Sharing is Caring

Hotelier and restaurateur Loh Lik Peng tells us what he really feels about gentrification and its discontents

or our october issue last year, we shot film-maker Eric Khoo for the cover at Bincho restaurant in Tiong Bahru. Yakitori joint by night, and mee pok stall during the day, Bincho is under the Unlisted Collection umbrella, which is owned by Loh Lik Peng. Since he is our cover star this month, we took the opportunity to ask him why Bincho shares its premises with this long-standing mee pok stall. The subject came up when we were chatting about gentrification, which he is often asked about since his projects are frequently perceived as catalysts for the phenomenon. “In some ways it’s not a bad thing, but sometimes you feel like you’ve lost a little bit of magic when you see that happening,” he says reflectively. “Unfortunately, consumers won’t pay the mee pok man the same price they would pay a guy who makes pasta. If you do, the mee pok man would still be there.” The mee pok aunties at Bincho are still there, however, because their regulars took matters into their own hands. When Lik Peng took over the premises, residents were so concerned that they would lose this three-generation hawker stall that they came to talk to him about it. “Some of them had been eating there since they were children. I definitely didn’t want to take that away from them.” So he invited the mee pok stall owners to stay on, subsidising their rent so they wouldn’t have to pay a cent more than they did before. They now coexist happily with Bincho, and “they do better than us”, he says, smiling with great warmth. “Their regulars come back three times a week, and they definitely have more customers than us.” Like Lik Peng, who has focused on conservation properties throughout his career because he cherishes the singular sense of place they exude, the other lifestyle entrepreneurs in this month’s cover story are seeking a similar connection to authenticity in their projects. Hong Kong-based Yenn Wong mentions that behind two of her contemporary restaurants in Sheung Wan, there is a tiny stall selling beef brisket noodles. “They have for years, and I hope they’ll continue to,” she says, because that mix of the old and new is what makes the neighbourhood special to her. Meanwhile, building inspiring communities is the mission that lies at the heart of two new private members’ clubs spearheaded by Marc Nicholson and Wee Teng Wen, respectively. Perhaps 2018’s biggest lifestyle trend is simply this: it is time to get real.