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SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, BUILDING AND DESIGN

FOUNDATION IN NATURAL BUILD ENVIRONMENT


PRESENTATION TITLE: Comparison of Porridge Business in Melaka and Klang Valley
GROUP MEMBERS:
Names

Presentation / Research Report Roles.

Cherilyn Chia Qiao Xin (0321986)

Compilation, about the trade, description of


businesses, interview questions & answers

Chan Yi Fung (0323057)

History of rice porridge, nature of market,


comparative analysis, appendices

Chin Shee Wei (0322499)

Hon Kees competitors, summary table,


comparative analysis, presentation slides

Kok Xuan Ying (0322929)

Key summary, recommendation, presentation


slides

Soo Yon Li (0322821)

Long Fatts competitors, comparative analysis,


conclusion

Yang Jing Loo (0323066)

Comparative analysis, minutes of the meeting,


artistic cover, video editing

ENGLISH 2 (ELG 30605)


LECTURER: CASSANDRA WIJESURIA
SUBMISSION & PRESENTATION DATE: 25th November 2015

Taylors University I SABD I FNBE 0115/0815 I English 2 I Research Report

TABLE OF CONTENTS
No.

Title

Page Number

Artistic Cover

Cover Page

Table of Content

Key Summary

Research Report
i.
ii.

History of the Trade


Description of the Businesses
-

iii.

5-7
8-17

Long Fatt Teochew Porridge


Hon Kee Famous Porridge

Comparative Analysis

18-23

Recommendations

24-25

Appendices

26-44

Bibliography

45

References

46

Taylors University I SABD I FNBE 0115/0815 I English 2 I Research Report

Key Summary
Placed into a group of six people, we are required to study and compare two
businesses of similar industry in different geographical locations, one in Klang Valley
and another in Malacca. Our group had selected to analyse porridge industry and the
chosen businesses are Long Fatt Teochew Porridge in Malacca and Hon Kee
Famous Porridge in Petaling Street. Both businesses have three-generations-history
but the type of porridge sold are different. The nature of their market, pricing,
customers, competitors and marketing strategies differ to one another.

Methodology
Preliminary research
Brief research on the background of the chosen industry and businesses were done
through printed materials and internet. This is done to obtain the general information
on the topic and to prepare an effective interview questions for each business.
Data Collection
Face-to-face interviews were conducted with both the third-generation owner of the
respective business during our visits to the shops, equipped with necessities such as
a camera for video recording and taking pictures, mobile phone for additional voice
recording and interview questions.
Data Analysis
After completing the interview and research from secondary sources specifically
books and internet, the data were further analysed, tabulated and arranged
accordingly. Each group members work on a certain sub-topics and compiled
together later on. Lastly, the report were edited as a whole to ensure that it contained
the most accurate data and error free.

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History of Rice Porridge

Rice Porridge, also knowng as congee, is famous among the Asian countries.
The famous Yellow Emperor (Huang Ti), is the first person that cooked porridge with
millet as the ingredient. It is the earliest porridge recorded in history. In China history,
porridge was served as breakfast, lunch and dinner depending on the familys
income. Porridge is suitable for breakfast and late supper as it is a very light food. It
can be produced in a large quantity with small amount of rice. Low income families
have porridge for lunch and dinner, while medium and high income family have rice
instead of porridge.
Han Chinese came to Malacca in the early 15th century until the 1990s. The
culture of eating rice porridge was brought in when the third wave of Chinese
migrated here to work in mines and rubber estates.
In Malaysia, rice porridge is usually rice boiled with chicken stock and served
with chicken slice, century egg, and other side dishes. Porridge is rice boiled with
water for hours and with additional ingredients depending on ones personal flavour.
Examples of these ingredients include chicken slices, seafood, minced pork, century
egg and salted egg.
There are numerous types of porridge cooking style, mainly Cantonese and
Teo Chew.

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The Cantonese style rice porridge is the most common in Malaysia.


Cantonese rice porridge called Chog. Cantonese rice porridge can be found in
Chinese restaurant zhao lau, Dim Sum restaurants and Chinese hawker centre.
There are three common cooking style of Cantonese rice porridge, which are boiling,
Dayton and steaming (steam rice porridge are rare to find). Cantonese rice porridge
are thicker in form compared to others. The Cantonese rice porridge we usually eat
is boiled with chicken stock and other ingredients. Dayton rice porridge can only be
found in Cantonese restaurant as it takes hours to cook. Cantonese rice porridge are
usually serve with dough, also known as you tiao.

