Kopitiam cups and saucers

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The icons of a kopitiam (coffee shop) vary depending on who you ask. A young person who knows the coffee shop as it is today – underneath a Housing Development Board (HDB) block and comprising of several food stalls – identifies with the transparent glass cups with big handles. Those who used to while away their afternoons at the coffee shops before the 1970s, fondly remember the stout porcelain cups with green or blue floral motifs as well as their matching porcelain saucers and spoons.

This porcelain coffee set was the de facto utensils used by coffee shops since they began in the early 20th century . Pioneered by the people of Fuzhou and Hainan, such establishment peaked in numbers during the Depression Era in the 1930s when many vacant shop lots were up for grabs at low rent. The Hainanese, in particular, many of whom had been cooks for the British, snapped up shophouse units by the dozens to capitalise on what they learned in the British kitchens. As the barriers to entry for selling coffee and tea to the working class was low, coffee shops sprouted across the island beginning from the Hainanese enclave of Middle Road, Purvis Street and Seah Street .

These coffee shops enjoyed brisk business, receiving hundreds of customers every day. Despite tea and coffee costing a mere 2 to 4 cents before the war, a flourishing coffee shop could make $70 a day . The porcelain coffee set was in many ways useful to the coffee shop assistants coping with this high-speed operation. An assistant typically served several drinks at one go, especially when large groups of customers arrived together. However, the porcelain cup, which became hot when filled with coffee, must be held by its ear. The assistants would have to make multiple trips to the tables if they delivered only two orders each time. With a saucer, they could easily juggle five cups on both their hands and wrists.

The saucers also served as plates for food. Coffee shops did not have hawker fare like they do today (those that subsequently did were differentiated as “eating houses”), but they sold breakfasts and snacks influenced by the British. Soft-boiled egg, an English breakfast item, was served in a saucer with shell on. To consume them, customers crack the eggs and mixed in dark soy sauce and white pepper before slurping it up from the saucer with a spoon. Some coffee shops also used the saucers to serve cakes they baked or toasts with kaya that they cooked in-house. Using a standard-size plate kept things straight forward for the busy assistants .

The porcelain wares originated in China, either purchased directly from the Chinese manufacturers or through local importers. An advertisement published in 1959 in the Kheong Keow Coffee Merchants Restaurant & Bar-Owner Association souvenir magazine listed porcelain coffee cups among the kitchenware offered by a wholesaler at Temple Street. These cups came from Jingdezhen, the advertisement claimed, a city known for its high-quality porcelain .  However, bigger coffee shops bought directly from the manufacturers so that they could have their business name printed on the cups, says the association’s former chairman Mr Ong Siew Ping. Only flourishing establishments could afford to do that, he adds, as the manufacturers only provided this service to those who bought in bulk. Other big buyers of porcelain coffee sets were drinks suppliers, who printed their logos on the cups and gave them to the coffee shops to promote their products to the patrons. Such product placement is still practised today but in the form of soft drink cups and parasols.

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Besides containing drinks, porcelain cups were used as a tool for communication as coffee shops were also important social venues where people played mahjong, met their blind dates or settled disputes. Members of rival gangs used to negotiate at coffee shops, and instead of “talking” things out, they signalled their intentions by the kind of coffee they ordered, how they placed it on the table, and whether they turned the cup or stirred the milk. However, this should not be mixed up with drinking coffee from the saucer – a common practice amongst people rushing to work as the coffee would cool quicker when poured onto a saucer.

In the 1970s, coffee shops began switching to glass cups as the replacements were cheaper, easier to hold — as many as five in one hand — and they eliminated the need of a saucer. Melamine plates substituted the fragile porcelain saucers for serving eggs and toasts. By the mid-1980s, porcelain wares had largely disappeared that they were reminisced about in the Chinese newspapers. 

