SDP’s Dr Chee Soon Juan opens a new café at Rochester Mall

The Secretary-General of Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) announced on Monday (21 June) that he has ventured into the business world by opening a new café called Orange & Teal at Rochester Mall. He said that he has opened this café along with his wife, Dr Huang Chih-Mei.

Dr Chee also noted that he has been working on opening this café for the last few months, and it will officially open its doors for guests this Friday (25 June).

As to why the couple decided to open a café, the opposition party chief said it is solely not for Singaporeans to just enjoy a great meal or drink a “heart warming cuppa”, but also a place for them to come together with their loved ones and have fruitful discussions.

“It’s been a long-term dream of ours to have a place where Singaporeans come together to not just have a great meal or have that heart warming cuppa, but a place where we get together with our loved ones and friends and get to know each other all over again,” Dr Chee said in a Facebook post.

He added, “A place where intelligent discussion, even impassioned debate, takes place. A place where the conversation’s even better.”

Dr Chee also said that the café is not halal-certified at the moment, but they will not serve pork, lard or any other pork-related items, encouraging Muslims to visit the café.

However, Orange & Teal will be serving wine and beer but the glassware for alcohol will be kept separately.

“To be perfectly honest, I’m not a businessman. I never was and I don’t think I will ever be. But I’ve always wanted to start a social enterprise of sorts to support causes close to my heart. I’ll talk about this including the vision of this venture another day,” he said.

He continued, “But I also recognise that in order to achieve this dream, the café must be viable as a business. This is where Mei and I hope that we’ll have your support. We hope you’ll share this excitement with us and tell everybody about the place.”

In the post, Dr Chee also expressed that he is looking forward to host all guests this coming Friday, starting from 11am to 10pm, adding that details on the menu and prices will be furnished in the coming days.

For those who wish to visit Orange & Teal, they can make their way to #02-12 Rochester Mall, 35 Rochester Drive, which is located near Buona Vista MRT Station.