English research full report (2)

School of Architecture, Building and Design

Foundation in Natural and Built Environment [FNBE]

English 2 [ENGL0205]

Ms. Cassandra

English Final Project – Research Assignment Report

FNBE July 2013

Group member :

Sharon Lim Yu Jung 0313377

Tan Ling Rong 0315645

Tan Chiew Nee 0303531

Angoline Boo Lee Zhuang 0316144

Tan Chee Siang 0315159

Tay Jia Jian 0315508

1

Table of Contents

No. Title Page number

1. Artistic cover

2. Cover page 1

3. Table of contents 2

4. Key Summary 3

5. Research report

a. Description of the history of trade.b. Description of the business.c. Comparative Analysis.

4 – 56 – 9

10 – 17

6. Recommendations 18 – 20

7. Bibliography 21

8. Appendices 22 – 34

9. References 35

2

Key Summary

In this assignment, we did an analysis about Dim Sum business industry in two of

Malaysia’s highest Chinese population region, which is Penang Island and Klang

Valley. In a group of six, we interviewed two of the region’s most recommended

Dim Sum restaurants which had been operating for more than 10 years, which is

Tho Yuen restaurant at Jalan Cintra, Georgetown, Penang and Clan Dim Sum

Restaurant at Jalan Radin Anum, Sri Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. We researched,

analyzed, compared and contrasted both businesses in terms of businesses’

descriptions, businesses’ history of the trade, comparative analysis of the

businesses’ competitive traits and recommendations for the businesses.

3

a. Description of the History of Trade

.

Initially, it was an exclusive luxury made for the Royals in the palace at Northern

China. The Manchurian Empire’s descendants passed their time by frequented

dining, further established the formation of tea houses that rivaled with restaurant

by offering Dim Sum in wide varieties. Due to its high popularity, it was then

introduced to the tea houses peppered at the city and also the pivotal Silk Road

where commodities of trade flourished and people from all over the continent

would pass by. Usually, the travelers would visit the tea houses to relax and dine,

thus had contacts with Dim Sum. Therefore, the tradition of Dim Sum is spread to

other parts of China and eventually anchored at Canton due to its availability to

fresh food supplies and rich ingredient selections, brought by its strong economic

status. Because of its fineness, Dim Sum restaurants soon became a prestigious

business.

Since the 10th century, about 2000 different varieties of dim sum have been

invented, largely catered in restaurants and festive occasions. In the 20th century,

when the Chinese immigrants started to disperse across the continents, the

heritage of Dim Sum was too spread to other places, including Malaysia. So the

business was expanded and diversified at new places throughout the world.

Nowadays, some restaurateurs even established their brand and franchise

branches such as Taiwan Dim Sum franchise, Din Tai Fung which has branches

at North America, Asia and Australia.

4

In Malaysia, the history of trade of Dim Sum is considered relatively young as it

was first introduced to this land during the early 1900s by the Cantonese clan.

During the time, the businesses were mostly family ran and small sized until the

independence of Malaya, whereby the Chinese was encouraged to expand their

business in order to boost the new nation’s economy. Nowadays, the industries

grow significantly with few well-known cross nation chains such as Dragon-I and

also local medium-sized restaurants such as Kam Xuen and Clan Dim Sum or

small-sized family run restaurants such as Tho Yuen.

5

b. Description of Business

Tho Yuen Dim Sum Restaurant

Tho Yuen Dim Sum Restaurant is a well-known restaurant in Penang, which

gained its popularity from their delicious pastries, especially their festive seasonal

handmade Moon cakes. Tho Yuen was established in 1936 by Mr. Hu Mei, with a

single notion of sustaining the traditional Chinese heritage of making fine Dim

Sum. After running his business for about 40 years, he migrated to Australia with

his family so he sold the restaurant to the next owner, which is the current owner

of Tho Yuen, Mr. Liong Jin Zhao. It’s been over 30 years since Mr. Leong took

over the restaurant.

