The legacy of Rochor Beancurd, but divided



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Photo: Screenshot of YouTube Screen

Whether you know their names or not, the Koh family deserves a place in the popular and cultural history of Singapore for its unique contribution to local cuisine – delicious tau huay. Unfortunately, the family's story was more beautiful than sweet, since a fight about shares in the case caused the division and disharmony of Kohs.

Rochor Original Beancurd began with a makeshift stand at the intersection of Rochor Road and Beach Road. Xu Jun Jie and his wife Tan Jin Jiao have perfected the art of creating the most delicious dessert of soybean seed.

The couple, whose tau huay stall was their livelihood, had four children. Koh Koon Meng, the eldest son, has worked side by side with his parents at the Tau Huay booth since the age of 12. Together, parents and son continued to improve their recipe.

In the 1990s, and after Xu Jun Jie died, Tan Jin Jiao and Koh Koon Meng expanded their operations to two tau huay stores in Middle Road and Selegie Road.

The other three children finally joined the family business. William Koh, the second son, arrived on board in 1991, and David Koh, the youngest, joined him after completing his national service duties. Caroline, the only female offspring, first helped David, but later started his own business, Old Rochor Beancurd and Min Beancurd Min.

In the mid-90s, the Koh family opened the store where they are best known … Short Street, Rochor Original Beancurd, selling bowls of delicious tau huay at 60 cents each and producing 1,500 kilos per day

The split in the family began when only the second son, William, with whom Mrs. Koh lived, was given equal shares of the company. The rest of the offspring failed to receive shares. After the matriarch suffered a stroke in 2003, her shares were donated to William's wife, Eng Ah Moi.

David was informed that he would only receive action after the death of William and William challenged him. his. It was then that David opened Beancurd City next to Rochor Original Beancurd, and Koon Meng, left to open Rochor Beancurd House.

David, who had learned how to tau huay from Koon Meng, still maintains good relations with his older brother, but is no longer friendly to William and his wife-in-law, Ah Me. In 2006, he said that he had not spoken to William for a long time

Koon Meng chose to stay out of the fight between David and William, and is on good terms with both.

David Koh says that he opened his huay tau store right next to the original facility because people already know Short Street as the best place to go for the good huay tau.

The origins of the Koh family tau huay heritage is told in this story on their Facebook page [19659003]

But what can not be disputed, is that Xu Jun Jie and Tan Jin Jiao bequeathed to their children, and even to the nation, a lasting and precious legacy. The brothers' tau huay stores regularly receive positive reviews from critics and bloggers, who attest to the quality of the dessert, and say that the differences in taste are slight. Even the Michelin guide has described the tau huay brothers' shops as good …

And now, it's the next generation of the Koh family who inherited the family business, including Jason, the son of Koon Meng, now in charge of Rochor Beancurd House. He believes that it's time for the family to stop looking back, but to have an eye toward the future. Maybe in this generation, the true sweetness of Koh family inheritance will prevail.

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