Bak Kut Teh a Poor Coolies' Breakfast? Maybe Not

A report on "Comparison of Coolie Workers' Wages in the Past and the Present" in "Nanyang Siang Pau" on January 8, 1934.

This 1934 report is the earliest known document mentioning the "bak kut teh" dish.

It supports oral history reports that Singapore River coolies had bak kut teh together with tea in the 1920s (its emergence could be earlier).

The article compared the wages of Singapore River coolies in 1925 and 1934. It reported that in 1925, coolies lifting salted fish at Singapore River earned more than $10 a day.

The coolies enjoyed a breakfast of tea and bak kut teh for at least $1.80. $10 was not a meagre wage at that time and $1.80 was in fact a princely breakfast.

How princely was $1.80?

Raffles Hotel 1925

Well...., in 1925, you could have dinner, and dance the night away at Raffles Hotel for $3.

Raffles Hotel 1925

The notion that bak kut teh was a poor man's breakfast may be a little more nuanced than generally assumed.

Boat Quay Singapore River 1934

The boom time of 1925 gave way to recession and fall in commodity prices in 1934. There was also an oversupply of coolies leading to fierce competition for jobs. Wages tumbled and those coolies able to take home $5 a week were considered lucky. 

$1.80 bak kut teh breakfast would be a luxury out of reach for most coolies in 1934.

Raffles Hotel 1934

In 1934, $3 could still get you a fine evening of dinner and dance at Raffles Hotel.

Goodwood Park Hotel 1934

Goodwood Park Hotel 1934

Well.., if you don't mind it, you could spend a nice evening dining and dancing at the Goodwood Park Hotel for $2.

So, the assumption of a linear evolution of bak kut teh from cheap dark herbal tonic to white premium peppery power breakfast may be a lot more nuanced.

Bak kut teh is likely to evolve according to economic circumstances, its quality fluctuating in tune with the times - it could oscillate up or down, and not always only up all the time. For example, the emergence of peppery Teochew bak kut teh may be as much responding to the need to bring costs down than taste preference shifting from dark herbal to white peppery. (More research in progress.)

For example, the shift to "dragon ribs" in the 1970s was motivated by cost cutting before it became the new standard of perceived premium quality.

Written by Tony Boey on 25 Jul 2023

 

Acknowledgement

Thank you to professor Lai Chee Kien for sharing the Facebook post by Huanran An dated 24 Jul 2023.

〈苦力工人工資今昔比較〉

《南洋商報》

1934年1月8日 

旅居本坡華僑，計有三十餘萬，而大半多屬苦力工人，在過去數十年之苦力工，倘能節食，不久即能成爲大腹賈，此無他，就一九二五年之苦力工人而言，起卸鹹魚者，每日可得十元以上，故每晨在起床之後，即赴「茶槕」，叫「肉骨茶」，泡好茶，大嚼特嚼，最低限度，亦需一元八角。不料近年來，受不景氣之壓迫，土產跌價，兼工人日多，以致供過於求，除工資減低之外，而件數之重量增加......至於成捆之鹹魚干，前每捆連打包起卸，每件一角，現減低至五占，前每名苦力工人，日可賺十元左右，今每星期間，可得五元者，以屬幸事。今昔不同，別如天淵，且工人日多，競爭日烈，爲維持生活計，不得不自行減低工資，因而惹起爭鬭，時有所聞...... .