Tho Yuen Restaurant is located at an old double-story traditional Peranakan style

building painted in green at Campbell Street, Penang. It is the second shop from

the cross junction of Campbell Street and Cintra Street. To ensure optimal

ventilation in the hot humid weather, the restaurant was punctuated with an air

well in the middle hall that facilitate air circulation, so that the customers can

enjoy the delicacies in comfortable ambience. Its ceiling is comparatively tall and

installed with sufficient number of ceiling fans. This restaurant has 15 workers

and all of them including the Chef are locals. Most of the workers work here since

the previous owner started the business. Tho Yuen produces more than 20 types

of traditional dim sum such as the prawn dumplings, “Siu Mai”, “Char Siew Pau”

and etc. daily and among all, prawn dumplings (“har gao”) and “Siu Mai” are the

bestsellers. The estimation number of customers per day is around 200 to 300

customers.

There are 3 competitors around the area, which are Da Dong, Long Ji and De Tai

Tong, but all of these restaurants have shorter business history compared to Tho

Yuen Restaurant. To reinforce their status as first choice restaurant among the

customers, their strategy to compete with other competitors is by creating their

own signature dishes. For example, their signature steamed chicken rice and

special noodle called “Hong Tu Noodle”, which yee mee and porridge are cooked

6

together with seafood and minced meat. Besides, they offer rational prices and

maintain close connections with old customers. Their customers ranged from the

locals of all age and international tourists. The number of international tourists

increase sharply after Tho Yuen is nominated by Trip Advisor on the net.

Although Tho Yuen has already been operating for more than 70 years but the

owner has no plan of expanding the business and the only expansion they did

was buying the shop next to them and introducing the famous Chicken Rice stall

beside their premise into their business.

7

Clan Dim Sum Restaurant

Clan Dim Sum Restaurant is also known as Da Jia Cheng Dim Sum Restaurant.

This restaurant is well-known for their Gai Woh Bao which is also known as

Chicken Nest Bun. It was founded in 2001 by Mr. Nie, the owner of the Clan

Restaurant. Since young, motivated by strong passion and interest in

quintessential Dim Sum, Mr. Nie started to learn about how to make dim sum

since young. Sparked from a little dream in a boy’s imagination, the dream has

turned into a reality and his business has stood the test of time for 13 years.

Clan Dim sum is located at Jalan Radin Anum, Sri Petaling Kuala Lumpur.

Before this, the first shop was actually located at Alam Jaya as a humble stall.

After 3 years of struggles amidst its poor business, Mr. Nie decided to take a

brave pace, to move to a more strategic place where human converge. It’s a

combination of two shop lots in a double-story building with extended roof and

premise. Typically, Dim Sum Restaurant only open in the morning, but Clan

Restaurant open throughout the day until 2am.

The approximate number of customers per day is around 500 to 600 due to its

strategic location at the town’s heart. It’s always crowded especially in the

morning, brunch time and midnight. Due to this, they hired more workers,

washing the dishes, pushing trolleys and carts filled with piping fresh dim sum

from the kitchen, preparing the most anticipated handmade Dim Sum at the

kitchen and etc. Their target of market ranged from young adults to their loyal old

customers. Besides local food lovers, the restaurant also attract patrons from

outstation, thanks to the ubiquity of internet, whereby Dim Sum connoisseurs’

high recommendations leave their trails in the viewers’ hearts.

They are also few competitors around the region, some are just a stone’s throw

away from Clan. For example, Fortune Dim Sum, Foo Yuan Dim Sum Restaurant

and World of Dim Sum. Clan Dim Sum Restaurant has invented many new

special dishes which successfully won the hearts of many such as their famous

Chicken Nest Bun, Liu Sha Bao, Yam Bun. Their highlight is Gai Woh Bao

8

(Chicken Nest Bun), with its tender bread in a shape of a ‘nest’ stuffed with

steamed glutinous rice, braised chicken, chopped char siew, diced mushrooms

and caramelized onions within. It has successfully raised their name in the dim

sum world by having interviews with not only the local media but also from

international media, such as Media Corp from Singapore.

Besides the main branch at Sri Petaling, the Restaurant has another branch

located at PJ C8, but compare to the one at Sri Petaling, the business size is

comparatively smaller.

