Las Vegas Review-Journal (Sunday)

Hong Kong eatery offers helping hand

Restaurant gives disabled people jobs, self-respect

- By Zen Soo and Alice Fung

HONG KONG — Smack in the middle of Hong Kong’s bustling Mong Kok neighborho­od, Dignity Kitchen offers an array of mouthwater­ing Singaporea­n fare — from piping-hot laksa (noodles in a spicy coconut milk broth) to fragrant slices of chiffon cake flavored with the essence of pandan leaves.

But what sets Dignity Kitchen apart from other restaurant­s in the city is that it is a social enterprise, almost entirely staffed by employees with physical or mental disabiliti­es. The restaurant trains disabled employees to prep food and cook, as well as serve customers.

“It’s important to help the disabled or the disadvanta­ged people, because they are at society’s bottom of the pyramid,” said the restaurant’s founder, Koh Seng Choon, a sprightly 61-yearold Singaporea­n entreprene­ur who launched the restaurant in January.

“They are the people who need help,” he said. “If we can get them a job, they will be out of the poverty cycle.”

Ultimately, Dignity Kitchen aims to place its employees in other jobs in the food and beverage sector so it can then welcome and train new groups of disabled people.

Koh first came up with the concept in his hometown of Singapore, but he later decided to do the same in Hong Kong after the city’s government invited him to open a branch.

The kitchen is expansive, modeled after a food court in Singapore. The drink stall is operated by a deaf employee, and printed diagrams at

the stall encourage customers to learn simple sign language when it comes to drink requests, or even to sign “thank you.”

At the clay-pot rice stall, an employee with autism — who, according to Koh could barely communicat­e with strangers before his training, enthusiast­ically introduces the dish to customers who ask about it.

“We used to prepare a script for him,” said Koh, smiling proudly. “But now, 8 months, 9 months later, he can’t stop talking.”

The training they get at Dignity Kitchen not only equips his disabled workers with useful skills but also aids

them in getting the self-respect and dignity that they may have lacked, Koh said.

Ming Chung, who has visual disabiliti­es, found employment at Dignity Kitchen as an administra­tive assistant. Using voice-to-text technology, Chung coordinate­s with other organizati­ons and handles email as well as phone inquiries.

“(Koh) told me that he doesn’t care about our disabiliti­es; he only focuses on our abilities,” Chung said. “This really inspired me and touched my heart.”

Others, like Carol Wong, who is mildly intellectu­ally disabled, has

picked up knife skills at the restaurant that could eventually be transferab­le to food preparatio­n roles in the industry.

“At first I was afraid, but since I started working in this restaurant, I’ve become unafraid of chopping food,” she said.

The kitchen has drawn customers in with its social mission and offers them the option of buying meals for the less unfortunat­e in the city.

“I think this is very meaningful, so we’ve come to try,” said Lisa Gu, a customer who visited Dignity Kitchen for a bowl of laksa. “The food is also delicious.”

 ?? Vincent Yu The Associated Press ?? Koh Seng Choon, right, executive director of Dignity Kitchen, talks to volunteers at Dignity Kitchen in Hong Kong last month.
Vincent Yu The Associated Press Koh Seng Choon, right, executive director of Dignity Kitchen, talks to volunteers at Dignity Kitchen in Hong Kong last month.

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