A Malayan Railway kopitiam legacy

 

“Thank you for the well written story of our 88^th anniversary celebration,” said Lim Jit Tong also known as Barney, when he read what I had documented about their 88^th anniversary celebration of the Kluang RailCoffee, hosted at their flagship Kluang Railway Station kopitiam in late August 2026.

 

At the old KTM Railway Station in Kluang 
with Jack Lim [Right], Lim Jianle [Left]
and Robert Lim [2nd from Left]

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

 

It was my privilege to document the Kluang RailCoffee story in, My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, among other heritage traders who were still doing the businesses started by their forefathers.

 

On that recent anniversary celebration held in Kluang, it was good to renew my acquaintance with old friends and to meet new ones.

 

I mentioned that I was introduced to two fellow members in their Lim Hainanese clan, namely Robert Lim Meng Zium, a Johorean, and Lim Jianle, who came from their hometown village in Hainan Island, China, just to celebrate this event.

 

Over chilled drinks on that warm and sunny morning, they shared with me an interesting discovery of the link between the railway kopitiam heritage in Johor with the Lim clan in Hainan Island.

 

Lim Jianle showing copies of the old letters 
to Jack Lim, while Robert Lim looks on

When I listened to their account of how Robert met with Jianle in Hainan Island, Jack chipped in to say that he received copies of the letters (collected by Jianle) that were written from the family who used to operate the kopitiam in the Johor Bahru Railway Station.

 

Jianle, I soon learnt, is a researcher and collector of heritage artefacts and these letters in his collection were exciting proofs of the link between the railway kopitiam heritage here with the Lim clan in Hainan Island.

 

The very thought of letters written between families here and their hometown in China gave me a flashback to, Dear You, a recent popular Chinese movie screened in Teochew dialect which shared a tale of how such letters were exchanged and how the Chinese would send remittances, financial help to support their families back home.

 

Early trade links that date back to the 15^th Century during the Malacca Sultanate, made South East Asia a familiar and accessible destination for the Chinese who were seeking their fortune abroad.

 

Meanwhile, poverty, overpopulation, severe economic hardship and political instability in Southern China, mainly Guangdong and Fujian provinces, compelled the Chinese to seek a better life abroad.

 

During the British rule in Malaya where tin-mining and agriculture were developed, it created a huge demand for labour so the Chinese were encouraged to work in these sectors in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.

 

The Johore Bahru Railway Station
once had their own Book Stall

The Chinese diaspora would leave their villages in China and travelled by sea in very challenging conditions to reach the region known as Nanyang or South Asian nations like Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia and Malaya, of which Singapore was then part of.

 

Chinese junks full of sinkhek or ‘new guests’ (in Hokkien/Teochew dialects) would dock in Singapore port and agents would direct the new arrivals to their contracted jobs or send them to their dialect clan houses where they would get job placements.

 

While it was mostly young men who left the country to earn money to send financial help to their families back home, from the 1930s through to the 1970s, there was another wave of independent Chinese women who chose to move to South East Asia to work as domestic servants, nannies and cooks.

 

This sisterhood of majie – a word which means ‘mother and sister’ – in Cantonese dialect, alludes to their spinsterhood, as many took a vow of celibacy and chose to remain unmarried to maintain personal and financial independence.

 

In the early waves of Chinese arrivals, many found jobs as coolies in the Singapore docks, shifting goods and providing goods transport by tongkang and sampan.

 

Coming from an agricultural country like China, the Chinese also found work in agriculture as planters who cultivated the land to plant food and crops, like pepper and gambier.

 

Working hard in their adopted countries, the Chinese thrived and developed strong proficiencies in trade, retail and supply chain management. Many found their fortune in skilled work like laundry services, jewelry-making and iron-works.

 

The Johore Bahru Railway Station
was once the Station Rest House

When the Hainanese arrived in this part of the world, they found their niche in running traditional coffeeshops. Those who were skilled in baking bread in wood-fire ovens started bakeries and supplied freshly-baked bread, buns and cakes.

 

The British, who recognized their culinary skills, invited Hainanese to be their cooks. And as these Hainanese cooks applied their creativity in the English kitchens, it was the humble birth of a popular dish in this part of the world, known as the Hainanese-style Chicken Chop.

 

I thought it would be useful to connect the modern generation with the historical references above so as to better understand what transpired in the Lim Hainanese clan with regard to the legacy of the Malayan Railway kopitiam, coffeeshops opened at most railway stations along the North-South railway line in Peninsular Malaya.

