LEPAK is a Malaysian slang term meaning to hang out, chill, loiter or relax, typically used to describe spending time idly with friends without a specific agenda.
Often entailing the act of chatting or wasting time in cafes, mamak stalls or public areas, this embodies a laid-back, leisurely lifestyle.
This lepak culture has now evolved into unofficial “study groups” that take place in air-conditioned cafes with WiFi, clean washrooms and a host of other amenities.
This was the social media observation among some netizens posting on X of students who seemed to have turned Zus Coffee outlets their de facto hangout of choice.
Posting on X, @backuo99 shared a Threads post by one Belly aziz (dato.bellyaziz) which depicted an image of students hanging out at an unnamed Zus Coffeee outlet while occupying tables with the usual student paraphernalia but without the requisite food or drink order from the outlet.
— ًِ (@bckupacc99) April 19, 2026
Editor’s Note: In the original Threads post by dato.bellyaziz bearing the one-liner “I have just arrived, Order a drink. What do you guys see?”, there were a few commenters who associated such behaviour to the customers’ race.
Anyway, back to the re-posted Threads post by @backuo99, it was noted that despite enjoying the facilities by turning the Zus Coffee outlet into a student library, these students did not have the decency to at the very least order a beverage to justify them occupying the valuable seating space.
One commenter shared that he, too, used Zus Coffee outlet as a base for WFH (work from home) gigs. But he stressed that he would only occupy a single seat and would order a drink to support Zus Coffee’s business.
This was when employee in the F&B (food and beverage) industry explained that staff are apprehensive about asking these non-paying students to vacate the tables for fear of negative reviews on social media.
However, one laissez faire commenter was of the opinion that these cafes were set up to peddle a chilled and relaxing environment, then “whatever you do with it is up to you”.
This student takeover of Zus Coffee outlets was also shared on another post on X by Ikhwan (@JatIkhwan) who noted how a group of four Chinese students had joined tables at the Caltex outlet of Zus Coffee in Jalan Gambang near Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP) to do group assignments.
Ni apa aku nampak kat Zus Caltex Jalan Gambang di area UMP semalam. A group of 4 chinese students ambik 4 meja bulat Zus dan gabung dorang guna buat assignments. Funny is- atas meja ada 1 je cup air zus dan itu pun dah habis. Another group pun sama- siap penuh meja dengan gadjets https://t.co/pKLSBJvd1V
— Ikhwan (@JatIkhwan) April 20, 2026
“Funny thing is on the table there’s just one cup of Zus water and that’s already finished,” observed the self-proclaimed legal advisor. “It was the same with another group – they even filled their table with gadgets.”
However, there were a number of commenters here who felt that the poster should give these students some leeway. “Don’t you remember when you were a student yourself (when the trend was to conquer tables at Mekdi a.k.a. McDonald’s)?” asked some netizens, recalling their own varsity days.
Echoing this sentiment, some commenters asked what was the big deal. They were using it a study space, not a dating site or place to be touchy-feely with the opposite sex. “Cut them some slack” seems to be the predominant message here.
On the one hand, it can be frustrating that valuable table and seats are occupied by non-paying customers. On the other, having plenty of students in a shop does lend it a lively atmosphere, promoting footfall and preventing the shop looking empty and soulless.
At the end of the day, it is up to Zus Coffee if they wish to impose rules on this matter or they want to leverage on the students’ fond memories of spending many hours at their outlets.
Or if the management wishes to rid ‘freeloaders’, once tech-savvy commenter suggested that Zus Coffee can resort to using “WiFi that randomly generates a password on the food receipt (and has an expiration date)”.
“Or hire some developers to make a custom POS Integration … This will serve right that race which uses the space to study without making any order.” – April 21, 2026