9

C. Comparative Analysis

Item Tho Yuen Restaurant Clan Restaurant

i. Number of

competitors

There are three

competitors at the area.

First is Da Dong, next is

Long Ji, followed by Dim

Sum Food Restaurant

There are three main

competitors, who are Dim

Sum Fortune, Jin Xuan

Restaurant Sdn. Bhd. and

World of Dim Sum.

ii. Brief

Descriptions of

Competitors

1. Da Dong

- Another nominator of

Trip-Advisor Excellent Dim

Sum restaurant at Jalan

Cintra.

- Mainly focused on Dim

Sum only.

1. Dim Sum Fortune

- A local’s favorite Dim Sum

Restaurant at Bandar Seri

Petaling, known for its

reasonable price.

- Mainly selling Dim Sum

only.

2. Long Ji

- An old-fashioned Dim

Sum restaurant largely

visited by locals at Jalan

Kimberly.


Sum only.

2. Jin Xuan Restaurant Sdn.

Bhd.

- Local chain Dim Sum

restaurant with fine air-

conditioned atmosphere and

excellent food quality.

- Wide variety of Hong Kong

style Dim Sum.

3. Dim Sum Food

Restaurant

- A newly emerged rising

star in Dim Sum restaurant

at Macalister Road.


Sum only but with a touch

3. World of Dim Sum

- Newly emerged Dim Sum

restaurant just beside of Clan

restaurant with air-

conditioned premise.

- Focused on Dim Sum only.

10

of new menu.

iii. Strategies to

compete with

competitors

1. Pricing

- Reasonable and

affordable.

- Reasonable and affordable.

2. Advertisement

- The recommendation by

Trip Advisor whereby their

restaurant’s informations

and customers’ review can

be viewed online.

- Through Facebook page

and blogs of epicure.

- The recommendation by

Trip Advisor whereby their

restaurant’s informations and

customers’ review can be

viewed online.

- Through Facebook page

and blogs of epicure.

3. Variety of Dishes

- For Dim Sum, the

selection is considered

basic, with only 20+

traditional Dim Sum dishes

- Widen selections by

introducing the famous

steamed chicken rice to

cater different tastebuds.

- Successfully established

their signature dishes,

such as “Hong-Tu-Mian”

which is a fusion of

beehoon and porridge, a

novelty in Chinese dishes.

- For Dim Sum, the selection

is considered basic, with only

20+ traditional Dim Sum

dishes

- Widen selections by

introducing the famous

steamed chicken rice to cater

different tastebuds.

- Successfully established

their signature dishes, such

as “Hong-Tu-Mian” which is a

fusion of beehoon and

porridge, a novelty in

Chinese dishes.

4. Quality of Food

- Excellent quality control

and secured the taste of

traditional Cantonese Dim

- Excellent quality control and

secured the taste of

traditional Cantonese Dim

11

Sum throughout the test of

70 years

Sum throughout the test of 70

years

5. Quality of Service

- Well attained service

whereby human

connections were deeply

appreciated. The workers

are friendly and attentive,

always serving with smiles.

- Well attained service

whereby human connections

were deeply appreciated. The

workers are friendly and

attentive, always serving with

smiles.

6. Atmosphere

- Well-preserved old

premise with quaint

Chinese adornments such

as paintings and

calligraphies, giving a

sense of tranquility.

- Good ventilation

- Well-preserved old premise

with quaint Chinese

adornments such as

paintings and calligraphies,

giving a sense of tranquility.

- Good ventilation

iv. What are the

obstacles faced

by the new

businesses?

The obstacles faced by the new business that wish to enter

the markets today, one of them will be human resources.

As for now, it’s hard for a new business to build up a strong

human resource management in a short period as a long

time is needed to train the new workers. Besides, the

current market is quite occupied as there are many similar

business/restaurants out there and they are all selling the

same things. Thus makes it more difficult to start off a new

business in this industry. But, these problems can be

overcome easily if the newcomers are willing to work hard

and creatively. For example, coming up with new dish or

ideas to attract the customer’s interest and attention,

12

constantly work on the taste and types of food that suits

the market. And with these they can definitely create a

better results.

v. Nature

of

Market

Both restaurants are in Perfectly Competitive market.