Teo Chew rice porridge comes with numerous side dishes. The Teo Chew
rice porridge are simpler in terms of rice porridge. Teo Chew rice porridge looks like
a mixture of rice and water. The shape of the rice is visible in Teo Chew porridge.
Some porridges might contain sweet potato to make the porridge taste sweet. The
side dishes for Teo Chew rice porridge mainly consists of braised dishes such as
duck, pork (organ), egg, tofu. The soy sauce for braised dishes contain spices like
galangal, ginger, garlic cloves, cinnamon stick and star anises. They are also served
with pan fried fish, salted vegetables, spicy lala, etc.

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About the Trade


Porridge act as a commercial Chinese food in Malaysia. Even though it is
more associated with Teochew, different types of porridge are found to be brought in
by different varieties of Chinese, such as Cantonese, Foochow, Hokkien and etc.

As rice is the most important staple food in Malaysia, rice porridge becomes
popular as it is particularly suitable for the sick as a mild, easily digestible food. The
porridge business started out in Malaysia to be served as breakfast or late supper.
The importance and popularity of porridge in the Malaysian diet causes the growth of
the porridge business in Malaysia.

Currently, there are more than hundreds of porridge businesses in the


country, including individual stalls and even commercial shops. Chain restaurants
such as Porridge Time and Mother Porridge are also found operating in many
places. With the increasing number of porridge businesses in the country, many
competitions are created. This in turn increases the varieties of porridge dishes
available and also encourages the involvement of other ethnics into the business.

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Long Fatt Teochew Porridge

Location: 15, Jalan Kampung Pantai, 75200 Melaka.


Long Fatt Teochew Porridge was founded in 1930 by Mr Lim Lee Tais, the
current owners grandfather. The name Long Fatt itself has an auspicious meaning,
where Long in Chinese character means dragon while Fatt means prosperity. Mr
Lims grandfather started this business to earn a living and support his family. The
concept of this business is to serve simple, homemade dishes to their customers.

Throughout the years, this business had changed a little here and there as
there were renovation done on the current shop back in 1971. Cooking by using the
usage of charcoal had changed to gas as well and back then, they used to serve
braised duck dish from live ducks and cook live bulls on the spot, utilising the
freshness of those ingredients. Now, they could not serve those dishes anymore as
they could not obtain fresh ingredients. The ingredients sold nowadays could not be
served to customers as the taste is different.

Long Fatt Teochew Porridge does not have any branches as it will be difficult
to maintain the quality and taste of food in the branch. Besides, the concept of
cooking varies for each person. In order to maintain the taste, they need to have
consistency in their cooking. The ingredients also differ depending on the supply.

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The cooking time needs to be flexible and changes according to the quality of the
raw ingredients.

There are a total of 5 employees involved in the business and most of them
are made up of family members. As the business still maintained its traditional
operating practice, a worker have to be in charge of a few duties each day, such as
buying fresh raw ingredients from the suppliers, cooking and serving.

The dishes sold includes salted vegetables, sardine fish, dried prawns, dried
anchovies and etc. Most of the dishes would be ready by 11am and it would be sold
out by 1.30pm. There are lesser dishes served before 11am as they are cooked and
served one after another. Estimated 200 customers visited the Long Fatt Teochew
Porridge daily. The number of customers are consistent as 70% of them are local
regular customers who dine here on weekly basis.

Taylors University I SABD I FNBE 0115/0815 I English 2 I Research Report

Hon Kee Famous Porridge

Location: 93, Jalan Hang Lekir, Sri Petaling, 50000 Kuala Lumpur.

Hon Kee Famous Porridge was established in 1949 by Mr Wong Poon Wai.
Originated from China, he opened this porridge business for livelihood purposes.
Although he started the business with only a small stall, the business grew into it
current form after several years. Currently, Hon Kee Famous Porridge own 2
branches in Lot 10 and SS2, Petaling Jaya. There are around 30 employees in total.
Some of them are family members but most are hired employees.

Now, Mrs Lee, the granddaughter of Mr Wong, is in charge of the business in


Petaling Street while her brother manage the other branches. Her involvement in the
business is to continue maintaining her family business as it has been around for
more than half a century.

The dishes available include raw fish porridge, frog meat porridge, chee
cheong fun and more. The business start at 4am and ends around 2.30pm every
day. An estimation of 250 customers dine here daily and it doubles up during
holidays and festivals. The first batch customers are those who visit fir a supper after
their karaoke and night clubbing session. Later on, it will be students who came for
breakfast before class starts, as there are schools nearby followed by offices crowd
whereas most tourist will visit during lunch hour.

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List of Competitors - Long Fatt Teo Chew Porridge Restaurant


Res Porridge House

This picture above shows the outside of the restaurant named Restaurant Res Porridge House.
-

Was owned by Mr Mai and his family


Located in Taman Melaka Raya, Malacca
Has operated since the year 1997
A cooking experience about 25 years by Mr Mai
He was interviewed in 2007 by a local reporter about this restaurant

These are the few signature dishes by Res Porridge House

Figure 1 shows picture on the left is called


the Red Potato Porridge. Its very simple
which it only contains congee and a carrot.

