Kluang RailCoffee celebrates 88 Years

 

It was mid-July when I received a message from Kluang RailCoffee with a request to save-the-date for a cosy lunch event to commemorate their 88^th Anniversary, hosted at the flagship Kluang Railway Station outlet on a date in late August 2026.

 

It was a pleasure to celebrate with the Lim
family; [Left to Right] Ben, Barney, me and Jack

When I received the official invitation, I replied to say that I had already marked the date on my calendar and will be there to celebrate this milestone occasion with them.

 

In the weeks preceding the event, I saw a series of social media posts that featured interesting posters and reels that celebrated the proud legacy of Kluang RailCoffee.

 

As I watched the reels and reminisced with them, I recalled receiving a message in early February to inform me about their project to capture the history and legacy of Kluang RailCoffee in a documentary with a request to feature me in it.

 

While I was thrilled and deeply honoured by such a request, I had to decline as I was then abroad on a long break and did not want them to wait for my return. So I asked them not to delay but proceed with the schedule on their project.

 

The Kluang RailCoffee
88th Anniversary cake

Delighted by this invitation to be featured in their documentary, I hugged their thoughtfulness to myself and pondered over the many events that I had the pleasure to work in partnership with Kluang RailCoffee.

 

I looked back at my first meeting with Lim Jit Chen, better known as Jack, at the Kluang Railway Station kopitiam, and it was in fact, in 2006. That was a good 20 years out of their 88 years, so far. Wow!

 

It was an unforgettable experience when I was among a media group hosted by Tourism Malaysia, Johor, who travelled by KTM train from Johor Bahru to Kluang and alighted at the old railway station to enjoy a typical kopitiam meal in the railway station kopitiam.

 

Back in the colonial days, railways were a major means of transport and the railway stations that dotted the North-South route, provided not only refreshments in their coffee-shops but also accommodation in the hotels or rest houses designed within some of the bigger stations.

 

Jack [Right] and Barney [Left] with their wives
at my book launch event in 2018

In 2007, I had the privilege to have a kopitiam experience at the Kluang RailCoffee opened at Jalan Manggis in Kluang, where Jack let me witness scenes of our Malaysian ‘coffeeshop culture’ a unique reflection of the unity in our multi-cultural community as they agreed on their cups of brewed coffee and slices of kaya toast.

 

At that time, the train service was still operating on a single-track from North to South, all the way to the Tanjong Pagar Railway Station in Singapore. So when my former schoolmates joined me on a weekend jaunt to explore Kluang in 2009, the girls who lived in Singapore booked their return and boarded the train comfortably from the old Kluang railway station.

 

Then in 2010, Kluang RailCoffee opened at Taman Perniagaan Tasik, close to the roundabout before entering the town center, and I had the pleasure of joining Jack and the Lim family to celebrate this new opening in Kluang.

 

This way to a Free-of-Charge breakfast with
best compliments from Kluang RailCoffee

I learnt that there were plans to open a hotel in the upper floors of that building and when the hotel opened to welcome guests in 2011, Jack’s cousin, Lim Jit Tong, better known as Barney, invited me to have a stay experience at the Rail Hotel.

 

In the ensuing years, the Lim family continued to grow the Kluang RailCoffee brand with careful surveys on where to open their next outlets in Kluang or outside of Johor. Then when Jack’s son, Lim Ben Winn, joined the management team, he brought new blood into the business and took marketing and promotions to new heights of achievement.

 

A section of diners enjoying breakfast
together under the tent

Meanwhile in 2017 my book, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage, went to the Number One spot in the MPH Non-Fiction Bestsellers list in the first week of its launch. At year-end, this title was counted among The Best of MPH in 2017. Following the success of this book, I started working on its sequel.

 

Titled, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, I decided to feature people whom I know in other districts in Johor, like Kluang, Muar, Batu Pahat, Macap, Desaru, Kulai and Kelapa Sawit. In addition to my ‘grandfather stories’ under Memories, I also featured other heritage traders in Johor Bahru who were still doing the businesses started by their forefathers.

Jack Lim with his former
teacher, Mr Yong Ping Kiang

Kluang RailCoffee neatly fell into this group so it was my privilege to document their story among others in Book Two of My Johor Stories. Then I hosted members of the Lim family in Johor Bahru when they attended my book launch event in 2018.

 

In 2022, I was thrilled to be among guests to witness the induction ceremony for the Kluang RailCoffee kopitiam as it was recognised by the Malaysia Book of Records as the Oldest Railway Coffee Shop in Malaysia.

 

Not willing to rest on its laurels, Kluang RailCoffee continued to expand its network in Johor and opened outlets to meet the tastes of the communities in Kota Masai, Parit Raja, Bandar Seri Alam and close to the airport in Senai.