- Because the restaurants are selling the same products,

which is Cantonese Dim Sum, both has a relatively small

market share that could not set any significant changes in

the market price and the consumers could not get a clear

data about the product and prices offered by ther

restauranteurs because all the data are considered

business secrets.

vi. Summary Table of Similarities and Difference

between two restaurants.

13

Tho Yuen Restaurant Similarities Clan Dim Sum Restaurant

Dim sum Main products

sold

Dim sum

Most of them are locals and

worked for a very long time.

Some since the day the

business started.

Workers Mostly locals and have been

working since the day the

restaurant was opened.

Have no plan of expanding Future plan No intention of new

branches.

Have their own signature dish

like “Hong Tu” noodle to

attract the customers.

Strategy Signature dish “Chicken

Nest Bun” that helps to build

up their popularity.

Tho Yuen Restaurant Differences Clan Dim Sum Restaurant

Tho Yuen was established in

Founder and

History Clan Dim Sum Restaurant

14

the year of 1936 by Mr. Hu

Mei. He started off this

business and ran it for around

40 years before he migrated

to Australia with his family.

He then sold the business to

the next owner which is also

the current owner of Tho

Yuen, named Mr. Liong Jin

Zhao and Mr. Liong took over

the business for more than 30

years until now.

was also known as Da Jia

Cheng Dim Sum

Restaurant, was founded in

2001 by Mr. Nie himself,

inspired by his interest and

passion in making dim sum

and pastry. Thus he started

learning to make dim sum

since young age. The

business has now operated

for nearly 13 years and it’s

growing as time passes.

Tho Yuen Restaurant is

located in a double storey

building at the Cintra Street,

Penang right next to the

popular sundry shop, Kwong

Tuck. The traditional

Peranakan style building

where the restaurant is

located is painted in vivid

apple green making it

distinctive as compared to the

other shops beside.

Location

Initially, the shop was

located at Alam Jaya but

after 3 years of struggles

amidst its poor business,

Mr. Nie decided to move to

a more strategic location,

which is the current place at

Jalan Radin Anum, Sri

Petaling, Kuala Lumpur. It’s

a combination of two shops

in a double storey building

with extended roof and

premise.

Only one main branchNumber of

Branches

Beside the main brunch in

Sri Petaling, there is another

branch in PJ C8.

Selling all kind of dim sum

15

Besides dim sum, they also

sell chicken rice, noodles,

dumpling soup and

mooncakes.

Types of

products soldonly.

Half day, 6AM – 3PM Business hour8PM – 2PM, even open

during midnight.

Handle by family and pass

down generation by

generation. The current

owner is second generation.

Business

operation

Handle by the owner himself

only, so far no passing

down of business.

Around 200 to 300 customers

daily and the number varies

according to weekdays and

weekend

Number of

customers

About 500 to 600 customers

daily

Regular customers and

tourists from all around the

world

Targeted market People from all ages.

Vii. Conclusion

Based on our analysis, we all agreed that Clan Dim Sum Restaurant definitely

has more business potential since Clan Dim Sum Restaurant has already

expanded to its second branch in only 13 years while Tho Yuen has only one

16

branch although it has been 70 years. Besides, Clan Dim Sum Restaurant focus

mainly on dim sum and they keep coming up with new menu and signature dish

to suit the market. Clan Dim Sum Restaurant’s longer business hour as

compared to the half day business of Tho Yuen, is a strong advantage in order to

attract more customers especially those customers who enjoy supper at late

night, which is also a norm among the community. And Clan Dim Sum

Restaurant has been interviewed by not only local media but also other media

who came from overseas such as Singapore. Clan Dim Sum Restaurant has

already gained their popularity in the world of dim sum especially around that

area. In conclusion, we think that Clan Dim Sum Restaurant is apparently more

commercially successful.

