Ben Yeo opens new kopitiam at Chai Chee, spends S$80,000 on air-conditioned toilets
Mediacorp actor and entrepreneur Ben Yeo has opened a kopitiam at Chai Chee named Tan Xiang Chai Chee, and he reportedly spent S$80,000 on the toilets to combat the perception that kopitiam toilets are dirty.
They had their grand opening on 8 May.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
According to 8days, Yeo and his business partners had spent S$800,000 on the kopitiam renovations.
New Chai Chee kopitiam opened by Ben Yeo
The new Chai Chee kopitiam is located in an industrial estate and can seat 400 people. The decor is inspired by wet markets from the 80s and 90s, as a homage to Chai Chee.
Chai Chee translates to ‘vegetable market’ in Hokkien.
The four toilets, however, are the show-stealers. Costing S$80,000, they are fully air-conditioned and are even cleaned five times a day, Shin Min Daily News reported.
The two sets of toilets each have a separate vibe. One of them resembles a high-class resort, with what appears to be golden fixtures, stone sinks, and Dyson hand dryers.
“Since we were upgrading the toilets, we wanted them to have a totally different vibe, like that of a five-star hotel, to make them a talking point,” Yeo told 8days.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
But the other toilet looks more like what you’d find at a modern hotel, with a speaker installed playing music.
Source: Shin Min Daily News on Facebook
Unusually, only the toilets have air-conditioning. The rest of the kopitiam retains the open-air concept.
Yeo told Shin Min that this was because the kopitiam space was too large. The owner’s initial plan was to have air-conditioning for the entire kopitiam, but it would cost too much to do so.
He eventually settled on installing air-conditioning in the toilets so that diners would be more comfortable.
However, Yeo admitted that they went over budget on the toilet renovations, as he thought it’d cost S$40,000 instead of S$80,000.
“Since we already had the idea, we couldn’t back down. We showed the interior designer the style we wanted, and they made and showed it to us.”
Wanted to give customers different kopitiam toilet experience
Yeo added that the toilets are cleaned five times a day.
“Most people are afraid to use the toilets in coffee shops as they are usually very dirty, so we want to offer customers an unexpected experience,” he said.
“We believe that we are the only industrial park canteen that has air-conditioned toilets.”
They have already experienced a drawback of having such nice toilets — theft.
According to 8days, someone has already stolen a bidet spray gun from the male toilet.
He said the cleaning staff had noticed one of the bidet spray heads was missing, and that it was taken during the kopitiam’s operating hours. They’ve since replaced it but are considering removing the spray altogether if it gets stolen again.
“I don’t understand why anyone would want to steal a used bidet spray,” Yeo mused. “A brand new one costs just a few dollars.”
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Featured image adapted from Shin Min Daily News on Facebook.
