PUBLISHED ONMay 24, 2026 11:38 PMBYWong Dao EnA coffee shop in Queenstown was reportedly hit with three blackouts in five days, two of which occurred on the same day on Tuesday (May 19).
This took place at 777 Coffeeshop at Block 55 Lengkok Bahru near Redhill MRT station, reported 8world on May 21.
The owner of the coffee shop, Daniel Tan, appealed for assistance in a Facebook video on Tuesday.
"The electrical [sic] keeps jumping," Tan said.
"None of us can do anything now... Our tenants are very angry, nobody can sell, all the food is wasted, please help."
He also added that the residents were also upset over the situation.
The coffee shop also looked dark and empty in the video, with tenants seated on the chairs of the tables as it appeared that they were unable to do anything.
Speaking to 8world, Tan said that the blackout happened at about 10am on Tuesday, and had immediately contacted multiple organisations over the matter. However, Tan claims that help only came at about three to four hours later.
This comes after another blackout which had occurred last Sunday, he alleged.
After the power was restored, Tan said that the electricity went out again less than an hour in, and assistance only arrived at about 7pm that evening.
"The electrical boxes at the coffee shop are all locked up, and I do not have the key. During the blackout, there was nothing I can do aside from wait for the relevant authorities to arrive," he explained.
"With the two blackouts, the tenants were out of business for about eight hours."
According to 8world, the coffee shop operates 24 hours and includes eight stalls. When the power went out on Tuesday, six stalls were open.
Chen (transliterated), who runs the mixed rice stall, told 8world that the electricity was so unstable that it felt like customers were "striking lottery" whenever they came here to dine.
Chen was also in a bad mood that day, indicating he had lost about 70 per cent in revenue that day.
"The staff are just sitting around with nothing to do, and with the lack of electricity, the food in the fridge were all spoilt, and we had to throw it away," he said.
"If this keeps happening, we might have to close down soon."
@asiaone The owner of 777 Coffeeshop had successfully applied for an increase in electrical load capacity in January, when the coffee shop began operations. However, the upgrading works have been ongoing for four months. #sgnews #singapore #sgfood #foodcourt #energy #electricity ♬ original sound - AsiaOne
Speaking to AsiaOne, Tan, said that he signed a three-year lease to take over the coffee shop in January, where they started renovation works in March and opened in April.
In documents seen by AsiaOne, the 46-year-old had applied for an increase in electrical load capacity in January, and claimed that his application had already been approved on the 28th of that month.
However, he alleged that the upgrading works had been going on for four months now.
"We were told that it should have been finished on May 13," Tan told 8world. "But when they had finished installing it, they told us that they had to install another item."
As of the time of writing, Tan claimed that the upgrading work has still not been completed.
As a result of the electricity issues, Tan said that he had not been collecting electrical and rental fees from the tenants since April.
"I can't take it anymore," he told 8world. "Firstly, you do not give me electricity. Secondly, you lock up the electrical boxes, so when a blackout happens, there is nothing I can do, and all I can do is wait for someone to come down."
Tan also told AsiaOne that he is on track to lose about $100,000 in income, rental, and equipment fees due to the constant electricity issues.
He said that since Tuesday's incident, he has decided to switch off the exhaust and about half of the equipment at the coffee shop in order to prevent the coffee shop's electricity from overloading.
Some of these equipment included such as heating equipment, induction cookers, and the lights.
Although this helped to stop the blackouts, he said that "everyone is complaining of heat stroke".
Tan also added that a tenant had temporarily closed as a result, and that another tenant has agreed not to open yet in order to save electricity.
Tan told AsiaOne that he has informed the relevant authorities including Tanjong Pagar Town Council (TPTC), and the Essential Maintenance Service Unit (ESMU) about this incident.
In response to inquiries by AsiaOne, TPTC said that the EMSU was informed about a blackout at 10.44am on May 19, and had immediately activated a term contractor down to attend the matter on site.
Investigations found that the power trip was caused by renovation works at the coffee shop which had overloaded the power capacity.
This resulted in a power trip at both the town council's switch room and the coffee shop's molded case circuit breaker (MCCB), in which a contractor had helped to assist with resetting the coffee shop's MCCB.
As the coffee shop falls under the Housing and Development Board's (HDB) commercial purview, HDB said that they will be following up with the owner on the matter, while the town council will continue to assist, TPTC added.
In social media posts posted on Thursday, Queenstown SMC Member Eric Chua had since visited the coffee shop, in which he indicated that he had spoken to the staff and Tan about the issue.
"Will be following up with HDB colleagues, and at the same time, rally our town council team to continue to lend support," he wrote in the caption.
Tan confirmed to AsiaOne that Chua had taken a visit to the coffee shop late at night, to which he said that he was "very touched".
"I hope he can solve it for us," Tan said. "He appeared to understand that my point wasn't malicious intent by authority but the endless bureaucracy."
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daoen.wong@asiaone.com
