Learning Journey to Joan Bowen Café – a Place where we DARE to CARE

Learning Journey to Joan Bowen Café – a Place where we DARE to CARE

We walked to the direction of SAS swimming pool and to our surprise, there was a European-look restaurant hidden there, Joan Bowen Café. From the outside, it looks like any other normal restaurant, but when we get to know the truth beyond its establishment, we were stunned, touched, and deeply inspired.

Here is the truth.

Joan (a girl on the left of the picrure) is a daughter with special needs of Mr. Khong Yoon Kay and Mrs. Jeanne Seah, the founders of Joan Bowen Café. The fact that their daughter cannot live a normal life and the fear for her future became an inspiration for them to care for the needy, make a difference guided by faith, and build this cafe.

All chidren who serve in Joan Bowen Café (including Joan) are needy children who have gone through series of skills training by proffesional chefs and personal trainers. At a glance, you would not realise that they are needy because they look and act just like us, but a little more soft-spoken.

Click here to know the background stories of each staff: http://www.joanbowen.com/staff.html

As if served by the needy was not surprising enough, the food they serve were amazing. They were prestigious restaurant standard, served beautifully, and tasted wonderful. We could not believe that they are made by the needy children. They actually have better cooking skills than most of us.

Below are some of the pictures of the menu which look exactly like how they serve it.

To see more menu, click this link : http://www.joanbowen.com/menu_starters.html

After this learning journey, I was deeply impressed by Joan Bowen Café and promised to myself that I will help the café and respect the needy even more. Sometimes, we looked at the needy with a closed eye, thinking that they deserve to be left out because they cannot perform things as well as us. However, we often overlook the potential within them that they are still human being with capacity who can shine if they are given a chance to.

Joan Bowen Café teaches me that to make a difference, everything must start from passion because there will be manifold of problems along the way and without genuine passion for the cause, we will be crumpled down. But persistence brings hope.

Before we left the café, I approached Mrs. J and told her, “ Your daughter is the luckiest daughter ever.” 
I meant it.


-Efrata