A Café Out of Time - 369 Chulia Street

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Barbecued Pork, Fried Noodles, and Time Travel

There is a café in Georgetown, Malaysia, that I have been to many times. Good food, good prices, and an old charm that comes with age. This was no brightly-lit, sanitized fast-food joint. This was a place to sit and brood over a drink, old songs playing in the background.

For some reason, to me the place had a 1940s feel. I could see Humphrey Bogart as Sam Spade, solving some mystery here, or meeting his Chinese lover. Memories hanging in the air, as photos on the walls. Nostalgia. Film Noir. Maybe I had watched too many old movies.

I should have taken black and white photos. Crap mobile phone camera anyway. Apologies in advance to real photographers.

Because I went there several times, I got to talking to the owner, who needed no prompting. The café had many old photos and some Chinese art, and I asked her a little about its history.

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She Told Me -

My family came from Fujian Province in China to Penang in the mid-1800s. This café itself has been with my family for 5 generations now. Many Chinese migrated to Malaysia during this time. Penang Chinese

I asked her how many years ago that was, she didn’t know exactly. A generation is considered to be roughly 25 years, so I guessed about 125 years ago, sometime back around the late 1800s. This was during the British Colonial Era

Image - Rickshaw - @mmo-mmo

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I quickly got that she was all about family; she measured her time in familial generations, not years. She told me how her family had come to own the building.

One of the sons of the founder of our family in Penang fell in love with a girl. But his parents rejected this girl. She wasn’t from the right family they said, and she was ugly. They forbid him to see her.

But he was determined to be with her and rebelled. So the family made a decision. He was disinherited, and made almost a non-person to the family. He was ejected from the family home.

He married this girl, and she is my ancestor-grandmother, many generations back. They were poor but worked hard, and eventually they bought this property. We have had it ever since.

Image - Some family photos on the wall - @mmo-mmo

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So now, there are really 2 branches of our family in Penang, but we don’t talk much. And we only see each other at weddings or funerals. They still consider us the ugly part of the family, not as good as them. I don’t care, I have my mother and my children, and we are okay.

I could see that she was emotional about it, and not completely okay. She smiled, as if through tears, but she wasn’t crying.

I had worked in China in 2008–09, and read a lot about Chinese history and culture, all the tragedy and drama included. One thing that struck me about Chinese families, is that in some cases they could be very cut-throat, should a member not give absolute loyalty.

I mentioned this, and she agreed. I think this family split, more than 100 years ago, still troubled her. She excused herself and said she would be back in a few minutes.

I watched as she lit some incense and went out to the street to say some prayers. She then came back inside, and did the same at the small shrine and placed the incense there.

Shrine - @mmo-mmo

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Family

She came back to my table and pointed at her mother, sitting quietly sewing.

My mother is in her eighties now. But her health is good. I’m happy she is still with me, I will take care of her no matter what.

This hasn’t always been a café. When I was growing up is was a tailor shop. That was my father’s business. But I wasn’t interested in that, I loved cooking food. So when my father died, I turned it into a café.

Image - Back when it was a tailor shop - @mmo-mmo

I had eaten there several times, and the food was indeed good, and reasonably priced. The fried noodles and barbecued pork were my favorites.

It was many other things too. At one time it was a hardware store, then a book shop, and then a gift shop. But now it will stay a café until I die.

My son is married and living in Kota Bharu now. My daughter is married and in Kuala Lumpur. They are both doing well.

I asked if she sees them much.

Not so much. My son has some of tech business, I don’t really understand it. He is very busy. When he and his wife visit, all they talk about is how well they are doing, how much money they are making. And they are always on their phones. Even when we are eating. That is so rude!

So when they visit, it’s like they are not really here anyway, so I don’t miss them so much. But I love and miss my grandson. He is 2 this year.

My daughter has a successful café and catering business, and is doing well, but she is busy too. I want her to move back here, but her husband won’t leave Kuala Lumpur. He loves the big city. She is pregnant now, so I will go visit when she is due, to help out. I will have to take my mother with me. But we will return here.

I had hoped one of my children would come back here to take it over from me, but they are not interested. They just care about money, they don’t care about family. But I have my mother, that is enough.

Image - @mmo-mmo

She said this looking at her mother, and wiped a tear away.

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The Reformed Mr. Lee

And I have Lee to help me too.

She nodded towards the elderly man sitting at one of the sidewalk tables. I had seen him here every day, from opening time until late at night.

Lee has been with us since he was 7 years old. This year he will be 77. That is a long time. He was working here before I was even born, before my parents had even met and married.

He was a very naughty child, always doing bad things and getting into trouble. His mother had died, and his father worked 7 days a week. He had no one to look after him.

One day my grandfather caught him stealing from the shop. It wasn’t the first time. Grandfather took him to a back room and gave him a beating. Things were different back then.

He then gave Lee a choice – work at the shop and earn his keep honestly, or be taken to the police. In those days, the police would have given him no mercy, and a worse beating than my grandfather had.

So that day, Lee started working for my family, and he has never left. He has a room upstairs, and food to eat. And he changed. He is a good worker, and part or our family now.

Image - Mr. Lee taking a well-deserved break - @mmo-mmo

I had noticed just how hard Lee worked. Even though bent over and moving slowly, he served me and other customers all day. I was impressed by his stamina, to be honest. Even though he had never married, he had a home, a family, and that was worth a lot.

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The Days to Come

I don’t know what will happen when my mother and Lee are gone. My daughter wants me to move in with her in the future, she doesn’t want me to be alone. But this is my home, this is my family’s home! How can I leave? I have been here since the day I was born.

Image - A lady of family and tradition - @mmo-mmo

I could feel her sadness now, contemplating the future. She was very traditional in the family sense, family was everything. And she was hurt that none of her children would return. She lamented about the state of young people and families today.

She excused herself and went to sit with her mother.

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Time to Go

I was nursing a beer, waiting for the rain to stop. Finally it did, and I stepped outside. As I turned to walk away, I glanced back inside. Mother and daughter sat together talking. Mr. Lee sat quietly alone. It was otherwise empty.

Image - @mmo-mmo

On the way back to my hotel I passed by another restaurant-bar. This one was more modern and chic, and had many customers, mostly a younger crowd. I had eaten there before. The food was expensive, and in my opinion, not very impressive. But it had music, and some avant-garde prints and posters. I could hear the chatter of many people. I couldn't understand a word said.

I realized why 369 Chulia Street had not really changed for decades. Culture, tradition, and family. A remembrance. A shrine to what once was. And with the younger generation gone, no need to change, and no one to make a change.

But times and people do change. I wondered if 369 Chulia Street would be the last of its kind. I certainly hope not.

Image at top of post - @mmo-mmo