Chee Soon Juan announces closure of Orange & Teal after four-year run

SINGAPORE: Veteran opposition leader Chee Soon Juan has announced that his café venture Orange & Teal will be closing its doors, after a four-year run at Rochester Mall.

Orange & Teal was launched by Dr Chee and his wife, Dr Huang Chih-Mei and opened its first outlet in June 2021 at Rochester Mall at 35 Rochester Drive. From the outset, the café’s ambition went beyond food and drink: Dr Chee said he envisioned a space where “intelligent discussion, even impassioned debate, takes place.” The concept was described as “a place where Singaporeans can dine in elegance or chat away in a cosy corner or simply pull out a book with a coffee and enjoy a moment of solitude.”

Dr Chee had framed Orange & Teal as part café, part cultural space, part small business endeavour and the café served as an experiment in marrying hospitality with social space. The space had also served as an events venue, hosting talks, book launches, reunions and private parties.

Dr Chee had said in the year he launched the venture, “I want to not just be about dollars and cents. It should be a place where humanity counts.”

In August 2022, the brand opened a second outlet at Marina Square with an express-lunch concept aimed at office workers. While the second outlet opened with optimism, it shuttered on Oct 11, 2024.

Dr Chee had attributed the closure of the second outlet to rising costs in rent, utilities, and other overheads. After that, the Rochester Mall outlet remained as the only operating branch—until the announcement on Monday.

In a Facebook post published past midnight, Dr Chee said that the team behind the café “have decided to conclude our journey with Orange & Teal.”

He added, “While this chapter comes to a close, we do so with gratitude and optimism. We are happy we started Orange & Teal and just as happy to leave it on our own terms — knowing that its spirit of courage, warmth, and connection will live on.

“This is not goodbye, only until next time. As they say: Epilogue is prologue. We look forward to picking up where we left off on another day. Thanks, everyone, we had lots of fun doing it.”

In the comments section of his post, he also indicated a final “Cash & Carry” event from 11 to Nov 13, from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m., where customers and supporters are invited to pick up items from the café before final winding down.