Today, the porcelain cup continues to be used by a select group of long established coffee shop chains such as Killiney and Ya Kun Kaya Toast. However, its replacement, the glass cup, which makes a bright, clinking sound when stirring with a metal spoon, has also become an icon in its own right.

 kopitiam（咖啡店）的图标根据您询问的对象而有所不同。 一位年轻人了解今天的咖啡店——位于建屋发展局 (HDB) 街区下方，由几个小吃摊组成——对那些带有大把手的透明玻璃杯很熟悉。 那些在 20 世纪 70 年代之前经常在咖啡店消磨下午时光的人们，对带有绿色或蓝色花卉图案的粗瓷杯以及配套的瓷碟和勺子记忆犹新。

 这种陶瓷咖啡具是自20世纪初咖啡店开业以来事实上使用的器具。 这种店铺由福州和海南人民开创，在20世纪30年代的大萧条时期数量达到顶峰，当时许多空置商铺都以低廉的租金出售。 特别是海南人，其中许多人曾为英国人当过厨师，他们抢购了数十套店屋单位，以利用他们在英国厨房中学到的知识。 由于向工薪阶层出售咖啡和茶的准入门槛较低，咖啡店从海南人聚居区的中路、普维斯街和佘街开始，在全岛如雨后春笋般涌现。

 这些咖啡店生意兴隆，每天接待数百名顾客。 尽管战前茶和咖啡的价格仅为 2 至 4 美分，但一家生意兴隆的咖啡店每天可以赚 70 美元。 陶瓷咖啡具在很多方面对咖啡店服务员应对这种高速运转很有用。 一名助理通常会一次性提供几杯饮料，尤其是当一大群顾客聚集在一起时。 然而，瓷杯装满咖啡后会变热，必须捂住耳朵。 如果服务员每次只送两份订单，就必须多次前往餐桌。 有了碟子，他们就可以轻松地在手上和手腕上摆弄五个杯子。

 碟子也可以用作食物的盘子。 咖啡店不像今天那样提供小贩食品（后来的咖啡店被区分为“餐馆”），但它们出售受英国人影响的早餐和小吃。 半熟鸡蛋是一种英式早餐，盛在带壳的碟子中。 食用时，顾客将鸡蛋打碎，与黑酱油和白胡椒粉混合，然后用勺子从碟子里舀起来。 一些咖啡店还使用碟子来盛装他们自己烘焙的蛋糕或自制的咖椰吐司。 使用标准尺寸的盘子可以让忙碌的助理轻松处理事情。

 这些瓷器原产于中国，直接从中国制造商或通过当地进口商购买。 1959 年，在 Kheong Keow Coffee Merchants Restaurant & Bar-Owner Association 纪念品杂志上刊登的广告中，庙街一家批发商提供的厨具中列出了陶瓷咖啡杯。 广告称，这些杯子来自景德镇，这座以高品质瓷器闻名的城市。 然而，该协会前主席 Ong Siew Ping 先生表示，较大的咖啡店直接从制造商那里购买，以便将自己的企业名称印在杯子上。 他补充说，只有蓬勃发展的企业才有能力这样做，因为制造商只向批量购买的人提供这项服务。 陶瓷咖啡具的其他大买家是饮料供应商，他们将自己的标志印在杯子上，然后送给咖啡店，向顾客推销他们的产品。 这种植入式广告如今仍然存在，但以软饮料杯和遮阳伞的形式出现。

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 除了盛装饮料外，瓷杯还被用作交流的工具，咖啡馆也是人们打麻将、相亲或解决纠纷的重要社交场所。 敌对帮派的成员过去常常在咖啡店谈判，他们不是“说”出来，而是通过点的咖啡种类、如何将咖啡放在桌子上以及是否转动杯子或搅拌牛奶来表明自己的意图 。 然而，这不应该与用碟子喝咖啡混在一起——这是匆忙上班的人们的常见做法，因为咖啡倒在碟子上会冷却得更快。

 20 世纪 70 年代，咖啡店开始改用玻璃杯，因为替代品更便宜、更容易握持（一只手最多可以拿五个杯子），而且不再需要茶碟。 三聚氰胺盘子取代了易碎的瓷碟来盛放鸡蛋和吐司。 到了20世纪80年代中期，中国报纸上对瓷器的怀念已基本消失。

 如今，瓷杯继续被一些历史悠久的咖啡连锁店使用，例如 Killiney 和 Ya Kun Kaya Toast。 然而，它的替代品玻璃杯在用金属勺子搅拌时会发出明亮的叮当声，它本身也成为了一个标志。