HO HO BISCUIT AND GENERAL STORE REOPENS ITS DOORS AFTER 60 YEARS: Iconic Singapore Brand Reimagined For A New Generation

PRESS RELEASE

SINGAPORE – May 1, 2025 – A forgotten piece of Singapore’s heritage is making a triumphant return as Ho Ho Biscuit and General Store launches a heritage activation at HarbourFront Centre, reviving a 127-year-old legacy that once defined the nation’s industrial landscape. The reimagined Ho Ho combines traditional biscuit recipes with contemporary retail innovation, transforming the first machine-made biscuit production factory founded by Chew Boon Lay in 1898 into a modern cultural touchstone.

“Ho Ho was never just about biscuits—it was about community, innovation, and the spirit that built Singapore,” says artist Wong Lip Chin, whose deep archival research and creative vision drove the brand’s resurrection. “This isn’t simply a nostalgic exercise. We’re asking what Ho Ho would mean in today’s Singapore while honouring the ethos held by the brand’s generations of owners.”

A Brand Built on History

The flagship store’s architecture will pay homage to Singapore’s industrial roots, featuring exposed concrete softened by brick elements—a nod to Chew’s lesser-known brick-making factory on Tekong Island. The inspired interior design creates a unique retail environment that also catalyzes cultural connection. Beyond retail, the flagship location features a one-of-a-kind R&D kitchen where customers can taste innovative pastries and confections from invited chefs around the world. Whether it’s conversing over biscuits and tea, or selecting a box of biscuits for a gift, Ho Ho continues to bring people together.

Customers will discover Ho Ho’s iconic rich tea biscuits, including the beloved Marie, Bagua, and Longevity varieties, updated with premium ingredients while maintaining their distinctive character and brand heritage. Expanding beyond biscuits, the new Ho Ho Biscuit and General Store includes exquisitely-packaged confectioneries and artisan homeware, reflecting a lifestyle of simplicity and sophistication.

Continuing a Legacy of Community Engagement

True to its heritage, the revitalised Ho Ho is committed to carrying on the torch of the brand’s community-building tradition. “When we discovered that Ho Ho once sponsored sports tournaments that brought international communities together and educational scholarships that groomed the next generation of trade professions, we knew this brand had always been about more than biscuits and profit,” explains Wong. “We’re reviving that spirit of connection while creating something meaningful for contemporary Singapore.”

At HarbourFront Centre from 1–25 May 2025, there will be a month-long archival showcase, where visitors can explore Ho Ho’s contributions to Singapore’s industrial and cultural development through photographs, artefacts, and interactive exhibits. The first 500 visitors on weekends will receive an exclusive keychain designed to resemble Ho Ho’s reimagined tea biscuit, individually wrapped, bearing a redesigned logo that honors both tradition and innovation. This collectable item offers a playful teaser of the brand’s refreshed visual identity and experiential marketing while paying homage to Ho Ho’s most beloved traditional offerings and philosophy.

About HO HO Biscuit and General Store

Through material culture and digital artefacts, artist Wong Lip Chin expands his exploration of contemporarising Southeast and East Asian histories to reimagine Ho Ho Biscuit Factory for the modern day. Once a beloved household name, the brand had a rich history since its humble beginnings in 1898 as the first machine-made biscuit producer in Singapore, founded by Mr. Chew Boon Lay.

This “press release” complements the physical experience at HarbourFront Centre Level 1 Atrium, and is Wong’s attempt to blur the lines between fact and fiction to imagine the revival of an ordinary biscuit store’s promise of an enduring legacy. How do we materialise such intangible vernacular history and cultural heritage at the intersection of contemporary art, visual narrative and cultural memory?

HO HO Biscuit and General Store is Wong’s response to Speaking of which – A pop-up activation by The Everyday Museum. It seeks to present an alternative look into the lesser-known or often-overlooked social practices and oral traditions, reflecting on art’s longstanding role in examining and shaping everyday life.

*All visual renderings are courtesy of the artist and are fictional interpretations. These images are not to be reproduced.

About Wong Lip Chin

Wong Lip Chin is an interdisciplinary artist and the creative director of CHITO, a research lab that revives the cultural history and material culture of Southeast Asia and East Asia. His painting, installation and performance create inventive and immersive experiences that renew histories of the Sinosphere, with playful appearances by his signature characters, Lilou and Oomoo. His recent works include interactive art installations that breathed new life into a 14th century apothecary (The Island at the End, Singapore Night Festival) and a winding stream party (The Gathering, National Arts Council Public Art Trust), as well as a series of paintings (Mother Flippin’ Heavens, Yeo Workshop) that married pop art and classical Chinese ink painting.