Figure 1

Figure 1.1 shows the Sausage Fried Rice.


This is a dish with spice because they put in
the chilli together with the egg, rice and
sausage.

Figure 1.1
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Figure 1.2 is one of the best dishes which is


called the Ginger and Onion Fish Slices.
Many customers gave good reviews about
this dish.

Figure 1.2

Figure 1.3 is the dish that maintain the


business of this restaurant. Many customers
who ordered this style of porridge gave a
positive review about it. It is called the
Shredded Chicken Porridge

Figure 1.3

Restaurant Chop Sam Guan

Figure 2 shows the surroundings of the


restaurant. It is obvious that the style of the
shops are quite unique, so that we can know
that these shop lots are there around 30-40
years ago.

Figure 1
These are the famous dishes by Restaurant Chop Sam Guan
Figure 2.1 shows the restaurants signature congee. In this
picture, we can see that the congee only contains sweet
potato and the congee itself. The sweet potatoes are soft
because it was boiled at suitable temperature and it is used
for a flavour to the congee.

Figure 2.1
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Figure 2.2 is a picture of the restaurant's signature


dish which is called "Kiam Chye", meaning salted
vegetables.

Figure 2.2
Figure 2.3 shows a greenish vegetables on
which was called the Lightly Fried
Kangkung with minced pork. It is also
known as water spinach or also known as
morning glory at Thai eateries.

Figure 2.3

Figure 2.4 shows the asam fish created by the


owners of this restaurant. One of the reasons they
created this food is because they thought about the
diversity of food as well as the openness of
Malaysian people to the foods.

Figure 2.4
Figure 2.5 is one favourite food by customers.
This dish is frequently ordered by customers too.
It is called the "Oyster Sauce Chicken".
Customers tend to leave nothing on the plate
when they are going to leave.

Figure 2.5

Figure 2.6 is the traditional dish called "Steamed


Minced Pork with Salted Egg"

Figure 2.6
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Restaurant Congee Rice Noodles

Figure 3 shows the exterior of Restaurant Congee


Rice Noodles. It is located on the second floor. The
restaurant is located near Res Porridge House.

Figure 3
Several delicious dishes can be found in this restaurant which will be mentioned below

Figure 3.1 shows the famous type of


congee. The ingredients are made up of
prawns, squids and crab meat.

Figure 3.1

Figure 3.2 is a picture of its signature


dish which is the Curry Fish Head.
They use their traditional recipes and
spices for the dish.

Figure 3.2

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Figure 3.3 is a green dish called the Four Heavenly


Kings. It is one of the most popular vegetable dishes
in the restaurant.

Figure 3.3

Figure 3.4 shows a dish with dark sauced


pork, called the Tung Por Pork. The bun
at the side is used to eat with the pork.

Figure 3.4

Figure 3.5 shows one of Malaccas


traditional food, called Nyonya
Chang. It is made out of sticky
and chewy rice.

Figure 3.5

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List of Competitors Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant


Kim Lian Kee Chee Cheong Fun

Located next to Restaurant Hon Kee


Porridge.
Sells Cantonese styled dishes
The stall is run by a friendly aunty who took
over the business from her father.
The stall is hidden inside the street so
people may miss it while walking along the
street
Famous for Chee Cheong Fun, but also
serve Ba Bou Porridge

The stall also sells


pork intestine
porridge.

Loa Yau Kee Porridge

One of the oldest Chinese porridge stalls in


Petaling Street with several decades of
history.
Situated in front of Soong Kee Beef Ball
Noodle Shop
Traditional white plain porridge served with
freshly-prepared side dishes.
Types of side dishes for porridge:
-Mouth-watering Chicken
-Pork Intestines
-Sliced Raw Fish
-Minced Pork Ball.
Porridge with freshly-prepared side dishes.
Reasonable price

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Fong Wah Teochew Porridge

Sells Teochew styled dishes


Gruel type porridge served
with a variety of dishes such
as Pork, Century Eggs,
Salted Fish, Salted Eggs,
Salted Vegetables, etc.
Self-service business
Expensive prices

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Nature of Market
Long Fatt Teo Chew Porridge Restaurant
The nature of market for Long Fatt Teo Chew Porridge is Monopolistic Competition.
Even though the restaurant only have a few competitors but the other characteristics
of it is very similar to the economics concept Monopolistic Competition. Besides, the
barrier to entry is weak, causing the other firms to enter and exit the market easily.
Long Fatt Teo Chew Porridge sells a lot of differentiated side dishes and is weak at
their pricing power.

Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant


The nature of market for Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant is Monopolistic Competition
due to its surrounding competitions. This market is represented by a fairly large
number of firms but not more than 100. The pricing for Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant
is a little bit higher compare to the others competitors due to its fresh ingredients.
Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant did not charge a very high price due to the intense
competition it has and therefore the pricing for Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant is
weak. The Barrier to entry of this market is weak as well. The restaurant also sells
several differentiated product.

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Comparative Analysis of the Businesses Competitive Traits


Restaurant Long Fatt Teo Chew
Porridge
3

Affordable & cheaper than average


restaurants
- Lots of villagers nearby like to
visit them

Promotions during festivals


- Chinese New Year
- Deepavali
- Hari Raya
- Christmas

Non-verbal communication

Mass communication
- Internet
- Radio
- Newspaper

Restaurant Hon Kee Porridge


Number of
competitors
Pricing

Advertisement

Sells at market price but slightly


higher than the competitors price
- Competitors sell normal porridge
at RM4, they sell at RM4.20

Reasonable & affordable


- Main reason was the amount of
period they have been operating.

Mass communication
- Have a Facebook page
- Blog

Use verbal communication to


advertise
- Giving out flyers to the people and
promote

Raw fish porridge


- Cook raw fish by stirring in hot
porridge

Mixed braised pork


- Fried & stew pork

Salted vegetables
- Fermented vegetables using salt

Chee Cheong Fun


- Rice noodle roll

Pan-fried fish
- Put a few fishes to fry instead of
a lot of fish

Frog meat porridge


- Use only fresh frog meat

All ingredients bought are freshly


prepared
- Frog meat
- Fish
- Pork

Customers are able to have a view of


the preparation of food after ordering
- Tables & chairs are set up near the
kitchen

Most employees speak different types


of languages, therefore it is easier to
communicate with the customers
- Mandarin

Served with hygiene


- Before cutting vegetables and
meat, they wash their hands and
wear new plastic gloves

Fast & efficient


- Never slack when working &
serve dishes once cooked

Verbal communication
- Used when asking about the
amount of porridge ordered by
the customers

Signature Dish

Quality of Services

Communication

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Face-to-face communication
- Asking for the customers
desired side dishes
Different languages can be used to
approach the customers
- English
- Mandarin
- Dialects : Hokkien, Cantonese,
Teochew

Weak
-

Barrier to Entry

Face-to-face communication
- Telling the available dishes to the
customers

Verbal communication
- Guide customers who wanted to
visit their restaurant

Weak

Doesnt need licence approver


from the government
Doesnt need high capital

Less customers
- Probably friends and families are
the only customers for the first
few weeks

Lack of trust
- Recently operated

Loss at the end of the month


- Not enough money to cover
their costs

Obstacles faced by
new businesses

English
Malay
Dialects : Cantonese

Doesnt need licence approver


from the government
Doesnt need high capital

Lack of customers
- Stronger competition with the
older restaurants
- Expensive meals

Make a loss instead of profit by the


end of the month
- Due to lack of customers

Insufficient trust gained by customers


- Started the business not long ago

Differentiated Products
- Chee Cheong Fun

Chicken Rice

Price Taker
- Must follow the market price

If the firm rise the price the firm will


lose its customer

Mutual Dependence

Differentiated Products
- Mixed braised Pork
- Pan Fried Fish

Salted Vegetable

Price Taker
- Must follow the market price

If the firm rise the price the firm will


lose its customer

Mutual Dependence

Constant advertising
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Webpage

Constant advertising
- Magazines
- Newspapers
- Facebook

Substitutes
- Restaurant Chop Chung Wah

Substitutes
- Restaurant Kun Kee

Differentiated or
Standardized Products

Pricing Power

Other Characteristics

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Restaurant Teo Chew Bak Kut


The
Restaurant Tuk Tuk Kitchen &
Bar
Restaurant Jonker 88
Baba Freds Nyonya Restaurant

Monopolistic competition
- Only few competitors
- Easy to enter this type of market

Nature of Market

Restaurant Kopitiam Petaling


Street
China Town Food Paradise

Monopolistic competition
- Only few competitors
- Easy to enter this type of market

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Summary Table of the Differences between Both Businesses


Long Fatt Teochew Porridge

Differences

Hon Kee Porridge


Restaurant

1930

When it was Founded

1949

Current boss, Mr. Lim Lee Tais


Grandfather
15, Jalan Kampung Pantai,
75200 Melaka

Founder

Mr. Wong Poon Wai

Location

93, Jalan Hang Lekir,


Sri Petaling,
50000 Kuala Lumpur

Number of Branches

Number of Employees

30

200

Number of Customers

500

70% of Local Regular


Customers

Who are the Customers

First Batch: Those who


finished their Karaoke and
night clubbing for supper.
Second Batch: Students from
nearby school for breakfast
before their classes start.
Third Batch: Those office
crowd / Tourists

