Lim Eng Lam is 16 years into his journey of promoting and defending Singapore’s traditional coffee culture. From inheriting to actualising his uncle's dream of selling his own coffee, Eng Lam sees the value of that coffee brings to our everyday lives.
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00:00Can I have my coffee?
00:02Yes, of course.
00:06You can ask, I can help.
00:08Hi, I'm Lim Eng Lam.
00:10I'm the founder of 9YearOldCoffee.
00:12We founded 9YearOldCoffee in 2007.
00:14And we've been around
00:16for 16 years now.
00:30We're all growing up drinking coffee.
00:36Without realising that actually our coffee is very unique.
00:38A lot will say, you know,
00:40Western coffee is better, but traditional coffee
00:42is not as good.
00:44But I think, otherwise,
00:46our traditional coffee can be that good.
00:52Singapore coffee is very unique.
00:54And it has its own character.
00:56So different from the world.
01:00In the past,
01:02when visitors came to Singapore,
01:04they would only say,
01:06let's have chilli crab,
01:08let's have chicken rice.
01:10You never say,
01:12let's have a cup of coffee before you go back.
01:14So we hope to actually
01:16pass down
01:18and promote our own traditional coffee.
01:20So we have been doing that
01:22for 10 over years.
01:24Why I decided to start up 9YearOldCoffee?
01:26Actually, one day,
01:28my uncle came to me and said,
01:30hey, can you help in the factory?
01:32At the time, it was a
01:34family-run coffee factory.
01:36He was diagnosed with cancer.
01:38So he didn't want the factory
01:40to actually pass away
01:42together with him.
01:44My uncle's biggest dream is
01:46he wants to have a shop
01:48that sells his own coffee.
01:50When my uncle
01:52started his own coffee,
01:54when I stepped into
01:56the coffee factory,
01:58I was 40 years old
02:00and I knew nothing about coffee.
02:02Before I joined, I ran
02:04a design house and event company.
02:06So I used what I learned
02:08from the design part
02:10and applied it into 9YearOldCoffee.
02:12And that's where
02:149YearOldCoffee was born.
02:16What is the difference
02:18between our Singapore
02:20traditional coffee
02:22and the Western gourmet coffee?
02:24Can I get my pot?
02:26You can, of course.
02:28Our traditional coffee is
02:30hand-brewed.
02:32So this is our
02:34brewing pot.
02:36This is our serving pot.
02:38This rolling pin is just to mix
02:40the water and the powder together.
02:42Some say it's sauce.
02:44You know, it's our strainers
02:46that we actually filter off
02:48the coffee powders.
02:54Our coffee bean is
02:56raised with a
02:58thin layer of sugar.
03:00So it blocks off all the oxygen.
03:02So our coffee beans can stay
03:04fresh for a longer period of time.
03:06It is kind of like
03:08natural packaging.
03:10And then we use these methods
03:12over the years
03:14and until today.
03:18Gourmet coffee normally
03:20is not as strong as our traditional coffee.
03:22Usually we use
03:24a lot of Robusta.
03:26We also actually formulate with Arabica
03:28and another bean called Lybrica.
03:30So it creates
03:32a different kind of taste.
03:34Singapore coffee actually
03:36we learn it from the British.
03:38So when the Hainanese
03:40actually came to Singapore
03:42they worked for the British families.
03:44So that's where they actually
03:46learned how to make coffee.
03:48And from there, the Hainanese
03:50actually started to sell coffee
03:52and then they opened coffee shops
03:54all around Singapore.
03:58I'm very passionate
04:00about not just
04:02coffee, but
04:04heritage in Singapore.
04:07Maybe I'm quite
04:09old at heart, not young at heart.
04:11I like the old things.
04:13I mean, the world actually invented
04:15a lot of new coffee machines.
04:17But I think for us, we still
04:19prefer very basic
04:21kind of brewing methods.
04:23And there's no machines
04:25you actually can replace.
04:37Every cup
04:39of our coffee is
04:41tailor-made to individual
04:43kind of preference.
04:49With sugar, no milk.
04:51No sugar, no milk.
04:53Then use the black coffee.
04:55The coffee horn.
04:57Black coffee.
04:59And I think
05:01although we have a lot of
05:03traditional coffee shops
05:05I think our ordering lingo is
05:07amazing.
05:09Just in one coffee ordering
05:11you have so many
05:13languages and dialects.
05:15So it's just like, I want kopi C,
05:17I want kopi O, siew tai.
