Stay Gold is a photography publication series that takes coffee shops around the world to its readers through different perspectives in each issue. Starting off the series with something local, in the first issue of Stay Gold, we take a look at Heap Seng Leong and it’s unchanging beauty. 

Kopitiam* is a traditional coffee shop in Singapore and is part of Singapore’s unique culture. However, it is becoming a vanishing trade. It is crucial that we immerse ourselves in Singapore’s unique culture as we are slowly losing this cultural aspect despite it being part of our everyday lives.

*kopitiam: the word kopi is a Malay/Hokkien term for coffee and tiam is the Hokkien/Hakka term for shop 

Heap Seng Leong is portrayed as a time portal in the publication. In the first chapter, we take a look at its environment, focusing on objects that brings a sense of nostalgia to its readers and at the same time capturing moments of time freeze.

Moving on to the second chapter would be the time keepers– the two key factors of the kopitiam’s operation. It captures moments of the father and son duo’s lives in the kopitiam and how they’ve been managing the kopitiam for so many years.

Lastly, a time portal would be meaningless if there weren’t any time travellers. Hence the last chapter captures faces of customers who visit the kopitiam. Here, you will find the older generation crowding together at one table, chatting together over a cup of kopi or simply enjoying alone time and flipping through a newspaper. But Heap Seng Leong is not only home to the older generation, but also the younger generation.­

Website: staygold.businesscatalyst.com