RecommendationBase on the previous general comparison between Penang’s Tho Yuen

Restaurant and Sri Petaling’s Clan Dim Sum restaurant, we can conclude that

although Clan Dim Sum restaurant has a higher number of customers compared

17

to Tho Yuen Restaurant. Although Tho Yuen Restaurant is located in tourist area

and had a reputable rating in Trip Advisor, their number of customers are

constrained due to limited amount of space in their restaurant and the number of

tables and chairs available to cater the large amount of customers. Besides that,

their operating hours are also not as long as Sri Petaling’s Clan Dim Sum

Restaurant. Tho Yuen’s operates 9 hours while Sri Petaling Clan Restaurant

operates 17 hours. Therefore, below are some recommendations for both of the

restaurants to improve their business.

Penang’s Tho Yuen Dim Sum Restaurant

1. Expansion Of Tho Yuen Empire

Still standing strong at 70 years old, Tho Yuen Dim Sum had braced itself

against modern competitors and stand out among the others. To further

18

enhance the business, Tho Yuen Dim Sum should consider strengthening

their brand. Tactics include advertisements along Penang’s street, this is

to make locals and tourist aware the significance of their restaurant.

Furthermore, they should also improve and market their signature dish

“Hong Tu Noodle” as it is first of its kind. The next step is to consider

opening their second and third branch on the southern side of Penang

Island and also across the Penang Bridge in Province Wellesley. In this

way they could cater the tourist demand for Dim Sum dishes. They could

also franchise their brand to potential business investors to grow their

empire towards the Peninsular Malaysia and Singapore too.

2. Tourist Magnet

As Tho Yuen is located in the heart of tourist spot, they should seize this

opportunity to market Dim Sum as an attraction in Penang. To do this they

can hire artist to paint graffiti’s of Dim Sum in the streets of Penang. In this

way they could attract foreign tourist to savor their dishes. In the meantime

they could also cooperate with Malaysia’s tourist agency to promote Dim

Sum as “Delicacies not to be missed in Malaysia” to the world. They could

lead the Dim Sum industry in promoting Dim Sum to foreign tourist and

gain recognition around the world.

Sri Petaling Clan Dim Sum Restaurant

1. Modernize Business

As Klang valley is teeming with middle income urbanites, the demand for

clean and modern restaurants increases. Clan Dim Sum could consider

19

upgrading their restaurant by installing glass walls and air-conditioners.

They should also refurnish their old table and chairs into new sets to

attract the middle incomes who wish to enjoy a more luxurious restaurant.

Another way to improve efficiency of the restaurant is by introducing digital

menus so customers could order food with a tap of their fingers. Besides

that, they could install “Dim Sum-go-round”, a conveyor belt table used to

carry dim sum around the restaurant to increase performance.

2. Mega Restaurant

Conventional way to expand a business is by opening new outlets, but

Clan Dim Sum could take over shops beside them and renovate it into a

“Mega Restaurant”. It can cater over hundreds of customers at the same

time, perfect for hosting wedding dinners or annual dinners. By going big,

it will attract more customers from other regions instead of feeding only

local customers. They could also form partnership with other restaurants

around the area and work together as a team, providing substantial variety

of food for their customers so they would keep coming back.

Bibliography

20

1. Ciki. (2011 December 28). Sri Petaling Clan Dim Sum. Retrieved May 25,

2014, from CC Food Travel website : http://ccfoodtravel.com/2011/12/sri-

petaling-clan-dimsum/

2. Top 5 places to enjoy Dim Sum in KL. (2012 Jun 1). Retrieved Jun 1,

2014, from Lifestyle Asia website :

http://www.lifestyleasia.com/kl/en/dining/eat/feature/top-5-dim-sum-in-kl-

11762/

3. Summerkid_summergirl. (2012 February 17). Restoran Clan Sri Petaling.

Retrieved May 20 2014, from Malaysian Flavours website :

http://www.malaysianflavours.com/2012/02/restoran-clan-

%E5%A4%A7%E5%AE%B6%E5%9F%8E%E7%82%B9%E5%BF

%83%E8%8C%B6%E6%A5%BC-sri-petaling.html

4. Robyn, E. (2008). Food & Drink. Australia, AUS : Kuala Lumpur, Melaka &

Penang.

