He ensured his kids had humble beginnings: Son of ‘coffee shop king’ remembers his father’s legacy

SINGAPORE — He had told his three sons on Wednesday (April 28) to take care of their mother if he died, and also expressed hope that his grandchildren will eventually work for the family business when they grow up.

At the time, Mr Andy Hoon, 41, did not think that it would be the last conversation he would have with his father Hoon Thing Leong, the owner of the Kim San Leng coffee shop chain.

Hoon Thing Leong, who is known as “coffee shop king”, died the very next evening at the Singapore General Hospital at the age of 72.

He leaves behind his wife, three sons and two daughters.

Speaking to the media at his father’s wake on Friday, Mr Andy Hoon, the second son who is the chief executive officer of the coffee shop chain, said that he did not think too much about his father’s words as he was not very sick at that time.

“That day when I was talking to him, he was perfectly fine.” 

However, his father's situation turned critical in the early hours of Thursday morning. His various organs started failing and after several rescue efforts, the doctors told the family that the patriarch had only a few hours to live.

Recounting his father’s final hours, Mr Andy Hoon said: “My dad never gave up even till the very last stage.”

Hoon Thing Leong’s death has been classified as “unnatural” and the family is waiting for autopsy results to find out the cause.

The Straits Times reported that he came to Singapore on a ship from Fuzhou in China with his mother when he was five years old. He was the oldest of six children.

He started out as a coffee boy at a coffee shop in Hougang that his father started, called Kim San Eating House, before opening his own coffee shop when he was 23 years old.

Hoon Thing Leong earned his “coffee shop king” moniker when he bought a coffee shop in Bishan in 1990 for S$3.52 million, S$2 million more than the starting bid.

Mr Andy Hoon described his father as a very traditional Chinese businessman who was stubborn and very hardworking.

He recalled how when he was 11 or 12 years old, his father would wake him up at 5am and ask him to help out at the coffee shop. The boy would be behind the cashier, making coffee or taking orders.

“He wanted me to have a humble beginning. He always wanted his kids to start off with a humble beginning and not be like someone who was born into a rich family,” he said.

Emulating his father, Mr Andy Hoon said that he adopts a similar style of parenting with his own son who is 11 years old, by getting him to help out as a cashier during school holidays.

His father always prioritised the well-being of his family, and Mr Andy Hoon applies the same principle himself.

“I think when you have a happy family, you will have a good start in life,” he said.