Number of Competitors

11.30am-1.30pm

Business Hours

4.00am-2.30pm

Porridge, Salted Vegetables,


Dried Prawn, Dried Anchovies
and etc.
Serve Simple, Homemade
Dishes

Type of Products

Porridge, Chee Cheong Fun

Strategy

Freshly-prepared with the


ingredients

Home

Business Operation

Commercial

Summary Table of the Similarities between Both Businesses


Long Fatt Teochew
Porridge

Similarities

Hon Kee Porridge


Restaurant

Porridge

Main Product Sold

Porridge

Number of Founder

For livelihood purposes

Prompted to Start this


Business

For livelihood purposes

Lead by the Owner

Leader

Lead by the Owner

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Conclusion
Which business is more commercially successful? And why?
According to the aforementioned analysis, the business which is more
commercially successful will be Restaurant Hon Kee Famous Porridge operated by
Mrs Lee. This is because Hon Kee Famous Porridge has several branches and are
more likely to earn a greater turnover in a year compared to Long Fatt Teochew
Porridge, operated by Mr Lim which does not own any branch. By having branches,
the business could earn more in a shorter time. The market size in terms of
customers is also bigger by having outlets.
Besides that, Hon Kee Famous Porridge hire younger workers so they are
more efficient. In comparison, Long Fatt Teochew Porridge is managed by family
members and most of them are middle-aged so they are not as efficient as the
younger generation.
Last but not least, Hon Kee Famous Porridge is more commercially
successful as they advertises their business more through different medias such as
magazines, newspapers, social medias and flyers. Conversely, Long Fatt Teochew
Porridge does not publicize their business much, solely depending on reviews and
recommendations.

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Recommendation
Based on our analysis on Long Fatt Teochew Porridge and Hon Kee Famous
Porridge, these are the recommendations we propose to improve their businesses
competitiveness.
Both businesses had been around for more than half a decade so both
owners should keep detailed records of their business history. Based on the
interviews that we have conducted, the current owners does not have specific
knowledge of their own business history which is important for the future
development of the business.
Although both of the businesses are pioneers in porridge industry, they should
analyse their competitors. By analysing their competitors, they will get a better
insight of them as well as where their business stands at in the market.

Long Fatt Teochew Porridge


Areas for Improvement
Recommendations

(current situations)
Inefficient services

Owner should consider hiring a few more employees


instead of just depending on family members to run
the business. During peak hours, the services are
slower as the work load is too much t o be handled by
the current employees available.

Stagnant expansion of

Owner should consider opening one or more branches

branches

so that it is easier for the customers to try out their


Teochew style porridge which is unique and this will
increase the business turnover and customers not only
in Malacca.

Lack of online advertising

Owner should create an official website or Facebook


page so that it is easier for people to find their
information online as the community nowadays are
driven by Internet.

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Hon Kee Famous Porridge


Areas for Improvement
(current situations)
Cramped and unhygienic
environment

Inefficient call services

Recommendations
Owner should refurbish their shop to a more effective
layout so that it will be more spacious. Refurbishment
is needed as the shop itself is old so it is unavoidable
that it appear dirty and unpleasant.
Owner should improve on their call services as the
one available now is inefficient as it takes several
times for us to contact them and their responses are
rather slow. This will cause customers to lose interest
towards them.

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APPENDICES
Interview Questions
1) When was the business founded? How many years of history does the business have?
2) Who is the key founder of the business?
3) Where does the business name came from?
4) What prompted (motivates) the founders to start this business?
5) Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent developments?
6) Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?
7) How much capital is required to start this business? What, if any, specialized field of
knowledge do you need to run this business?
8) What are your main products?
9) Who are your customers?
10) What is the estimated number of customers who visit your business daily/monthly?
11) What is the business annual revenue figure?
12) How many branch offices/stores and employees do you have?
13) Will there be more customers during festive seasons?
14) Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3 competitors?
15) Is the business constantly facing strong competition from other competitors? What
strategies have they used to compete with you?
16) How often do you release a new product?
17) Are your pricing decisions and when to release new product strongly affected by your
competitors?
18) What is the future plan for your business? Opening more branch? Advertising?

