Sibu Tales : Khiaw Hin Coffee Shop

In the earlier days, this shop was a furniture shop owned by the Ngie Sing Company which later expanded and bought a bigger shop lot in Lanang Road. Ngie Sing became the biggest furniture business in Sibu selling expensive furniture to the rich and famous and making fairly good local furniture.

The shop was then taken over by Kiaw Hin Cafe which remains to this day a nice little coffee shop serving teachers,parents, and students and tourists of course. The first floor is used by the Methodist Church for its Indigenous Evangelical Missions Office. The stair case must be more than 100 years old - solid red belian wood.









The coffee shop, like all others in Sibu, has a coffee/drinks section, a Fry Food Section, an Economy Fast Food counter, and a Noddle counter. On the five foot way, the proprietor sells Baos and other steamed items. Pulut Panggang and Zhangs (zhongzi) are sold from a small table.

this is a peculiar kind of coffee shop or kopitiam found in Malaysia.

However even more peculiar is the fact that there are two tables filled by Iban mothers who arrive early in the morning and they would sit and chat, while doing their knitting or cross stitch. When their kindergarten children are out they would go home in their vehicles to as far away as Durin or Ulu Bintangor.

Times are changing and lives are getting more interesting every where.