 

In Malaya railway services began in 1885 with the opening of a 13-km line that connected the tin-mining hub in Taiping to the coastal port of Port Weld or Kuala Sepetang, in Perak.

 

In 1910 the Federated Malay States Railway or FMSR was established to merge various regional state networks into a single centralized administration.

 

From 1910 to the 1940s, the network expanded to form a backbone line that connected major economic corridors from Prai in the North down through Kuala Lumpur to Johor and Singapore.

 

The telephone number at the
Station Hotel, Johore Bahru
was only four digits

As the railway system was modernized, it went through various name changes including the Malayan Railway and eventually in 1962, became Keretapi Tanah Melayu (KTM). In 1992, KTM was corporatized into Keretapi Tanah Melayu Berhad (KTMB) as a government-owned entity.

 

Before major roads were constructed, the railways primarily served to transport tin and rubber to international shipping ports and fresh produce to the towns.

 

During the British rule, the railways were also an important means of transport and railway stations not only offered a refreshment stop in the railway kopitiam but also provided comfortable accommodation in their railway rest house or railway hotel.

 

The printed letterhead on the sheets of paper used to write those letters from the Johore Bahru Railway Station, confirmed this. At that time the word, Johor was spelled with the letter “e” at the end, to read as Johore.

 

When I saw that the telephone number of the Station Hotel Johore Bahru was made up of only four digits, 2819, it was pure nostalgia, truly a page from the past.

 

From these old letters, we saw that the Johore Bahru Railway Station not only housed a hotel but it also once was a Rest House and even had its own Book Stall.

 

Copies of the old letters in
Lim Jianle's collection

So many thoughts were swirling in my mind and I could not resist quizzing Robert and Jianle for more details on how they discovered this connection. After all, Robert was a Johorean in Johor while Jianle was in Wen Chang village on Hainan Island.

 

Robert explained that during this year’s Qing Ming festival, he returned to Hainan Island for the annual tradition and met with Jianle while they were in the Lim clan ancestral hall.

 

In the course of their conversation, Jianle revealed that he has a collection of old letters received from the Lim family who used to operate the kopitiam in the Johore Bahru Railway Station.

 

Robert, who was familiar with Lim Jit Jee, brother of Jack, made the connection among the Lim clan members and encouraged Jianle to come to Kluang for the kopitiam’s 88^th anniversary celebration. And this was where we met and started to talk about this railway kopitiam legacy in Malaya.

 

Looking back, Jack recalled that his father told him that a Hainanese man found favour with the British and was tasked to operate a kopitiam in the railway station.

 

Word about this work opportunity spread around their village in Hainan Island and members of the Lim clan soon joined the kopitiam industry in Malaya.

 

They eventually monopolized the trade, operating coffeeshops in all the railway stations from Johor Bahru to Bukit Mertajam and even the buffet coach on trains.

 

Jack recalled that his grandfather Lim Luan Hee, first started working with a kopitiam in a plantation in Taiping and it was such a tough experience that he decided to give up.

Lim Jianle was presented
with a copy of my book

He was in fact, on his way out and while he made a stopover in Tampin and stayed with a relative, he was advised to bravely stick it out. Then when he heard that a railway station canteen in Kluang was available for rent, he seized the opportunity and moved to Johor.

Armed with one kati (500g) of sugar and a few cans of milk, Lim started serving his first customer at the Kluang Railway Station canteen in 1938.

Lim slowly built the business in the pre-war days and it continued to thrive in spite of the Japanese Occupation. Upon retirement, his eldest son, Lim Heng Yong, took over and continued to operate the business with the same spirit and commitment. 

To serve early customers waiting for the first morning train, Heng Yong would sleep on a little canvas bed in the shop after the close of business so that he could be up early the next morning to serve breakfast by 6.30am.

In the 1990s, Heng Yong’s son, Jack took the business to new heights by establishing the Kluang RailCoffee brand. This brand continues to grow under a team led by Lim Ben Winn, Jack’s son, and Lim family members.

Currently, the Lim family operating the Kluang RailCoffee kopitiam prevails as the only Lim clan members who have persevered and continues the legacy to operate a railway station kopitiam in the nation, just as their forefathers did, some 88 years ago.

 

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.

 

Note: Meanwhile, Robert and Jianle said they will follow a lead to track down the Lim family who used to operate the kopitiam in the original Johore Bahru Railway Station. More about this as the story unfolds.