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Interview with Hon Kee (Answered)


Petaling Street Famous Porridge

1) When was the business founded? How many years of history does the business have?
The business was founded in 1949. It has 66 years of history.
2) Who is the key founder of this business?
My grandfather, Wong Poon Wai is the only founder of the restaurant.
3) Where does the business name came from?
I dont really know how my grandfather came up with this name. I guess it was a name which
popped up in his mind then.
4) What prompted (motivated) the founders to start this business?
Back then, my grandfather started this business to earn a living and support the familys
expenses. He thought of using his cooking skills learnt in China to start a restaurant business.
5) Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent
developments?
The business started as a small stall in 1949. Then it grew into a restaurant, which is the
existing one here. My brother did opened a few branches these few years.
6) Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?
I think it was quite easy to enter this market since there were less shops last time.
7) How much capital is required to start this business? What, if any, specialized field of
knowledge do you need to run this business?
Im not sure how much is needed, but I guess its not too much as the pricing of the raw
ingredients last time was not high. Some of the things I had to know to run the business were
the analysis of the market and the technique to maintain the food quality.
8) What are your main products?
We sell a variety of porridge and chee cheong fun. The significant ones are the raw fish
porridge, frog leg porridge and the chee cheong fun.
9) Who are your customers?
My customers were made up of students from the nearby schools, office crowds and tourists.
10) What is the estimated number of customers who visit your business daily/monthly?
The average number of customers we had was around 500 per day.
11) What is the business annual revenue figure?
Im sorry but I dont think it would be appropriate to disclose the amount to you.
12) How many branch offices/stores and employees do you have?
We had 2 branches and about 30 employees in total.
13) Will there be more customers during festive seasons?
Yes, of course. Our business would double up during festive seasons and also the weekends.

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14) Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3 competitors?
We do have a few competitors in this area, mainly the Loa Yau Kee porridge, Fong Wah
Teochew porridge and Kim Lian Kee that also sells porridge.
15) Is the business constantly facing strong competitions from other competitors? What
strategies have they used to compete with you?
We did face competitions from other competitors. Since some of the competitors sell less
choices of porridge, their prices are slightly lower than us.
16) How often do you release a new product?
Special deals or products are only available on weekends.
17) Are your pricing decisions and the time to release a new product strongly affected
by your competitors?
Not really, as our pricings were quite reasonable.
18) What is the future plan for your business? Opening more branch? Advertising?
Im not sure whether my children would want to take over the business, but Im currently
training the workers to handle the business. We already had advertisings through the internet
and most of our customers spread our business through the word of mouth.

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Interview with Long Fatt (Answered)


Melaka Famous Teochew Porridge

1) When was the business founded? How many years of history does the business have?
The business was founded in 1930. It has 85 years of history.
2) Who is the key founder of this business?
My grandfather is the sole founder of the restaurant.
3) Where does the business name came from?
My grandfather named it that way as it had an auspicious meaning to it. The Long in
Chinese character means dragon while the Fatt means prosperity.
4) What prompted (motivated) the founder/s to start this business?
My grandfather started this business for livelihood purpose.
5) Can you provide us a brief history of your business and its most recent
developments?
The business started as a shop here in 1930. Then, we renovated the shop in 1971. Last time,
we had braised duck dishes and live goose being served in the restaurant. Now, we dont
serve these dishes as we couldnt get fresh supply of ducks and geese. We also used to use
charcoal to cook our dishes, but we changed to using gas later on.
6) Generally, do you feel it is easy or hard to enter this market? Why?
I think it was quite easy to enter this market as it was quite demanding and there are only a
few simple, home cooked businesses left.
7) How much capital is required to start this business? What, if any, specialized field of
knowledge do you need to run this business?
Im not sure how much capital was required. For me, I think some of the most important
knowledge I had to know are the techniques to maintain the taste of the food and overcome
the problems of different quality of raw ingredients.
8) What are your main products?
We sell porridge and rice with side dishes such as salted vegetable, sardine fish, dried
prawns, dried anchovies, etc.
9) Who are your customers?
My customers were made up tourists and the locals.
10) What is the estimated number of customers who visit your business daily/monthly?
We had around 200 customers per day.
11) What is the business annual revenue figure?
Now, we earn less, around RM6000 to RM7000 monthly.
12) How many branch offices/stores and employees do you have?
We do not have any branches and we have only 5 workers.

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13) Will there be more customers during festive seasons?


Yes. Even so, our restaurant is normally closed during major holidays as we couldnt meet up
with our suppliers. We depend on them on a daily basis to obtain fresh ingredients.
14) Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3 competitors?
Not really, but there are a few porridge restaurants around the town area. We had less
competitors as it was difficult to maintain the taste of the food. It also requires experience to
overcome the problems of different quality of raw materials.
15) Is the business constantly facing strong competitions from other competitors? What
strategies have they used to compete with you?
Nope. Im not so sure about that.
16) How often do you release a new product?
We seldom come out with new products as our aim is to maintain our quality of food.
17) Are your pricing decisions and the time to release a new product strongly affected
by your competitors?
No. This was because our foods pricings are considered cheap and affordable. The pricing
for each dish is RM0.70, while a bowl of rice or porridge costs RM0.70.
18) What is the future plan for your business? Opening more branch? Advertising
I plan to hand over my business to my son. If my son takes over, I hope he can improve our business
operation by increasing the number of workers in order to run the business more effectively.