05:19So we will actually do according to what you like.
05:21People think that
05:23coffee is just coffee.
05:25But a coffee shop is a place
05:27where people communicate
05:29or they bond together.
05:31And then
05:33they exchange ideas.
05:35This is
05:37a thing that is so
05:39Singapore.
05:41It's a place where people
05:43communicate.
05:45It's a place where people
05:47communicate.
05:49It's a thing that is so Singapore.
05:51We live with
05:53this kind of coffee culture.
05:55So in a cup of coffee, it's not just
05:57a cup of coffee.
05:59There are memories, there are
06:01friendships, there are bonding.
06:03All happen in this coffee shop.
06:05And it's very sad
06:07that
06:09we see a lot of trade
06:11vanishing.
06:13Coffee is the last thing I want to see
06:15that
06:17oscillate and
06:19we can't even drink a cup of coffee.
06:25It is not easy to actually
06:27attract younger generations to
06:29come into our trades. To reach out to
06:31more audience, I think
06:33social media is one of them.
06:35We have our own Facebook,
06:37Instagram, TikTok.
06:39We need to actually create a new
06:41purpose for the new era. We have to
06:43innovate the system.
06:45We have to actually
06:47put in more attention into the
06:49service, the ambience.
06:51We're coming up with more
06:53experiences, not just
06:55to have a cup of nice coffee
06:57but they can also actually experience
06:59the whole process.
07:03To create a traditional coffee
07:05awareness, we conduct our
07:07traditional coffee
07:09appreciation workshop.
07:11So it's a very kind of relaxed
07:13way, you know, you learn about our
07:15history and culture. And then
07:17you also actually get to brew
07:19your own coffee. So we do for
07:21schools, we do for companies
07:23you know, so that
07:25all this
07:27heritage will be
07:29passed down. We also actually have
07:31a museum behind.
07:33This is a museum
07:35that you actually smell
07:37the coffee. You can actually
07:39taste the coffee and then you also actually get
07:41to see, you know, some of the
07:43olden day stuff. We see
07:45parents that actually bring their kids over
07:47but it's to share, you know.
07:49That is daddy, last
07:51time, you know. This is
07:53what we play, this is what we have.
07:55You know, we don't have computers.
07:57You know, this is the characters.
08:01And when they bring the elderly
08:03here, I tell you there's
08:05so many things that they can actually
08:07talk about. And then in a way
08:09we
08:11are creating a lot of
08:13talking topics amongst
08:15generations.
08:17It's also a way that we actually
08:19pass down the heritage.
08:23What we
08:25hope to have is that
08:27we can actually bring our coffee out
08:29of these small islands
08:31to the world. And to have
08:33other people in the world that are able
08:35to actually taste our own
08:37Singapore coffee every day.
08:43Back then,
08:45you know, during my time, I still can talk to
08:47elderly that's 90 years old
08:49where they know
08:51exactly how the coffee tastes
08:53like, what is the culture, what do
08:55they actually do in the coffee shop.
08:57But if we don't do it now
08:59and get all the records,
09:01our
09:03next generations, it is
09:05difficult for them to revive
09:07all the history and culture
09:09back again.
09:11Music
09:33I know
09:35sometimes it's just a very
09:37casual
09:39words from the customers.
09:41They say, I really like your coffee.
09:43I mean, when you heard that, it's like
09:45all the hard work we have put in
09:47that someone is
09:49appreciating it. So that's
09:51most rewarding.
09:53Music
10:07So I think right now,
10:09coffee
10:11status is getting higher and higher.
10:13So this is something that we like to see.
10:15Of course I can't say
10:17we are the one
10:19but we contributed.
10:21So I'm
10:23glad I managed to actually
10:25work on it and hold on to the business
10:27until today.
10:29Music
10:31To me,
10:33I'll do
10:35my very best to
10:37promote our coffee. We've been doing
10:39it for 16 years.
10:41We will keep on doing it
10:43and create more
10:45exciting programs
10:47so that they
10:49can enjoy by learning
10:51the heritage that we have.
10:53This is what I hope for.
10:55So
10:57it's just
10:59like an unpolished gem
11:01that is waiting to be
11:03polished. So when it's
11:05polished, it will actually shine.
11:07So this is what I
11:09hope we can do
11:11to make our coffee shine
11:13and be loved by
11:15all the coffee lovers.
11:17Music
11:21Okay
11:23Music