 

I saw many changes in Kluang since my last visit in 2022, among them high-rise buildings and a spanking new railway station, adjacent to the old railway station.

 

The flagship Kluang RailCoffee kopitiam is still housed within the old railway station, preserved as a landmark destination for regulars and visitors to Kluang to have a typical railway station kopitiam experience here.

 

Ready for the cake-cutting ceremony to
commemorate their 88th Anniversary

In line with their event tagline, 88 years of Heritage & Community, Kluang RailCoffee invited the community over for breakfast as part of their 88^th Anniversary celebration, served Free-of-Charge.

 

Under a tent outside the railway station, tables and chairs were arranged for diners to savour their meal in comfort while benches were lined up in a waiting section for new arrivals.

 

When seats at the table were available, the diners collected their portion of nasi lemak, roti bakar (kaya toast) and choice of hot drink (coffee or tea), allocated per person, to sit down for breakfast with best compliments from Kluang RailCoffee.

 

The breakfast served at this tent ended by 11am for the staff to move indoors to join the private celebration event scheduled to kick-off in the old railway station on the arrival of special guests.

 

They were YB Syed Hussein Syed Abdullah, Member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for Makhota and YB Wong Shu Qi, Member of Parliament for Kluang.

 

Jack feeding 88-year-old Subramaniam with a
bite of cake while YB Syed Hussein, YB Wong
and Ben looked on

I was warmly welcomed in by Jack who introduced me to two fellow members in their Lim Hainanese clan, namely Robert Lim Meng Zium, a Johorean, and Lim Jianle, from their hometown village in Hainan Island, China.

 

They shared with me an interesting discovery of the link between the railway heritage in Johor and Malaya with the Lim clan in Hainan Island. [Please wait for it, as this exciting discovery will be shared in a separate story!]

 

Jack also introduced me to his former Maths teacher, 85-year-old Mr Yong Ping Kiang, who would often drop by for his regular order of Teh-C-Ais or iced milk-tea, sometimes twice of three times a day.

 

In our conversation, Mr Yong reminisced about his teacher days when he taught Jack and fondly recalled that he also taught Ben, Jack’s son.

 

More guests were arriving and when he arrived with his son, Jack brought Mr Subramaniam Sadayin over and introduced him. Said that Kluang RailCoffee was honoured to celebrate their 88^th Anniversary with this 88-year-old loyal customer.

 

In a simple cake-cutting ceremony, the special guests along with Subramaniam, cut the cake together. Respecting Indian traditions, Jack fed a bite of the anniversary cake to Subramaniam. In this tradition, Subramaniam reciprocated by feeding Jack a bite of the cake, to loud cheers and applause of the witnesses gathered at the event.

 

Jack [Left] and Barney [Right] presenting
the gift cheque to representative from the
National Cancer Society Malaysia

The anniversary event was made more meaningful through a Corporate Social Responsibility project in conjunction with their 88^th Anniversary celebration.

 

A cheque in the sum of RM88,000 was presented to the National Cancer Society Malaysia by Kluang RailCoffee to honour the memory of a former long-serving staff member, the late Norarizal Shah, fondly called Ijal, who lost the battle to pancreatic cancer early this year.

 

It was such a heartwarming project that I had to learn more about it from Ben who shared with me that it was Ijal who first introduced Laksa Johor to RailCoffee when he prepared this dish and served it as a staff meal.

 

Ben admitted that he was then unfamiliar with this dish and pointed out that it was also pricey as it used spaghetti as an essential ingredient instead of rice noodles. But this dish was one that everyone agreed upon and they liked it so much that a decision was made to add it into the RailCoffee menu.

 

For this CSR project, One Ringgit from the sale of each Laksa Johor since May 2026 would go towards the significant sum of RM88,000 to be raised and donated to the National Cancer Society Malaysia.

 

With the support of customers and regulars, RailCoffee met this targeted sum and was pleased to present this gift to the representative from the National Cancer Society Malaysia at the event. This sum was made up of RM38,048.50 from Laksa Johor, RM41, 576.50 from Kluang RailCoffee merchandise and RM8,375 from RailCoffee Cares Shirt.

 

One for the album: The Kluang RailCoffee
team with a memento of their CSR project

Yes, this Laksa Johor-with-a-story was served in the buffet spread along with other dishes, for guests to savour at their anniversary celebration. For a sweet ending, there were chilled pudding and slices of that anniversary cake, for dessert.

 

Congratulations to the Lim family on your 88^th Anniversary! It was my pleasure and privilege to be associated with Kluang RailCoffee for the past 20 years and I wish you every success in growing your brand further in the next 20 years and beyond.

 

The Kluang RailCoffee kopitiam is located within the charming old KTM railway station at Jalan Station, 86000 Kluang, Johor. Check social media for their list of other locations in and outside of Johor.