{"id":13440,"date":"2018-12-04T14:07:46","date_gmt":"2018-12-04T06:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=13440"},"modified":"2021-10-15T16:50:45","modified_gmt":"2021-10-15T08:50:45","slug":"canteen-conundrum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2018\/12\/canteen-conundrum\/","title":{"rendered":"Canteen Conundrum"},"content":{"rendered":"

It is illegal for factory canteens to serve outsiders but factory workers<\/strong>
\nare few and far between<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Ada Chung & Edith Chung<\/strong><\/p>\n

F<\/span>actory canteen owner Cheng Chih-hsien, better known as Captain Cheng, is full of sympathy for some of those who eat in his establishment.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel sorry for our customers as they have to lie before they can come in,\u201d he says.
\nMany restaurants operate in industrial buildings due to exorbitant rents across the city. Captain Cheng, who sells Taiwanese food in Lai Chi Kok, is one of the many but it is in fact illegal for these \u201cfactory canteens\u201d to serve people who are not factory employees inside these buildings.<\/p>\n

As of 2018, there are 478 factory canteens, according to the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) website<\/a>. They are scattered around 15 districts in Hong Kong and, of those, Kwun Tong has the most with about 143 eateries<\/a> in the district\u2019s industrial buildings.<\/p>\n

Restaurants in industrial buildings operate with a factory canteen license issued by the FEHD. Holders of such licenses are only allowed to serve factory employees.<\/p>\n

Cheng says the regulation is totally impractical. \u201cWe have no right to check the employees\u2019 identities. We do not have such a right.\u201d He adds that there is no clear-cut definition of factory employees. \u201cWhat is the definition of factory workers? If a delivery man sends goods to the factory, can the worker be regarded as an employee and go into the factory canteen?\u201d Cheng asks. \u201cSuch rule is just meaningless.\u201d<\/p>\n

Though he finds the regulations unreasonable, Cheng still tries to comply strictly with the rules by asking every customer if he or she is a factory employee of the building. \u201cIf they say they are not, we will just ask them to leave,\u201d he says. Customers are turned away and his business is impaired. \u201cSome customers think we do it on purpose,\u201d Cheng says. \u201cHowever, in fact, we have no option.\u201d<\/p>\n

Despite trying his best to follow the regulations, Cheng has still been charged by the FEHD for serving members of the public. He maintains the FEHD inspections are unreasonable.
\n\u201cOnce, an [undercover] inspector from the FEHD came to our canteen. We did ask if he was a factory employee,\u201d Cheng recalls. \u201cHe did not respond to any of our questions. He just sat down and started ordering food. After that, he charged us with serving public customers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cheng says the officer insisted that he did not understand what the canteen workers said as he claimed that they spoke to him in Mandarin.<\/p>\n

\"\"
After serving generations of Hong Kong workers, factory canteens like Cheng\u2019s are not allowed to serve members of public like normal restaurants.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cThey intend to catch you. Once they are determined to catch you, they will neglect all other things,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

The Lands Department, in response to Varsity<\/em>\u2019s queries, says: \u201cIn general, the land leases of most industrial lots restrict the use of factory units to industrial\/godown only.\u201d
\nThose running canteens are in fact operating on \u201cwaivers\u201d which are granted by the Lands Department and District Lands Office on the understanding that only industrial workers will be served.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the FEHD says it will \u201cdiscuss with relevant government departments, and have a comprehensive review and corrections on the current feasibility of licensing on factory canteens.\u201d The department also says it will \u201ccontinue to enhance regulation on factory canteen\u2019s strictly complying with licensing conditions. Sending undercover inspectors and issuing special prosecution action will be processed when needed.\u201d<\/p>\n

Neither of these two departments was able to provide Varsity<\/em> with readily available statistics on applications, approval cases and warning letters in respect of factory canteen use.<\/p>\n

Other than the FEHD\u2019s requirements, these factory canteens are also forbidden to have an entrance or exit leading to a public road, to display promotional materials, or to have transparent external walls, such as glass windows under the lease conditions set by the Lands Department.<\/p>\n

A direct investigation by the Ombudsman<\/a> last year revealed that many factory canteens have violated such rules. Factory canteens located on the ground level are using the escape routes leading to public streets as entrances for customers. Some factory canteens use transparent materials in external walls, putting up signs and displaying menus and other promotional materials.<\/p>\n