Celebrating a confluence of cultures

 

In late July when Dr Ajith Bhaskar of Suvarna Fine Arts showed me a draft design of the poster for a coming show, I was thrilled to learn that SeRasa SeRasi will feature a beautiful artistic conversation between Indian classical rhythms and melody with the pulsating sounds of traditional Chinese drums.

 

A scene from SeRasa SeRasi where
Bharatanatyam dancers danced to Indian
classical music and traditional Chinese drums

When I read the small print on the poster, I saw that this show will be presented at the Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House, a first ever such show in the artistic scene of Johor Bahru.

 

Curious about the show’s name, I quizzed him about it. He explained that SeRasa SeRasi was a play on words in Sanskrit that summarized the soul of this production that reflected Harmony, Unity and a Coming Together of artistic flavours.

 

I am familiar with the creative work of Ajith as I had the privilege to document his journey with Suvarna Fine Arts under Portraits in my 2017 MPH Non-Fiction Bestseller, My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage.

 

Dramatic opening to dance, Vismaya Vriksha

In the next few weeks, we just could not find a mutually agreeable time for a chat so when we finally managed to speak on the phone, he told me more about this grand production that will feature over 20 musicians and 15 dancers on one stage.

 

Ajith explained that this collaboration of Bharatanatyam dance and the Art of the 24 Festive Drums was more than a blend of two beautiful cultures and art forms but it represented the living, breathing essence of our nation’s social harmony.

 

Dr Ajith Bhaskar was the lead dancer
in the dance, Vismaya Vriksha

Over the years, I have worked with Tan Chai Puan, the co-founder of the Art of the 24 Festive Drums, to write about their performances, festivals and milestone events, so I am also familiar with this performing art which has its proud origins in Johor Bahru.

 

Incidentally, Tan Chai Puan was also featured as an exclusive story under Portraits in My Johor Stories: True Tales, Real People, Rich Heritage, and in 2022, the Art of the 24 Festive Drums was among the brands established in Johor and exported abroad, featured in My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now.

 

Similarly, I have also enjoyed countless Bharatanatyam dance performances by Suvarna Fine Arts and several Rangapravesham, the debut performance of a student of Indian classical dance who have completed the tutelage with their Master.

 

Members of the sub-committee for the show
led by Vijay Chandran, Vice-President 
of Suvarna Fine Arts

In June 2023, the Art of the 24 Festive Drums celebrated its 35^th anniversary since its founding and I had the honour to be the moderator in the, Drum Up Coffee Talk with a panel of guest speakers who included Ajith Bhaskar and Tan Chai Puan, to discuss the performing art scene in Johor Bahru.

 

Inspired by this discussion, several Chinese drummers started to train together with Suvarna Fine Arts classical dancers and I had the privilege to witness the early stages of their exciting collaboration.

 

Then at year-end, these Chinese drummers and I had the pleasure to experience a grand show presented by Suvarna Fine Arts to celebrate their 30 years of artistic excellence.

Lim Shao Xi, lifted up fellow dancer
in this section of the performance

In May 2024, I had the privilege to enjoy the Rangapravesham performances by Suvarna Fine Arts student, Lim Shao Xi, a talented and inspirational young Chinese man with a passion to study the art of Bharatanatyam.

 

In the ensuing years, the collaboration between Suvarna Fine Arts and the Art of the 24 Festive Drums continued to develop. This partnership then blossomed into this, a first-ever grand show in SeRasa SeRasi, a confluence of cultures.

 

So I was (understandably!) both proud and pleased that Suvarna Fine Arts and the Art of the 24 Festive Drums will perform SeRasa SeRasi on one stage for the viewing pleasure of fans, family and friends of these two performing arts.

 

The Chinese drummers in action

At the lobby of the Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House, I was warmly welcomed by elegant ladies, dressed in sari complete with accessories and neat hairdos. This reminded me that Suvarna not only trains students in the art of Bharatanatyam but also in skills to handle responsibilities in the front-of-the-house as well as backstage.

 

When I stepped into the auditorium, I was elated to see the stage set-up with the Indian Percussion Ensemble, the Vocal Ensemble (at Left) and the Instrumental Ensemble that comprised the violin, keyboard, veena and guzheng (in the center to the Right).

 

On the far Right of the stage were traditional Chinese drums to perform the dramatic Art of 24 Festive Drums by a smaller ensemble of five drums.

 

In this 90-minute show without intermission, the audience was treated to a mesmerizing experience of an exciting blend of Indian classical music played on the mridangam, rhythm pad, tabla, violin, flute, keyboard, veena and guzheng, complemented by the thunderous sounds of traditional Chinese drums.

