By Bella HUANG, Xinyi
Hong Kong - Although Flora will soon turn into 30, every morning at around 10 o’clock, she would come to Holy Café Training Centre together with her mother, Mrs. Song, or “Song Tai” in Cantonese, who says this is how everyone calls her. There Mrs. Song would carefully help Flora tie her hair, and remind her of her job for that day.
Holy Café is a social enterprise restaurant in Cheung Sha Wan opened by Mrs. Song to help Flora build confidence. It employs 5 people with intellectual disabilities, including Flora.
“I call it a training centre because it provides not only food, but also training to the staff,” said Mrs. Song, with a proud smile on her face.
Hanging on one wall of the restaurant is a photo of Carrie Lam, chief executive of Hong Kong, having dinner with other senior government officials in the restaurant.
Carrie Lam also posted this photo on her Facebook page, saying that the story between Mrs. Song and Flora stands for Hong Kong spirit, and encouraged citizens to support local social enterprises.
Flora was diagnosed with autism and mild mental retardation in Grade 5. After graduation from Mary Rise School, a special school for intellectually disabled children, Flora was employed by a stationery factory as an intern.
“She worked 9 hours every day and 6 days a week, but was only paid 50 HKD per day,” Mrs. Song said.
“These companies take the low salary for granted. They think my daughter works slower, so she deserves lower salary,” Mrs. Song complained, “That’s why I felt angry and opened this restaurant. I want to encourage my daughter and tell the society that they (disabled persons) work very well.”
In Hong Kong, most of the disabled choose to enter sheltered workshops like the one Flora entered, which employs people with disabilities separately from others, although entering these workshops often means inadequate payment.
“Because the local market is profit-oriented, these employees (in sheltered workshops) often receive only less than 50HKD per day,” said Cheung Man-Wing, service manager of St. James Settlement, a multi social service agency that opened the first sheltered workshop in Hong Kong.
Despite the low payment, getting a job in sheltered workshops is already very lucky. Many disabled persons have difficulty finding a job and are struggling to meet their daily expenses.
According to the Consensus and Statistics Department, currently only around 14.5% of the disabled over 15 years old are economically active. In addition, it was reported by Commission on Poverty that the poverty ratio of persons with disabilities was 45.3% in 2013.
Mrs. Song started to run social enterprise restaurants in 2011, when she quit her job in Correctional Services Department. The previous two restaurants were shut down because of continuous financial losses. Last year, Mrs. Song opened Holy Café through government funding.
In the past decades, Hong Kong has witnessed a growth of social enterprises. According to Social Enterprise Business Centre, the number of social enterprises has doubled in the past 8 years. A report published by Council of Social Service says that the catering service is one major business.
In October, a restaurant called hc:bistro was opened in Tai Kwun, which employs mentally handicapped persons as chefs. It is the fifth social enterprise restaurant operated by Hong Chi Association, one of the largest local non-profit making organisations.
“The government has been encouraging and funding social enterprises projects. I think this kind of business will be a trend in Hong Kong,” Stephanie Chan, manager of hc:bistro said.
Social enterprises like Holy Café and hc: bistro provide another alternative for the disabled to get a job. However, these restaurants often face financing challenges.
As reported by the Council of Social Service, among the 81 enterprises funded by the government program called “Enhancing Employment of People with Disabilities through Small Enterprise”, 24 (35%) had already shut down in 2013. In the remaining 45 companies, 16 (36%) are experiencing an operating loss.
Mrs. Song said the main reason is that these restaurants often need to lower their price to compensate for their slow service, but there is still not enough customers and the rental price is too high.
“I like the food and it’s quite cheap. But I can also tell that the business is not very good. There’s not many people when I dine here,” said Chau Wing-Him, a customer in Holy Café.
Holy Café now pays around 30,000 HKD for rents every month. Although the Café has been opened for almost a year, Mrs. Song said it has not yet covered its start-up costs.
However, Lui Kwok-Him, chef of Holy Café thinks that the business is gradually getting better. “Especially after Carrie Lam’s visit, we have more customers. At noon it’s often packed with people.”
“Of course there are many challenges and pressure, but anyway, I’m still positive about the future. The society is paying more attention... I’m also looking for a successor to take charge of my position after I retire, so my daughter can still work here,” said Mrs. Song, with a big smile on her face.