SINGAPORE: Opposition leader Chee Soon Juan’s café, Orange & Teal, Marina Square outlet closed its doors on Friday (Oct 11).
The restaurant said in an announcement on its Facebook and Instagram pages early on Friday morning that the closure is “due to rising costs.”
The announcement added that Dr Chee’s first outlet, which he opened at Rochester Mall in June 2021, will remain open. The management thanked patrons for their support.
On Instagram, netizens expressed support for the eatery, with some saying how much they love the food at Orange & Teal.
One commenter even hoped an Orange & Teal branch would open in Malaysia, either Johor Bahru or Kuala Lumpur.
On June 21, 2021, while the world was still dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr Chee, the Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic, announced that he and his wife, Huang Chih-mei, would be fulfilling a long-term dream of opening a restaurant.
He added that they had planned to do so for the past months.
Beyond serving people a good meal, they wanted to have a “place where we get together with our loved ones and friends and get to know each other all over again.
A place where intelligent discussion, even impassioned debate, takes place. A place where the conversation’s even better.”
They even engraved the saying, “Where the conversation’s even better,” above the restaurant doorway.
Dr Chee, an activist and educator, was upfront about “not being a businessman.”
However, he added that he had always wanted to begin a social enterprise supporting causes close to his heart.
Shortly over a year later, the SDP chief opened a second outlet of Orange & Teal at Marina Square.
Since his restaurant branches opened, Dr Chee has served meals to Singaporeans from all walks of life, from distinguished lawyer Lee Suet Fern, the daughter-in-law of founding Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew, to elderly cardboard collectors, security guards and cleaners.
Also, a woman once ordered S$150 worth of food from the café, asking for it to be distributed to cleaners.
In a 2022 Facebook post, he also dreamed aloud about the possibilities for Orange & Teal, writing:
“J K Rowling, TS Elliot and Ernest Hemingway did much of their writing in cafés. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Orange & Teal could be the nest for the next great S’porean writer?”
He also called the eatery “a miniature version of my vision for Singapore – a place where intelligence, grace and compassion flourish.” /TISG
Read also: Singaporeans urged to support Chee Soon Juan’s café despite their political preferences
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