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A social enterprise restaurant in Hong Kong has renewed its call for a local partner to continue its mission of supporting people with disabilities, with its founder considering diluting his stake in the Singapore-based business as a last resort to raise funds. Dignity Kitchen founder Koh Seng Choon, who underwent heart surgery in March and could no longer fly frequently to manage the business, received more than 30 inquiries after he made an open plea on social media in June for a local partner. Koh asked for a kind-hearted and experienced person who was willing to commit HK$2 million (US$257,264) in the first year to run the hawker-style restaurant in Mong Kok that has provided paid training and placed more than 200 people with disabilities in jobs since 2019. However, none of the interested parties – NGOs, charities, businesses and consultants – were suited for the role. He explained that some were more interested in expanding their own catering businesses rather than running a training and placement centre while others, especially non-governmental organisations facing government budget cuts, lacked sufficient funds. At one point, Koh considered shutting down the restaurant but he changed his mind shortly after he flew to Hong Kong and saw the employees hard at work. “If I close it down, I can go home, I can rest, but I just can’t let it go,” he said. “It’s 78 people’s lives and families.” Koh said that if he was unable to find a local partner by the first quarter of next year, he would “dilute” his shares in Singapore to raise SG$4 million (US$3.06 million) to support the branch, though that meant he would continue to be heavily involved in the Hong Kong business for the foreseeable future. Share dilution happens when a company issues new shares, which reduces the ownership percentage of existing shareholders. After raising the cash, Koh plans to restart the training centre, which closed earlier this year due to deep losses, and obtain accreditation from the Employees Retraining Board so it can secure government funding. Dignity Kitchen currently employs 78 staff, 80 per cent of whom are disabled. The restaurant prepares food not only for customers but also for the needy, who receive free meals every day. It also operates five second-hand bookstores under the brand Dignity Mama, providing jobs for people with special needs and their mothers. Battered by the Covid-19 pandemic, migration waves, and the post-Covid trend of Hongkongers spending across the border, Dignity Kitchen’s losses have deepened to more than HK$25 million. The Singapore headquarters has been supporting the branch, and Koh has taken out bank loans. “Now, without that [training centre], I don’t lose a lot of money and I can survive, but not in this state,” he said. “It’s time for Hong Kong people to step up. It’s time for Hongkongers to help Hong Kong.” Marco Ip, a 28-year-old with epilepsy, has worked in the kitchen for four years and learned to make laksa and Hainan chicken rice. Ip was introduced to the job by a friend who trained there and was successfully placed in a new role. “I enjoy working here because I get along well with my coworkers and I learned new skills as I help in different roles,” said Ip, who struggled with managing relationships with coworkers in his previous job. Evina Chong has worked alongside her 24-year-old daughter, who has severe developmental delay, at the Dignity Mama outlet in the restaurant for two years. Chong said her daughter was very scared of meeting people and would respond by hitting out with her fists to protect herself because she had been bullied at school. In the first few months, Chong had to take her daughter outside to distract her whenever she got nervous, but the young woman slowly learned to manage social situations, such as handling rejections from customers when selling handicrafts. “We could hardly get a job elsewhere, and I’m glad to be working with my daughter, to accompany her along the way,” the 59-year-old mother said. “She’s now way more confident and able to interact with strangers. This is big progress for her.”
