Candy Shop Near Me in Chinatown: Hock Lam's White Rabbit and Old-School Sweets

Hock Lam (1998) trades from #01-10 Fook Hai Building, 150 South Bridge Road, on the edge of Chinatown, and it is the place to buy White Rabbit creamy candy by the flavour. A 39g pack of the original costs S$2.20 on its online shop. This is a confectionery importer's shopfront rather than a boutique, and for old-school sweets it is the candy shop near me I trust most in central Singapore.

Hock Lam's own website says the business was established in the 1940s and grew into one of the major importers and exporters of confectionery to Southeast Asia. The current company, Hock Lam (1998) Pte Ltd, carries the year of a later incorporation in its name. Its sister company, Teck Huat (KL), trades from Petaling Street in Kuala Lumpur's Chinatown, a reminder of how closely the two cities' sweet trades were linked.

One point causes regular confusion. TheSmartLocal noted in 2024 that the shop has nothing to do with Hock Lam Beef, the noodle stall with a similar name. If you search for directions, add Fook Hai Building to the name, or you may end up in a queue for beef kway teow instead of a bag of milk candy.

White Rabbit is the reason most people come. Alongside the original, the online shop lists 39g packs of coffee, red bean, mango, banana, coconut and even mustard flavour White Rabbit, each at S$2.20. Newer flavours such as matcha and tiramisu are S$4.90 a pack, and a 12-flavour assortment was listed at S$25, down from S$30, in October 2026. A five-flavour handy bag costs S$10.90.

My honest advice is to skip the matcha and tiramisu packs on a first visit. At more than double the price of the classic flavours, they are novelties, and the red bean and coffee versions are the ones older Singaporeans remember from childhood. Buy three or four of the S$2.20 packs and do your own tasting at home instead of committing to the full assortment box.

The shelves go well beyond White Rabbit. Hock Lam stocks the haw products that fill many Singaporean childhood memories: Beijing haw slices, the thin pink discs often called haw flakes, and Spring Hawthorn Balls, listed at S$2 on sale from S$2.90. A 250g bag of Chun Guang classic coconut candy, from Hainan, is S$3. Peanut cake and biscuits, preserved fruits and chocolates complete the range.

This mix is what makes the shop different from a modern candy store. Many of these products come in plain packaging that has barely changed in decades, which is part of the appeal for visitors buying nostalgia rather than novelty. If you have grandparents in Singapore, ask them which brand of haw flakes they ate as children and buy that one.

The online shop also lists a surprising amount of White Rabbit merchandise, which makes Hock Lam useful for gifts beyond the candy itself. An enamel mug is S$14, an automatic umbrella printed with the rabbit is S$28, and a 258g glass jar of creamy candy is S$4.50. The jar is the best-looking present for the money, and it keeps the sweets dry in Singapore's humidity.

A tip for first-timers: the thin translucent layer inside the White Rabbit wrapper is edible rice paper, so there is no need to peel it off. It melts on the tongue as you chew. Store opened packs in a sealed container, because creamy candy softens and sticks together quickly in a warm kitchen or a car parked in the sun.

Because Hock Lam is a wholesaler's shopfront, it keeps business hours. TheSmartLocal listed it as open Monday to Friday from 9am to 5pm and closed at weekends, and the company's website does not publish shop hours.

If you arrive on a Saturday, there is a backup. The White Rabbit Concept Store, a pop-up run by the brand's Southeast Asian distributor on Level 1 of Plaza Singapura, opens daily from 10am to 10pm until 24 November 2026, according to TheSmartLocal. It is a short MRT ride from Chinatown to Dhoby Ghaut, and it sells White Rabbit in a playful, gift-ready format.

The customers are a mix of wholesale and retail. Office workers from the nearby business district can drop in at lunch for a few packs, trade buyers come for the importer's range, and tourists who have read about White Rabbit come looking for the full flavour range. The unspoken rule is to have your list ready, because this is a working business and the counter is small.

Chinatown MRT on the North East and Downtown lines is a few minutes' walk away, as is Clarke Quay station. South Bridge Road leads past the Sri Mariamman Temple, Singapore's oldest Hindu temple, and on to the Buddha Tooth Relic Temple. Chinatown Complex and its hawker centre, and the shophouse lanes of Pagoda and Temple Streets, are close enough to turn a sweet shop visit into an afternoon walk.

A good order for the walk is to buy your sweets last. Visit the temples and the hawker centre first, then finish at Fook Hai Building before the shop closes in the late afternoon, so the candy spends as little time as possible in a warm bag. Keep the receipt handy too, because packs of the same flavour look almost identical and it helps when you share them out at home.

Hock Lam (1998) Pte Ltd, 150 South Bridge Road, #01-10 Fook Hai Building, Singapore 058727. TheSmartLocal listed opening hours of Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm, closed on Saturday and Sunday. Nearest stations: Chinatown MRT and Clarke Quay MRT. Prices quoted are online prices from hocklam.com.sg in October 2026.