‘I look at their ability, not their disability’: Dignity Kitchen founder on training his Hong Kong workforce

Engineer and entrepreneur Koh Seng Choon founded Dignity Kitchen in Singapore a decade ago to train people with disabilities in the catering business

He opened a Hong Kong branch in January, after overcoming many challenges, and Dignity Kitchen is selling some of the best Singapore hawker food in the city

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Most staff at Dignity Kitchen, a social enterprise restaurant in Mong Kok, have disabilities. Its founder, Koh Seng Choon, set up the first Dignity Kitchen a decade ago in his native Singapore. Photo: Winson Wong

Published: 7:45am, 12 Feb 2020Updated: 8:33am, 18 Feb 2020

On the second floor of a newly renovated Hong Kong heritage building called 618 Shanghai Street is Dignity Kitchen, a bright and airy space that serves Singaporean hawker food.

The menu includes dishes such as Hainan chicken rice, laksa, claypot rice and nasi lemak, as well as Singaporean-style coffee and milk tea. For dessert, the pandan chiffon cake is just as good as, if not better than, that at famed Singapore bakery Bengawan Solo.

The food and drinks sold here in the bustling Kowloon neighbourhood of Mong Kok are prepared and served by staff with physical and mental disabilities. They are trained to cook and interact, with the goal of eventually finding employment elsewhere, as well as making the venue financially sustainable.

Opened in January, Dignity Kitchen is a social enterprise and the brainchild of Singaporean engineer and entrepreneur Koh Seng Choon. The energetic 60-year-old is brimming with enthusiasm, and pleased to see his latest venture take off, despite the financial challenges he faced launching the hawker-style restaurant in Hong Kong.

Founder Koh Seng Choon at Dignity Kitchen in Hong Kong. Photo: Winson Wong

Koh, who set up his first Dignity Kitchen in Singapore a decade ago, says he made a conscious decision to replicate that model, serving Singaporean street food.

“Hong Kong people are so picky. Everyone here is so particular about their food. If we did wonton noodles we would be criticised [because] the shrimp is not big enough, or the portion is too small, ” he says. “But Hong Kong people don’t know much about Singaporean food, so that’s why we’re doing it here.