Kopi Thiam is your friendly heartland coffee shop where Thiam and his wife have been operating their business for decades. However, Kopi Thiam has to compete with the increasing number of modern cafés, including Starbucks and new outlets that serve artisanal coffee. In spite of competition, Kopi Thiam is able to stay in business with the support of die-hard customers.
Kopi Thiam blends ingenuity, friendship, and wit to create a homely space where the characters seem strangely, and pleasantly, familiar.
Smartly written and skilfully drawn, Kopi Thiam harks back to the time of those comic strips that used the simplicity of comics to entertain children and adults alike.
James Suresh is a best-selling author, corporate trainer, and an accredited public relations counsellor. After his military stint, he embarked on a totally divergent career as a co-creator or comic characters including Mr Kiasu and Kopi Thiam which became household names in Singapore. Mr Kiasu comic characters were transformed into books, magazines, merchandise, TV serials, comic strips and collectibles. His illustrated book ‘On a Street In Singapore’ where he collaborated with illustrator Syed Ismail, has won two awards namely the Sunday Times Seller and the Popular Book award. It is endorsed by the Singapore Tourism Board and is a popular souvenir for tourists.
Adam Lee has been an editorial artist since 1996. During his tenure at the Straits Times, Adam won numerous international, regional and national awards including second placing in the United Nations ESCAP 50th anniversary cartoon competition. Illustration of the year in 2003 and 2002 at SPH, Grand prize and best editorial cartoon at the World Cartoon Competition in Taiwan, Other awards received included competitions in Egypt, Korea, Mexico, France, Japan, Holland and Romania.
