| Hailam Kopitiam is a family-owned and operated business by Wong. He was born in Hainan Province of China at the year of 1912. At the tender age of 6, Wong entered the workforce to earn a living to support his family.
During his childhood years, Wong was tasked to take care of his younger siblings and responsible for the daily house chores. At the age of 16, he already mastered the skills of making a perfect of coffee and tea.
Wong migrated from Hainan to Malaysia in 1929 at the age of 17. Equipped with the skills in coffee and tea making, he started his career as a tea-maker at a make shift stall located at Batu Arang, Rawang. It was there, that his customers noticed the uniqueness in his refreshing “Special”. Over a period of time, he managed to build a group of loyal customers patronizing his stall for a good cup of coffee and tea.
Over the years, Wong ventured into various businesses ranging from hawker to vegetable farmer. Despite the tough times and the huge burden of responsibilities bestowed upon him, he still managed to find time to sharpen his skills in making a good cup coffee which later become an obsessed hobby in concocting coffee and tea, hence created the “Hailam Special”.
With the good and loyal support from friends and customers, Wong named his stall Hailam Kopitiam, in recognition of the origin of his “Special”.
As news of his famous drinks spread across town, business at Hailam Kopitiam started to flourish and grow at heighten pace. From a humble make-shift stall, Hailam Kopitiam moved into a shop house along Jalan Sultan, continuing to serve its customers with the aromatic coffee and special; plus variety of mouth watering Chinese dumplings and hawker-style noodles.
The young man, who started the Hailam Kopitiam, aged gracefully surrounded by loving wife and children as years went by. Friends and customers fondly called Wong as "Pak Hailam", acknowledging him as the founder of Hailam Kopitiam.
Today, the second generation of "Pak Hailam" follows his footstep and venture into the Kopitiam business to commemorate the sacrifice and endless effort of Pak Hailam with the opening of the PAK HAILAM KOPITIAM.
PAK HAILAM KOPITIAM will continue the founder’s legacy in bringing the aromatic special, plus the unique taste of the other drinks & dishes of yesteryear to the general public. |
