Someone gave his two cents on the Hainanese, a group of Chinese who came to Malaysia from the smallest of the Chinese provinces, Hainan Island:
- Klang, a city in Malaysia, has a big Hainanese community living in a Hainanese village.
- Hainanese worked as chefs for the colonial British masters.
Indeed, there is a Hainanese village in Klang called Bagan Hailam which was built in 1910 when the Hokkiens from Hainan Island migrated to Malaysia. Hainanese did work as chefs for the British and are famous for their cooking. A kopi tiam or coffee shop in town popular with the Malays served Hailam noodles and tasty chicken chops. Bet it is owned by a Hainanese. The guy had said that the Hainanese serving the British had mastered the art of cooking and making coffee. In the 60s and 70s, all the kopitiams in his hometown were operated by Hainanese. In fact, kopitiam he said, is a Malaysian Hainanese invention. Kopitiam by the way, is a type of coffee shop found all over South East Asia. Traditionally operated by the Chinese, people come here for meals and drinks.
Singapore's Hainanese...
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