 

A scene from the final dance,
Bhumi Mangalam

Incidentally, I was there in the early stages of training with Ajith where the Chinese drummers learnt that there was a science in Indian classical music where a circle of rhythm is repeated in five rhythmic cycles called, “Pancha Nadai,” in Sanskrit.

 

The Chinese drummers, who were clever with numbers and versatile learners, easily grasped the difference between the standard four-beat rhythm in drumming the Chinese drum and the song in cycle of 16 in Indian classical music.

 

With this little nugget of knowledge, I found it very interesting to watch how the elegant movements of the Bharatanatyam dancers were choreographed to match the rhythm of the unique blend of Indian classical music and Chinese drums.

 

Among the dazzling dancers who lit up the stage, I easily recognised the talented young dancer, Lim Shao Xi, who (I was later told!) returned from Taiwan where he was pursuing higher studies and practising Bharatanatyam, just to participate in this exciting showcase.

 

Another scene from the dance,
Bhumi Mangalam

The highlight of this show must be, Vismaya Vriksha, a dance where Ajith was the lead dancer, and an instrumental piece dubbed, Traditions in Dialogue, where the musical instruments seemed to “talk” to each other.

 

This orchestral performance was where the rhythmic and melodic genius of Indian classical music converged with the discipline and depth of Chinese percussion. 

Each rooted in centuries of history, philosophy and artistic expression, the meeting of these two ancient traditions showcased a common ground – the universal language of rhythm, melody and emotion – in the true spirit of SeRasa SeRasi, the confluence of cultures that vibrated in every rhythm and beat.

 

The show aptly closed with Bhumi Mangalam, a prayer for unity with a vision where race, creed and hierarchy dissolved into one world of love, peace and understanding.

 

At the curtain call, the audience responded with roaring cheers when they were introduced to the individual talents in the Indian Percussion Ensemble, the Vocal Ensemble and the Instrumental Ensemble as well as the Chinese drummers.

 

The creative team taking a bow
at the close of the showcase

The creative team featured Dr Ghana Venothan Retnam, flautist and Music Director, Gan See Shyan, Artistic Director of the 24 Festive Drums, the Associate Creative Directors, Sujatha Supliah and Ananthamalar Durairaj, and Dr Ajith Bhaskar as Artistic Director, Choreographer, Creative Director and concept mastermind of SeRasa SeRasi.

 

The presentation of this ticketed showcase at the Permaisuri Zarith Sofiah Opera House was made possible with the generous support of sponsors and fans. Among them was Datuk Raman Velu, a board member of Yayasan Sultanah Rogayah, who recognises Suvarna’s commitment to the performing arts and has a keen interest in supporting the artistic efforts of Suvarna Fine Arts.

 

Suvarna Fine Arts is located at Nong Chik Riverside, No. 17, Level 2, Jalan Kolam Ayer 2, Kampung Mohd Amin, 80200 Johor Baru, Johor.

Renewing friendships in Kluang

 

My relationship with Kluang started decades ago with family weekend stays at the Government-owned Animal Husbandry Station when Uncle Steven was working with the dairy farm located along the Ayer Hitam-Kluang stretch of road.

 

Facade of the Kluang Railway Station
viewed from the carpark

During our farm stays, we often headed into Kluang town for shopping and I remember going with Auntie to pick up their two young daughters after school.

 

After Uncle retired, the family relocated to Kuala Lumpur where their daughters completed college years and then went abroad for further studies.

 

So whenever I took a drive to Kluang from Johor Bahru, I will slow down along the Ayer Hitam-Kluang route and tried to spot familiar sights along that way.

 

In my recent visit to join the event hosted by Kluang RailCoffee to commemorate their 88^th Anniversary, I saw that the road was widened to a dual carriageway with many traffic lights along the improved route, passing Sri Lallang into Kluang town.

 

The new Kluang Railway Station is just
a three-minute walk away from the old
railway station in Kluang

I fondly recalled enjoying a Weekend Walkabout in Kluang in 2014 with my former schoolmates and when Kluang was named Malaysia’s Happiest Town in the 2024 Malaysia Happiness Index, I looked forward to yet another such experience. Time, however, did not permit it so this walkabout plan has yet to be fulfilled.

 

On arrival, I was pleased to see the brand-new railway station built adjacent to the original railway station where Kluang RailCoffee, the oldest railway kopitiam in the nation, remains as a landmark destination for regulars and visitors to Kluang.