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MINUTES OF THE MEETING


DATE:
TIME:
VENUE:

20th October 2015


11.30 am 12.40 pm
E3.08

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS


Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Chin Shee Wei
Kok Xuan Ying
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

Selection of places to visit


NO. ACTIVITY
1. Discussion
- Suggestions of places to visit
- Decide to study on the businesses
about restaurants
- contact owners for interviews

ACTION TAKEN BY
Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Chin Shee Wei
Kok Xuan Ying
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

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MINUTES OF THE MEETING


DATE:
TIME:
VENUE:

30th October 2015


2pm 5pm
Jonker Street, Melaka (Restaurant Long Fatt)

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS


Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

Interview
NO. ACTIVITY
1. Interview at Long Fatt Restaurant
Interviewee: Mr. Lim Lee Tai
2. Video taking for interview
3. Note taking
4. Study on the competitors nearby Restaurant Long
Fatt

ACTION TAKEN BY
Chan Yi Fung
Yang Jing Loo
Soo Yon Li
Cherilyn Chia
Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

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MINUTES OF THE MEETING


2nd November 2015
2.30 pm 3.30 pm
D3.09

DATE:
TIME:
VENUE:

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS


Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Chin Shee Wei (online)
Kok Xuan Ying (online)
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

Distribution of work (Report)


NO.
1.

ACTIVITY
-

ACTION TAKEN
BY
Chan Yi Fung

General information on the history of porridge


business.
Cover page
Table of content

2.

Brief description of 2 businesses


Interview questions

Cherilyn Chia

3.

(Question 1-5) Analysis of the businesses


(Restaurant Hon Kee Porridge) competitive traits
Slideshow

Chin Shee Wei

Recommendation for Restaurant Long Fatt and


Restaurant Hon Kee Porridge
Key summary
Slideshow

Kok Xuan Ying

Soo Yon Li

(Question 1-5): Analysis of the businesses


(Restaurant Long Fatt) competitive traits
(Question 6-7): Analysis of the businesses
(Restaurant Long Fatt and Restaurant Hon Kee
Porridge) competitive traits

Video editing
Artistic cover
Appendices (minutes of meeting)

Yang Jing Loo

4.

5.

6.

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MINUTES OF THE MEETING


DATE:
TIME:
VENUE:

11th November 2015


12.30 pm 2.30 pm
Petaling street. (Restaurant Hon Kee Porridge)

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS


Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Kok Xuan Ying
Soo Yon Li

Interview
NO. ACTIVITY
1. Interview at Restaurant Hon Kee Porridge
Interviewee: Mrs. Lee

ACTION TAKEN BY
Kok Xuan Ying
Chan Yi Fung

2. Video taking for interview


3. Note taking

Soo Yon Li
Cherilyn Chia
Kok Xuan Ying

4. Study on the competitors nearby Restaurant


Hon Kee Porridge

Cherilyn Chia
Chan Yi Fung
Kok Xuan Ying
Soo Yon Li

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MINUTES OF THE MEETING


DATE:
TIME:
VENUE:

16th November 2015


3 pm 5 pm
D8.16

NAMES OF GROUP MEMBERS


Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Chin Shee Wei
Kok Xuan Ying
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

Reconfirmation on the report compilation


NO. ACTIVITY
1. Discussion on the format of report and
presentation slides

ACTION TAKEN BY
Chan Yi Fung
Cherilyn Chia
Chin Shee Wei
Kok Xuan Ying
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

2. Ideas recommendation on the content of


report

Cherilyn Chia
Chin Shee Wei
Kok Xuan Ying

3. Video compilation

Chan Yi Fung
Soo Yon Li
Yang Jing Loo

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Restaurant Long Fatt Teo Chew Porridge


Date: 31-10-2015 Saturday
Time: 2.30p.m 3.30p.m
Location: Restaurant Long Fatt Teo Chew Porridge

Interview Notes

Long Fatt Restaurant sign board

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Serving table of Long Fatt Restaurant

Group Photo with the Owner

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Facebook page of Long Fatt Teo Chew Porridge

Business Details
Business Owner: Mr Lim Lee Tai
Location: No. 15, Jalan Kampung Pantai 75200 Melaka
Contact Number: 6019-364 6682
Business Hours: 8.30am 3.00pm Closed on Sundays and public holidays
Website: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Long-Fatt-Teo-ChewPorridge/180637345343800?fref=ts

