Charting New Territories: Three Local Men Quench Their Thirst For Adventure
L’Officel Hommes spoke to three individuals who have taken the leap of faith, away from their comfortable jobs to kickstart their businesses.
The years marred by the onset of the pandemic have been exceptionally tough for some. Though for a select few, it also brought about a chalice of change, offering an unexpected chance to veer off their established path. L'Officiel Hommes spoke to three individuals who have taken the leap of faith, away from their comfortable jobs to kickstart their businesses.
Tarik by Shaikh Ali Redha
The life of an air steward takes on a veneer of elegance and service. In some 35,00 feet up in the air, where flights cut through the haze to destinations unknown, he is meticulously dressed, exudes an air of sophistication and is poised to serve. Former air steward Shaikh Ali Redha, 40, however, has hung up his uniform to brew and ‘pull’ tea in the heartlands.
At Tarik, Shaikh’s takeaway tea kiosk at one of Singapore’s oldest urban quarters, Kampong Glam, throngs of customers queue for teh tarik (Malay for pulled tea), a simple beverage concocted using black tea and condensed milk. Other renditions served at Tarik include teh hanyit, which boasts spicy ginger and almighty turmeric, and teh zaffran, which boasts a sprinkle of saffron. “It’s really hard to find good teh tarik around,” he says.
Amidst the humdrum of news announcing lockdowns and restrictions at the peak of the pandemic, which left Shaikh, who was with Cathay Pacific for 14 years, grounded on the sunny island and eager to leap into a new venture. “My wife and I would brew our own tea at home for our guests and one day the idea of selling our own tea came to us,” he smiles. The volatile world of entrepreneurism against the backdrop of the pandemic was a tempting but daunting proposition. “It was a crazy idea and I had to make do with this in a small space.”
He then opened Tarik in 2021. His approach to his newfound role echoes the principles he honed during his days in the aviation industry – providing top-notch service and facing challenges head-on. The shift from first-class cabins to a small kiosk in the heart of Arab Street presented itself with its own challenges, from finding manpower to figuring out or tweaking recipes. “When I started, I had my relatives here to help me,” he explains. For the most part, Shaikh, like a seasoned captain, navigated these waters carefully, meticulously catering to the diverse taste buds that grace his humble kiosk.
At Tarik, the aromatic blend hails from three different corners of the world – Kenya, Indonesia, and Sri Lanka. He is often seen pulling tea with finesse and practiced ease. On-lookers may sometimes be caught staring wide-eyed as warm tea is pulled and stretched between two metallic vessels. “The tea is not as astringent; that’s how I like it,” Shaikh says.
“When I travel, I make it a point to visit tea shops,” says Shaikh as he recounts his stopovers in the pre-pandemic era. “I am curious and I always asked them, even my relatives, about their favourite brew.”
The age-old adage “the customer is always right” is something Shaikh seems to hold dearly. Despite positive reviews, he has had negative ones too. He regarded these critiques as valuable opportunities to hone his craft. “I try my best to get the right balance,” Shaikh says. Customers, for him, sometimes inspire him to create new items on the menu.
But he is quick to add: “Nonetheless, there will always be someone who dislikes your food, and there will also be those love them.”
Generation Coffee by Zender Wong and Kenneth Lim
Ask any Singaporean what is an essential facet of our local heritage; chances are, the hawker culture comes to mind. For locals and tourists, the palpable buzz of a hawker center—the sizzling of woks and lilting cadence of dialects against the familiar chime of porcelain against porcelain and soft susurration of conversations—is welcoming. While at first sight, the hawkers, revered as esteemed custodians of culinary traditions, bear the mantle of experience and seniority, a growing pool of younglings are taking ownership of the trying trade. Zender Wong, 33, and Kenneth Lim, the young folks at Generation Coffee, a coffee stall at local hawker center Tekka Center, are some of them.
Before Generation Coffee, the duo initially established the online coffee distribution platform Pore Coffee. They first met in the Air Force, where Lim was Wong’s subordinate. Having served the military for 10 and five years, respectively, Wong and Lim, both Air Force engineers then, decided to leave to pursue greener pastures. “For me, I wanted to get out of my comfort zone and seek something new,” says Wong. “I was always firefighting then.” Lim, who was completing his bond with the military then, bore the same sentiments.
As specialty coffee enthusiasts, the duo’s impetus behind Pore Coffee was simple: offer hobbyists affordable, quality roasted coffee beans. The year was 2020, and that was a time when the onslaught of the pandemic was in full swing; many who were confined at home had picked up exciting hobbies, including brewing coffee from home. Their repertoire gradually expanded to encompass handcrafted cold brews. Yet, after nine months, a realisation dawned upon the duo, urging them to change.
Noticing that the traditional sock-filtered kopi, the ubiquitous coffee cherished in food courts and hawker centres, often lacked consistency, Wong and Lim decided to pivot into making kopi that boasts pleasing aroma, good quality and is affordable. In other words, selling traditional kopi with a contemporary twist using beans that one would find in a café or in the closet of a coffee enthusiast, and brewing it with a sleek coffeemaker, such as the Expobar Carat 2 Group Automatic Coffee Machine.
“Singaporeans love their traditional kopi the way it is, but we wanted to also show unique renditions of a traditional drink that’s contemporary but not overly far-fetched,” Lim, who takes on the role of a barista, says. At Tekka Center, Lim can be seen frothing silky milk, pulling aromatic espresso shots, and making the morning joes at breakneck speed. While Wong is also adept at brewing, he calls the shots, pun intended, from behind the scenes more.
Roasted twice a week and ground daily, the coffee beans used at Generation Coffee are specially curated. For instance, their Pioneer blend of coffee beans, which they use to make traditional kopi, is roasted with Brazil Arabica and Vietnam Robusta, replicating the bold allure of a traditional kopi yet carries dark chocolate and cacao nibs notes.
“The crowd, both the young and the old, has been receptive to what we are doing,” Wong elaborates. Expansion, for the duo, seemed like a natural manoeuvre. “But it’s also been a crazy few years.”
The duo’s first outpost in Tekka Center, near the city fringes, was established in late-2020. Their second outlet opened closer to the heartlands in Bedok North Market and Food Centre early this year. Their third outpost in Hong Lim Market and Food Centre opens in July this year.
The job is not without its own set of challenges. Hawking gets a bad rep amongst the nation’s younger generation for its insane working hours and humid and laborious work environment. That aside, Wong and Lim are finding it challenging to fill up the lack of manpower to manage the stall. This stops any other expansion plans, though the duo hasn’t entirely given up yet. “Kenneth and I are still looking to get a bigger space to maybe incorporate a coffee bar,” Wong says. “That’s not happening so soon but we will get there.”