 

At the celebration event, I was pleased to renew my acquaintance with members of the Lim family and meet their regular customers, who have since become friends.

 

There was a warm familiarity among the guests – old friends who enjoyed a fresh brew of hot coffee or cool Teh-C-Ais, charcoal-toasted bread and buns sandwiched in a generous spread of kaya and butter – seated together with a sense of community, in the original railway station kopitiam.

 

It was good to meet YB Wong Shu Qi
again at Kluang RailCoffee in
the old railway station in Kluang

I listened to the Master of Ceremony (a talented staff member of Kluang RailCoffee) as she made the announcements and was delighted to hear that YB Wong Shu Qi, Member of Parliament for Kluang, was among the VIP guests who graced the event.

 

In 2014, when YB Wong was then a member of the Johor State Legislative Assembly for the Senai constituency (2013 to 2018), I had the privilege of her company to explore Senai and was delighted to learn more about the town’s founding fathers, documented in my story, The two Wongs of Senai [NST Streets Johor 12 Sept 2014].

 

This published piece led to readers – Wong family members – who reached out to me and connected me with more members of the Wong family based in Singapore. One thing led to another and this exciting experience was documented in, More on Wongs of Senai.

 

A compilation of my experiences about the Wongs of Senai was among the stories featured in My Johor Stories 2: Interesting Places and Inspirational People, my second book in the trilogy of My Johor Stories published in 2018 by MPH Publications Kuala Lumpur.

 

It was during our trek around Senai when YB Wong told me about the My Liberica Coffee Plantation and Processing Mill at Bukit Batu, near Simpang Renggam.

 

I am familiar with their flagship café opened at Taman Molek in Johor Bahru and I was delighted to visit their roastery at the Eco Hub in Taman Ecoperniagaan in 2020. Then I went on to join the Grand Tour of the Coffee Plantation and Processing Mill at Bukit Batu.

 

Then when I was compiling the contents for, My Johor Stories 3: Proudly Johor, Then and Now, the third and final instalment of the trilogy of My Johor Stories published in 2022, I decided to include the story of My Liberica Coffee among the brands that were proudly established in Johor and also exported abroad.

 

I recall that I last met with YB Wong – very briefly in 2024 – when we were both guests at a classical music presentation to celebrate German-Malaysian Friendship.

 

So when we met again at the Kluang RailCoffee celebration event in Kluang, YB Wong did not hesitate to invite me to join her for café-hopping. And I was equally quick to agree.

 

YB Wong with the 2026 calendar
and The Happiest Town book

As we were about the leave the Kluang RailCoffee event, a quick check revealed that some of the listed cafés were closed that day while some were only opened later, so we only managed to make two café hops that afternoon.

 

I remember in a telephone chat with her in early March, YB Wong told me about her Kluang Coffee Passport launched in a calendar for 2026. Briefly, she explained that each page for a calendar month featured an illustration on a café destination in Kluang.

 

Visitors were invited to visit 10 destinations out of the 12 calendar months and collect 10 stamps – to be affixed on a blank space in the illustration – and the completed 10 stamps on the calendar entitled them to receive a special gift.

 

At the carpark, she passed me a copy of this café-hunting calendar and volunteered to drive us (her driver was on leave that day).

 

I was happy to hop into her car and be escorted around Kluang, from town center to the suburbs, for a taste of YB Wong’s warm hospitality along with an experience of Kluang’s hip and happening café-culture.

 

YB Wong and I with the 2026
calendar and The Happiest Town book

During our drive, I could not resist flipping through the pages of the calendar and was pleased to see that Kluang RailCoffee and My Liberica Coffee were featured in January and May, respectively.

 

As she talked about her calendar project, it was clear that YB Wong was pleased with how this 2026 calendar was effectively welcoming visitors to explore the charms of Kluang, proudly deemed The Happiest Town.

 

The success of the calendar compelled YB Wong to progress this concept further with the publication of a hardcover book titled, The Happiest Town, Everyone is Talking About, with easy-to-read text featuring a cast of coffee bean characters in illustrations that appeal to both young and young-at-heart.

 

Published by Pusat Khidmat Rakyat Parlimen Kluang, these beautiful books are available for sale at No. 15, Jalan Tasek 1, Pusat Perniagaan Tasik, 86000 Kluang, Johor. Open from 9am to 5pm. Tel: +607 – 7711778 and +6014 – 9011758.

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.