AFTER 84 years of serving Kuala Lumpur folk delicious Hainanese staples, Sin Hoy How restaurant in one of the city’s oldest streets will shutter at the end of the month.

The old-fashioned coffee shop in Jalan Tun H.S. Lee – once known as High Street – has come to the end of its journey after suffering losses when the Covid-19 epidemic broke out last year.

The shop is popular for its dry curry fish ball noodles, assam laksa, belacan fried rice, and signature blend of roasted coffee.  

The three sisters running the shop told The Malaysian Insight they see no hope of recovery after a succession of Covid lockdowns.

Like many parts of the country, the capital city is under a third movement control order (MCO).

One of the sisters, 66-year-old May Lee, said the repeated MCOs left them with little choice but to close shop.

“We were hit badly by the pandemic last year. We closed for more than a month and when we reopened, business had dropped by 50%.

“After that we had another lockdown in November, when business dropped by 90%. There was no recovery after the Chinese New Year this year.”

May and her sisters Lilian Lee, 71, and Lily Fong, 55, took over the coffee shop from their father, who opened the business in 1937.  

In 1997, they moved across the road to their current location. 

Here the sisters dish out traditional Hainanese-style fare, mostly for office workers and bank employees in the area.

May said the government order to work from home affected business. 

“The monthly rent is RM 6,300 plus other costs for operations and utility bills. With business affected, I have been using my savings to keep this place afloat.

“I don’t want to close, but with the drastic drop in business, what can we do? Without dine-ins, how are we going to survive?”

May, who began working at the family coffee shop when she turned 18, expressed sadness at the impending closure.

The sisters plan to sell or give away some of their antique furniture. Some of the pieces are more than 50 years old.

“Some of the marble table tops and antique chairs I may give away to regulars and other items I will sell.”

May added that she has no desire to get into the business again.

Special coffee blend lives on

One thing the sisters plan to keep is the special coffee blend created by their father. The coffee with the Sin Hoy How label is sold to other coffee shops.

May said the coffee powder will be available online.

“We will close the shop but keep our father’s blend of roasted coffee.”  

Lilian said the sisters will miss the regular customers most of all.

“We know many of the customers and they are close, like family.

“We were so sad when the lockdowns started and there were no dine-ins. The customers couldn’t have our laksa or drink our coffee.”

Lilian said she will miss the shop where she grew up.

“There was always excitement in Kuala Lumpur. A lot of things were always happening.

“I have fond memories of working in this shop and tending to customers. And helping my father when I was young.”

Like May, she does not plan to work any more in the food business.

“Now with the MCO there is no business. I’m planning to retire.”

The youngest sister, Lily, who blends their famous coffee, said she will miss the customers dearly.

“Some have been coming here for 20 years. Others celebrate their birthdays and Chinese New Year here.

“I feel very sad that after working here for so many years, we have to close shop. I’m not sure what I’m going to do,” she said, holding back tears.

Lily said she would consider working at another coffee shop when things are settled.

Sin Hoy How joins the more than 2,000 kopitiam that have close down since the onset of pandemic, according to figures from the Malaysia Singapore Coffee Shop Proprietors’ General Association.

Last year, another city icon, the 99-year-old Coliseum Cafe in Jalan Tuanku Abdul Rahman, shut for good.

The food and beverage industry is among the hardest-hit by the pandemic.

Dining-in with social distancing was allowed for a few months last year before it was barred.

It remains prohibited under the government’s recently launched national recovery plan. Diners will only be allowed back into restaurants when the country has reached phase three of the plan.

Phase three is deemed to have been reached when daily Covid-19 cases have dropped below 2,000; 40% of the population are vaccinated; and occupancy of ICU beds is at a moderate level.

Except for eight states, the country is under the MCO which is regarded as phase 1. Selangor and Kuala Lumpur, which are reporting the highest number of daily cases, are firmly in the first phase.

Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, Perak and Perlis, Penang, Sarawak and Sabah are in phase 2 of the recovery plan. – July 15, 2021.