While factory canteens are prohibited from serving members of the public, many newspaper columns and food magazines are recommending certain factory canteens to general readers.<\/p>\n

Ramon Yuen Hoi-man, Sham Shui Po district councillor for Lai Chi Kok Central constituency, says that violation of factory canteen law can be easily seen in the district. \u201cFrankly speaking, the problem is very common, especially in Cheung Shun Street and Tai Nan West Street,\u201d Yuen says. \u201cAll the factory canteens have turned into restaurants. They just say they welcome factory workers only on the surface.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yuen believes there are historical factors for people to break the law. \u201cIn the past, many manufacturing factories were located in districts like Lai Chi Kok, Cheung Sha Wan and Tsuen Wan. There were many labour-intensive industries employing a large number of workers. That is why there was a demand to provide factory canteens for factory workers,\u201d Cheng explains.<\/p>\n

However, with the city\u2019s economic transformation from industrial to service industries, Yuen thinks the policy has lost its meaning and should be abolished. \u201cIn fact, the government can entirely suspend it [factory canteens licensing] by imposing a sunset clause, say, for three years,\u201d Yuen suggests. He adds that the government should formulate a plan to relocate these factory canteens, so that they can continue to operate.<\/p>\n

Cheaper rent in industrial buildings is a major factor behind the abundance of factory canteens. Frank Sun Pin-hao, owner of a factory canteen named Doctor Beans in Kwun Tong, says the difference in rent between a factory unit and a normal unit on the street is quite substantial.<\/p>\n

\u201cTake the example of my place [2,000 sq ft in size], the rent downstairs could be HK$300,000, and up here is just one-fifth to one-tenth,\u201d Sun explains.<\/p>\n

Since factory canteens can also have concessionary benefits like a waiver on additional premiums and less stringent government food and hygiene requirements, they can operate their businesses at a lower cost. Some people in the trade say such advantages have created unfair competition between factory canteens and eateries owning a general restaurant license.<\/p>\n

But Sun does not think that it is unfair. \u201cOpening a shop upstairs in an industrial building is your own choice. It is not about wheeling and dealing,\u201d Sun explains. \u201cIf you are capable enough, then, just open an upstairs canteen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roy Kwong Chun-yu, legislative councillor and a former member of the Panel on Food Safety and Environmental Hygiene, believes money is the reason why so many people are operating business inside industrial buildings. \u201cWhy are they in industrial buildings? It is because they have no other choice. The land price in Hong Kong is way too high,\u201d Kwong explains.<\/p>\n

While factory canteens may reduce the owner\u2019s financial burden and offer the public more options, they also raise safety concerns.<\/p>\n

Under existing legislation, only some of the old industrial buildings built before 1987 are required to have an automatic sprinkler system. Obviously the risk of fire spreading in such buildings is much higher.<\/p>\n

Kwong maintains the government should take the initiative to improve fire safety facilities in old industrial buildings which would help the operation of factory canteens. But he believes the government will never do so due to the large cost implications. \u201cHigh cost is not a reason for not doing that [improving fire safety facilities],\u201d he says.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Restaurants inside industrial buildings are popular among young customers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In spite of the many problems in factory canteens and industrial buildings, Kwong believes industrial buildings have their unique advantages. \u201cOne of the special advantages of industrial buildings is that they are large. Their space can be used in a good way,\u201d Kwong points out.<\/p>\n

The current regulations on factory canteens date back to 1980 and Kwong believes it is time the government reviews them. \u201cThey should take a look at what is going on in society,\u201d Kwong says. \u201cThey should protect the rights of these industrial buildings users who deserve to have a reasonable answer about how to make a living in these areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

He thinks the government should try to maximise the potential of these buildings. \u201cIn fact, they are gems. It all depends on how the government utilises them.\u201d<\/p>\n

Edited by Rivers Zhang & Angela Siu<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Many factory canteens inside industrial buildings are serving outsiders illegally. Canteen owners criticise the outdated regulations and call for the government to review relevant policies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":13464,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1132,1808],"tags":[1164,1163,950,1140],"class_list":["post-13440","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-december-2018-space-hunt","category-issue-150","tag-buildings","tag-canteen","tag-factory","tag-industrial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13440","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13440"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13440\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13504,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13440\/revisions\/13504"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/13464"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13440"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13440"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13440"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}