Emerging in the 1930s, the Hainanese-owned ‘kopitiam’ (coffeeshops) was initially a male-dominated place where Chinese bachelors would congregate to eat breakfast while still wearing their pyjamas. The menu was simple: toast, eggs and a drink of coffee, tea or soft drinks.Coffee served at the ‘kopitiam’ was made by roasting coffee beans with large amounts of butter and sugar in a large cylindrical drum mechanically rotated over wood fire. The coffee and tea were served in thick porcelain cups and saucers that bore floral motif prints or the logos of the tea/coffee suppliers. In some cases, companies even included their telephone numbers on the saucers.The beverages were drunk with sugar and condensed milk. It was common for customers to cool their coffee by pouring it into the saucer and drinking from it. Underneath every table was the obligatory spittoon
