海南雞飯
The first Hainanese settler was recorded as Lim Chong Jin, who arrived in Singapore in 1841. By 1881, the Hainanese had constituted about 10% of the local Chinese population numbering 8,319. The Hainanese worked mainly in service-related industries and operated provision shops, ship-chandling and remittance services, hotels and coffee shops. It was in the "food" business that would bring them most regional fame. Ngiam Tong Boon, a Hainanese bartender working at Raffles Hotel concocted a gin tonic called "The Singapore Sling" in 1915. At Nos. 51—53 Middle Road (now demolished), Wong Yi Guan adapted a rice dish served with chicken, which made famous by his apprentice Mok Fu Swee through his restaurant, "Swee Kee Chicken Rice". Later, this dish would be "re-exported" elsewhere in the region as Hainanese chicken rice. It is generally acknowledged that the Hainanese brewed the best coffee in "kopitiams" (coffeeshops) of Southeast Asia. Some turned into successful franchise business such as "Ya Kun Kaya Toast" founded by another Hainanese, Loi Ah Koon in 1944.