline, so I decided to take over.”
On 1 October this year, Low officially took over the whole shop. He said the monthly rent is more than $30,000, and he renamed the place “Lau Ka”.
“My surname is Low (Liu/Lau), and I combined it with the ‘Ka’ from coffee shop. When read in Hokkien, it sounds like ‘downstairs’, which gives it a special flavour. Every time my family asks where to eat, they will say, ‘eat downstairs’. I feel coffee shops are good places for everyone to gather.”
To bring in new vendors, Low offered a 30 per cent discount on rent. After almost two months of searching, he managed to find four new stallholders. He also invested more than $10,000 to refresh the place, including repainting the walls, adding new lighting, and installing TVs, giving the coffee shop a modern look.
He said that as long as the landlord does not increase rent, he also will not raise the rentals for the vendors.
Low shared that he is now running both the drinks stall and his fish soup stall, hoping the income will be enough to support the daily operations of the coffee shop and help him break even.
He said humbly,
“I don’t expect to earn a lot. As long as I can maintain it, I’m already content.”
When reporters visited on Sunday (December 7), they found the coffee shop looking fresh and modern. By evening, the place was bustling, with many diners queuing to buy dinner.
Tan Kiat How, Senior Minister of State for Digital Development and Information and Member of Parliament for East Coast GRC, also visited the coffee shop to congratulate Low on the reopening.
In his Facebook post on December 6, he said that Low has been a strong pillar in the community, championing the pay-it-forward initiative at the kopitiam.
Low has long been known for his heart for the community. While running his fish porridge stall, he often met seniors who dined alone and had no one to care for them.
Their stories moved him so much that in 2017, he started delivering fish porridge weekly to nursing homes. What began with one home grew to many others, with friends joining in and helping to deliver thousands of meals each year.
His quiet but consistent efforts eventually earned him the Friends of Community Care Award, recognising his contributions to helping seniors age with dignity.
