I came up with a theory on kopitiams and cafés yesterday. You know how kopitiams are always so hot, uncomfortable and dirty? That's because they have cheap food, and hence many people visit them. (It's like how toilets are, the more used the toilet is, the dirtier it is.) And it's uncomfortable for a good reason as well - if the place is too comfortable, the kopitiam would never be able to accommodate the masses that are coming in.

So I'm wondering if it's a cause and effect thing, like is it uncomfortable because of the many people that are coming in and dirtying the place, or is it because they want to control the people that are coming in and therefore they make the place comfortable on purpose. I mean, you rarely see beanbags and chandeliers in a kopitiam.

Cafés, on the other hand, have expensive food. You would baulk at the prices they charge for a simple breakfast you could make for yourself at home. But the place is so comfortable that you would stay there for a prolonged period of time, and if you stay there and take up the seats, another customer cannot take up that space. So when you eat at a café, you effectively are paying for another customer who would have been there if the price was lower, e,g, kopitiam price. Imagine Starbucks with $0.60 coffee and their comfortable sofas...

So if you ever go to a café and eat, please don't leave immediately after that, just take things easy and soak in the comfortable environment you're paying for. :)