Café colonialism

New Starbucks in SS15

I went to Taylors College today and passed by the cornershop where Mee Yoke used to be. Mee Yoke's gone and replaced by another coffeeshop of another kind. A Starbucks. Many people would rejoice for having new place to hang out and to have coffee. Soon, they will forget about Mee Yoke, its food, and its Kopi O. Many didn't notice Mee Yoke serves good kopi early in the morning when the uncle is free to prepare them individually, the traditional way, using Hainan roasted coffee.
Many would disagree with me and suggest that they are no match to a Starbuck's or a Coffee Bean's. Among them, many would not even know how to taste coffee. Moreover, some don't even know how coffee taste like. "Coffee tastes like chocolate!" some say. Normally, they would order their favourite frapuccino's and ice-blended, which are relatively with less coffee in them. Some even avoid coffee and order substitues like Chocolate Frapuccino or Fruitty Frapuccino and gulp them down like 7-11 slurpees. Why would they willing to part with so much money for something they personally don't like much? Probably to look cool and a class above other because sitting in an air-conditioned café like these are normally associate them to a more affluent and higher social standing.
I am not trying to say that all who frequented Starbucks are status chasers. I am a coffee lover myself and i love Starbucks frapuccinos. I can't say that i really know how to taste coffee and tell them apart between Colombian or Sumatra roasts like a baristas. Coffee's or Kopi's drinking is not a new culture and it should be preserved, be it traditional Hainan style or steamed espresso. So next time when u visit a coffeeshop, try ordering a kopi instead of barley ice or leong sui for a change. Kopi, not Nescafe if u have mistaken.