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Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant, Petaling Street


Date: 10-11-2015
Time: 11p.m - 1p.m
Location: Restaurant Hon Kee Porridge Petaling Street

Interview Notes

Group photo with Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant, Petaling Street

Group photo with the owner

The kitchen and sign board

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Facebook page of Hon Kee Porridge Restaurant

Business Details
Business Owner: Mdm Lau Chui Lai
Location: 93 Jalan Hang Lekir Kuala Lumpur 50000
Contact Number: 012-227 6281
Business hours: Mon-Fri, 10am-10pm; Sat-Sun, 8am-10pm
Website: https://www.facebook.com/honkeeporridge/

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Presentation Slides

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Bibliography
* 2.0, N., Malaysia, R., House, H., Chopsticks, W., & BSG, t. (2007). Chinese
Porridge Recipe (Congee with Dried Oysters and Chicken Recipe) | Easy Delicious
Recipes: Rasa Malaysia. Rasa Malaysia. Retrieved 20 November 2015, from
http://rasamalaysia.com/chinese-porridge-with-dried-oysters-and/
* Food.malaysiamostwanted.com, (2015). Porridge Restaurants in Malaysia.
Retrieved 18 November 2015, from http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/phototags/porridge
* Kaleidoscope.cultural-china.com, (2015). Porridge - China culture. Retrieved 15
November 2015, from http://kaleidoscope.culturalchina.com/en/8Kaleidoscope48.html
* Travelchinaguide.com, (2015). Chinese Laba Festival, Rice Porridge. Retrieved 15
November 2015, from http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/laba.htm

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References

i'm saimatkong,. (2014). Chee Cheong Fun @ Petaling Street


(Chinatown) - i'm saimatkong. Retrieved 19 November 2015, from
http://blog.saimatkong.com/food-beverage/chee-cheong-fun%E8%B1%AC%E8%85%B8%E7%B2%89-petaling-street%E8%8C%A8%E5%BB%A0%E8%A1%97-chinatown/

Malaysia Food & Travel Blog,. (2009). Melaka Food | Jonker 88 Desserts @ Jonker
Street - Cendol & Ais Kacang - Malaysia Food & Travel Blog. Retrieved 22
November 2015, from http://www.vkeong.com/2009/03/melaka-food-jonker-88desserts-jonker-street-cendol-ais-kacang/

Melaka Top 3: Recommended Jonket Street Food,. (2015). Recommended Jonket


Street Food. Retrieved 17 November 2015, from
http://www.melaka3.com/2012/04/recommended-jonket-street-food.html

OpenRice Malaysia,. (2015). 10 Best Chinese Porridges in KL & PJ | OpenRice


Malaysia. Retrieved 17 November 2015, from
http://my.openrice.com/klangvalley/article/10-best-chinese-porridges-in-kl-pj/788

Porridge, F. (2015). Fong Wah Teochew Porridge @ Off Jalan Pudu - Malaysia
Food & Restaurant Reviews. Food.malaysiamostwanted.com. Retrieved 21
November 2015, from http://food.malaysiamostwanted.com/venues/fong-wahteochew-porridge-changkat-thambi-dollah-off-jalan-pudu

Seabury, C. (2008). 9 Tips For Growing A Successful Business. Investopedia.


Retrieved 23 November 2015, from
http://www.investopedia.com/articles/pf/08/make-money-in-business.asp

Tripadvisor.com.my,. (2015). Fong Wah Teochew Porridge, Kuala Lumpur Restaurant Reviews, Phone Number & Photos - TripAdvisor. Retrieved 20
November 2015, from https://www.tripadvisor.com.my/Restaurant_Reviewg298570-d1205048-Reviews-Fong_Wah_Teochew_PorridgeKuala_Lumpur_Wilayah_Persekutuan.html

Teochew Braised Duck or Lor Ark ( | GUAI SHU SHU. (n.d.). Retrieved
18 November 2015, from https://kwgls.wordpress.com/2014/10/08/teochewbraised-duck-or-lor-ark%E6%BD%AE%E5%B7%9E%E5%8D%A4%E9%B8%AD%EF%BC%89/

Ancient World History: Yellow Emperor (Huangdi, or Huang Ti). (n.d.). Retrieved 14
November 2015, from http://earlyworldhistory.blogspot.my/2012/01/yellow-emperorhuangdi-or-huang-ti.html

Porridge - China culture. (n.d.). Retrieved 13 November 2015, from


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Heng Long Teochew Porridge | The Bonding Tool. (n.d.). Retrieved 13


November 2015, from http://thebondingtool.com/2014/07/14/heng-long-teochewporridge-%E5%85%B4%E9%9A%86%E6%BD%AE%E6%B4%B2%E7%B3%9C/

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