The story
Founded in 1947 — the same year as India's independence — by Murugaiah Rajoo, who arrived from Tamil Nadu and saw demand for vegetarian food among Singapore's growing South Indian labour force. The name combines 'Komala' (the founder's daughter) and 'Vilas' (Tamil for 'house'). In 2015, then-PM Lee Hsien Loong brought Indian PM Narendra Modi here for breakfast — a calculated diplomatic choice that put a 1940s tiffin shop on global front pages.