When the word "Hainanese" mentioned in Singapore is invariably associated with Hainanese Chicken Rice and Hanianese coffee, since in the hay days the Hainanese had carving a niche for themselves in the service sector, working as cook boys, waiters or servants in the local hotels, restaurants, bakeries and bars and as cooks or domestic servants for wealthy European and Peranakan households. When I was young I remembered that he would meet all his Hainianese friends on Friday at our small coffeeshop near beach road and greet each other "mai" while "hello" is not so common and use in the past. I recalled that both of his Hainanese friend who had worked for the British during the colonial era and had learnt the techniques of making coffee. The habit of drinking coffee was certainly pick up from his colonial boss, although the preparation of Coffee beans were slight diffidence as for us, we were fried the coffee bean with butter, and my dad were even added some peanut husk for added aroma as for the practice in Western Europe or the States, where beans are mostly roasted, Indonesians have a different way of serving coffee which they grind the beans to a powder and boiled it and let the sediments settle and its then ready to drink. Similar to the way Lebanese drink their coffee but their grounds are slightly thicker. As for us a piece of butter was usually served with the coffee you have a choice to either added the butter to the coffee or ate it separately. It was Chinese believed that this method of drinking coffee would soothe the throat. They believed that coffee was a "heaty" drink and butter serve as a cooling effect taken together, they would maintain the yin and yang balance in the body. As time progress the coffee were served was mixed with condensed milk and sugar, although our restaurant still maintain the traditional way.
Naturally, the Hainanese became so involved in the kopitiam or "coffee shop" business as stall holders or assistants and also introducing the kopitiam culture to Singapore had evolved into some of the famous successful franchises such as Ya Kun Toast, founded by a Hainanese named Loi Ah Koon in 1944. Hans, a local cafe chain specializing in Western food and confectionery, is also owned by a Hainanese.
References
Kopi connection. (2007, May 20). The Straits Times. Retrieved March 24, 2009, from Factiva database. Lai, C. K. (2006). Multi-ethnic enclaves around Middle Road: An examination of early urban settlement in Singapore. Biblio Asia, 2(2), 4-11.(Call no.: RSING 027.495957 SNBBA -[LIB] Picture courtesy from http://masak-masak.blogspot.com.
