Jiak Kopi Melaka – because of coffee

A man was walking casually along Jonker Walk to get some pieces of nyonya kuih for breakfast. Another man who was cyling on the same side of the road as the first man along Jonker Walk but he wanted to get some Toto tickets. It was a Sunday and Jonker’s excitement was escalating. Before the first man could turn into Hang Kasturi Lane, the cyclist called out aloud, “Hey, peng yu (*1), jiak kopi beh(*2) ?” The first man looked up and recognised the cyclist as his old friend. Happily, the first man answered, “Ah beh (*3)!”

“Jing ku boh kuah(*4)!”, the first man told the second man. The first man is Ah Heng (*5). The second man is Ah Hock (*6). They were childhood neighbour and they went to the same primary school and also to the same secondary school. They gone separate way since the university days. Somehow, they didn’t contact each other because they were busy building a career and a family of their own.

Rather than saying, “Hello, Good morning. How do you do ?”, in replace of that, the local used to say, “Jiak kopi beh (*2)?”

Now you see, Kopi or Coffee is one of the important word in Melaka.

The first known coffee manufacturer in Melaka is Nam Sing Coffee.The coffee powder was packed in a tin measuring less than this size, length 1 feet, width 1 feet and height 1 ½ feet. The koptiam (*7) got the coffee by the tins. The man on the road got the coffee by packets. In those days, the sundry shops would use ba chock chua (*8) to hold scoops of coffee. The buyer would quickly pour the coffee into a smaller air-tight tin when he reached home to prevent the coffee from losing its aroma. The sugar at that time was 25 cents per kilo. There was no cube-sugar. Nevermind about sugar or milk, what is needed is the coffee. Condensed milk was 45 cents per can. People enjoy coffee at home and also outside. So, jiak kopi beh has became a sort of greeting among the locals.

Today, Melaka has plenty of coffee shops, ranging from the hailam kopitiam, to modern old-taste koptiam or uncle-aunty kopitiam to the expert on brewed coffee, Starbucks. Everyone on the steets yearn for a cup of coffee but only a few know that the first coffee shop in London was opened in 1652.

While Westerners like their coffee strong and clear, the Easteners prefer kopi gao (*9). Coffee plants grow in Indonesia, Mexico, Colombia, largely in Brazil and some warm countries have its origin in Yemen of the Western Asia.

The fragrant white flowers after pollination become small coffee berries with two beans covered with silver-membrane enclosed by a yellow pulp that turns red when ripe. Already a nice beverage, roasting the seed gives coffee much of its pleasant taste.

Second in line to Nam Sing Coffee, is Sin Sing Coffee. Now, we have Aik Cheong Coffee, Teck Leong Coffee and …

From kopi, they say kopi-0 for cofffee without milk, or kopi-C for coffee with evaporated milk being C remembered from the Carnation’s.

First cup to the second cup, Ah Heng and Ah Hock were reminiscing the old good days and coffee kept them pleasant. Couldn’t be longer than an hour, Ah Heng had to take the nyonya kuih home for his waiting wife and children. Ah Heng said to Ah Hock, “Pak kang(*10), goon nan (*11) lai (*12) Jonker Walk kopitiam lim (*13) kopi” Ah Hock asked, “Zhun bo (*14) ?” Ah Heng replied, “Zhun lah (*15)”

Words in Italic is the Chinese’s dialect, Hokkien. Hokkien dialect, spoken worldwide has its origin in Fujian, China.

*1 peng yu : friend.

*2 jiak kopi beh : have you taken coffee.

*3 ah beh : not yet.

*4 jing ku boh kuah : long time no see.

*5 ah heng : success.

*6 ah hock : lucky.

*7 kopitiam : coffee shop.

*8 ba chock chua : brown paper use to cover the table during mahjong game.

*9 kopi gao : thick coffee.

*10 pak kang : next time.

*11 goon nan : both of us.

*12 lai : come to.

*13 lim : drink.

*14 zhun bo : sure or not.

*15 zhun lah : very sure.

P/S Have a nice day. Enjoy a cup of coffee.

(Note: Hard Rock Café is opeing soon in Melaka.)