Viral Gen Z school canteen vendor who closed stall sells matcha from HDB bedroom window

We first discovered 27-year-old Rayner Tan several months ago on TikTok, where clips of him toasting prata and plating vegetarian meals at Hearty Green, a vegetarian canteen stall in Mee Toh School in Punggol, caught our eye. Before long, we dove down a rabbit hole of comforting videos showing different parts of his life.

One moment, he’s cycling to school before dawn; the next, he’s chatting with students who recognise him from social media. And in another, he’s highlighting his home-based business hustle after wrapping up a day at the canteen.

More recently, a now-deleted clip of him "educating" primary school kids (their faces are always blurred for privacy) on basic manners became viral online. On the final day (Nov 18) of school before the holidays, Tan revealed that he would not be renewing his contract with the school. 

Seeing a Gen Z vendor behind the canteen counter is rare and refreshing. 

“It was my first time working in a school canteen,” he told 8days.sg. “I started in August this year.”

Before Tan started cooking for kids, the NUS engineering science degree holder was an engineer. He worked for a year in a semiconductor firm, earning a stable income, before he decided to leave. “I wanted to do volunteer work in Sapporo, Japan for a year,” he said.

That year abroad was part of a mission trip, where he helped with his church’s activities and took part in cultural exchange programmes. He introduced dishes like chicken rice and laksa, cooked from scratch and discovered how food could bring people together.

“I was always the one who volunteered to cook,” he recalled with a grin. “And two of my teammates were primary school teachers. They told me about school canteens back home and that got me thinking.”

When he returned to Singapore in July this year, he began searching online for canteen stall openings. One posting from Mee Toh School caught his eye. 

“The rent was low and it was near my home. The only stalls available were halal noodles or vegetarian food. I’m not vegetarian, but I thought it’d be a good challenge,” he shared.

When he was still a canteen stall operator, Tan woke up around 5.10am, cycled to school and started prepping meals for the kids by 6.10am. His stall ran till 3pm, and most of that time was spent cooking, washing dishes and keeping up with a steady line of students and staff. 

“The rent was only S$15 a month, which sounds great,” he said. “But the margins were very small. Prices are fixed: S$2 or S$2.50 for bigger portions.”

Earlier this month, one of his TikTok videos showed a student tossing money at him. Tan gently chided the child, whose face was censored, to pass the money back to him properly. The clip, which boasted over two million views, had many netizens praising him for the way he corrected the student and used the moment to teach basic manners.

But virality came with its own problems. Soon after, a complaint was made to the school, and Rayner Tan was told that his video had to be removed.

He had explained in a now-deleted TikTok video that the school informed him that a parent made a complaint about the viral video, although he does not know who the parent was or if there were other complaints.

Tan told 8days.sg that he has received lots of support from netizens. “I am slightly overwhelmed, but I hope that it won't affect my personal life,” he said.

So why did he stop running his canteen stall?

“I wasn’t asked to leave [the school canteen stall],” Tan told 8days.sg. “Yes, the complaint played a small part in my decision to go but the main reason was really because the financials were painful.”

According to the Gen Z entrepreneur, he earned between S$4,000 and S$6,000 a month as an engineer. Presently, his most recent combined income from the canteen stall business and his home-based cafe Corner Pane hovers around S$1,000 to S$3,000. 

He no longer gives his parents a regular allowance, though they understand his situation. He says they are supportive of his career choices.

Now, Tan is turning his energy to Corner Pane, his tiny home-based cafe selling drinks like iced matcha latte and coffee, from his bedroom window in Punggol. Yes, a bedroom window within a four-room flat he shares with his parents.

He lives on the ground floor of a canary-yellow HDB block, where he has turned part of his room into a modest cafe setup. There’s a fridge, a counter and a small window that opens out to a patch of grass, where he has laid down a few floor tiles to form a makeshift walkway.

Outside, handmade posters and a menu board give the place a charmingly DIY look. 

“I got restless,” he said. 

He first set up this home-based venture during the September school holidays. “

So I thought, why not start something small at home?” He chose to sell matcha and coffee as he had learnt to make those drinks while doing volunteer work in Japan.

Here, customers can place their orders through the window and wait while he brews and pours. There is no dining in, but customers can pre-order their drinks online.

Tan runs the place on alternate days for now, usually from 3pm to 8pm. Most of his customers are neighbours, or people who found him on social media.

The setup, which includes a WPM espresso machine, cost him around S$4,000. On the menu are iced coffee and matcha, along with small bites like speculoos banana & strawberry matcha chia pudding and wonton nachos.

Tan told 8days.sg that his ceremonial-grade matcha comes from Uji, Japan, and Jeju Island, South Korea.

Now that he has just wrapped up his canteen stint, he will take a short vacation before coming back to focus on Corner Pane. He has also started looking for a small space to open a “cafe-style stall” where he can bring both food and drinks together.

Rayner Tan remains tight-lipped about where the new outlet is going to be but hints at securing a space as early as mid-December if things go as planned.

Why not go back to his former job, which paid a stable salary? “I am not ruling out a career back in engineering,” Tan clarified. “But since I am still in this F&B space, I wanted to do it a little longer.”

MATCHA LATTE, S$5

Smooth and full-bodied, this matcha has a pleasant bitterness with that distinct vegetal note you get from good quality tea. It’s not too milky, so the earthiness shines through.

STRAWBERRY MATCHA LATTE, S$6

This layered drink with house-made strawberry puree is one of Tan’s most popular offerings. The fruit adds a gentle sweetness that rounds off the matcha’s bitterness nicely.

ICED LATTE, S$4

Brewed with a blend of arabica and robusta beans, though with the mild tang and floral aroma, we suspect there’s more of the former here. Quite pleasant.

SPECULOOS BANANA CHIA PUDDING, S$4.50

Breakfast dressed as dessert. This cup of banana, strawberry, and matcha chia pudding is creamy, but a little lumpy. The crushed Speculoos on top adds crunch and sweetness.

WONTON NACHOS, S$4

Fried wonton skins topped with bright house-made salsa and garlic aioli. The skins used to get soggy when he poured the dips on top, which happened when we tried it, so he’s since moved them to the side. Otherwise, it’s a simple, snacky combo that works best when eaten right away.

Corner Pane is at the ground floor of Blk 645 Punggol Central, Singapore 820645. Open Mon, Wed & Fri 5pm to 8pm.

This story was originally published in 8Days.

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