The corner Coffee Shop at Bedok Corner

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At one end of the row of shophouses - closest to the small access road that once led into the homes of our Bedok kampong - stood a coffee shop that held a treasury of memories for so many of us who lived there.

Facing the open carpark of the Bedok Rest House and the old Long Beach Seafood restaurant, the coffee shop sat shoulder‑to‑shoulder with a mama stall that sold the familiar snacks and sundry items of kampong life. It even rented out and sold books and magazines - the humble predecessor of what later became Jodhi Book Store at Marine Terrace.

For TJ Puar, this place was more than a neighbourhood landmark. His late father rented the entire coffee shop - believed to be No. 6 Bedok Road - from 1974 to 1983. TJ was just fourteen then, watching the rhythms of kampong commerce unfold from the inside.

The stalls within were sublet to various hawkers: a distant relative who sold bao, and an elderly couple who ran a porridge stall at the front. But the star attraction was unmistakably Ah Kim and his wife, whose wantan mee drew steady crowds. (Ron Ho remembers his simple dish of noodles with pale char siew with 3 small wantans sold for 20 cents in the earlier days, and tasted so great). TJ reminds us that they also sold mixed vegetable rice - a detail many of us may have forgotten, but one that adds texture to the memory of their stall. Our mother remembers their porkchops.

TJ’s father operated the drinks stall, grinding his own coffee beans and preparing kaya made from duck eggs sourced from a neighbour - a luscious spread he crafted himself. These were the small, loving labours that defined kampong food: personal, handmade, and rather exceptional.

By this time of the 1970s, TJ’s parents were determined that he focus on his studies rather than spend long hours helping at the shop. Still, he would occasionally cycle from their home at Somapah Road to lend a hand - and today he wonders if he should have spent more time there, soaking in the life that now feels so precious.

Many of us remember this coffee shop as patrons, but hearing from those who operated it brings a fresh and intimate dimension to our shared kampong story. These recollections - humble, heartfelt, and deeply human - remind us of the everyday places that shaped our lives.



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