5. Cuisine of Hong Kong. (2004). Singapore, SG : Hong Kong.

Appendices

21

http://www.malaysianflavours.com/2012/02/restoran-clan-%E5%A4%A7%E5%AE%B6%E5%9F%8E%E7%82%B9%E5%BF%83%E8%8C%B6%E6%A5%BC-sri-petaling.html



http://www.lifestyleasia.com/kl/en/dining/eat/feature/top-5-dim-sum-in-kl-11762/

http://www.lifestyleasia.com/kl/en/dining/eat/feature/top-5-dim-sum-in-kl-11762/

http://ccfoodtravel.com/2011/12/sri-petaling-clan-dimsum/

http://ccfoodtravel.com/2011/12/sri-petaling-clan-dimsum/

Appendix 1 : Interview Questions

Background

1. When did you started this business?

2. Who is the founder of this business?

3. Can you tell us briefly about the background and history of your business?

4. What are the main products being sold here?

5. What are the signature dish in your restaurant?

6. How many branches do you have?

7. How many workers do you have?

Analysis of Data

1. What is the estimation number of customers that visit your restaurant

daily? (Approximately)

2. Who are your competitors around this area?

3. How is your business operating so far? Is there any circumstance or

obstacle?

Recommendation

1. What is your future plan for the business?

2. What strategy do you use to compete with your competitors?

Appendix 2 : Interview Notes

22

Shop name : Tho Yuen Restaurant

Date : 16th May 2014

Time : 1.30PM – 3.30PM


This restaurant was previously owned by another person named Mr.

Hu Mei at the year of 1936 and my husband’s father bought it over

around 30 years ago.


The founder of this business was Mr. Hu Mei but he had now migrated

to Australia with his family.

3. Can you tell us briefly about the background and history of your

business?

We are the second owner of this business actually as the first owner,

Mr. Hu sold away his business because he was migrating to Australia

with the family.


The main products sold here are dim sum, besides we are also selling

chicken rice, noodles and dumpling soups in the afternoon. We also

sell moon cake during the festival.

5. What are the signature dishes in your restaurant?

Our signature dish will be dim sum, egg tart and our very own remedy

called “Hong Tu” Noodle.


23

We have no any other branch and this is the only one. But we bought

over the shop next door and combined to our business.


We have 15 workers to run the business including two cooks in the

kitchen and one to watch over the chicken rice stall.

8. What is the estimation number of customers that visit your

restaurant daily? (Approximately)

Around 100-200 maybe? But the number is not consistent as we have

more customers during public holidays and weekends and most of

them are regular customers.

9. How is your business operating so far? Is there any circumstance

or obstacle?

The business now is so far so good as we have our own regular old

customers.

10.What is your future plan for the business?

So far we have no future plan of expanding the business as we have

not enough workers at this moment.

11.Who are your competitors around this area?

We have other dim sum restaurants along the street as well like Da

Dong, Long Ji and De Tai Tong restaurants.

12.What strategy do you use to compete with your competitors?

We have no specific strategy used but we do have our signature dish

that attract the customers to come to try out.

Shop name : Clan Dim Sum Restaurant (Da Jia Cheng)

24

Date : 24th May 2014

Time : 12.00PM – 3.00PM


I started off this business in the year of 2001.


I’m Mr. Nie and I’m the founder of this restaurant as I was motivated by

the interest and passion I have in making dim sum since young age

thus I started my own dim sum restaurant.

3. Can you tell us briefly about the background and history of your

business?

The first branch I had was actually at Alam Jaya and I struggled for

around 3 years because the business there wasn’t really good. Then I

decided to move here and things get better.


We are selling all kind of dim sum from the usual “pau” (bun) to

“cheong fun” (rice noodle rolls), prawn dumplings and “siew mai” (pork)

and also dessert dim sum like taufa and yam pau.

5. What are the signature dishes in your restaurant?

The signature dish of our restaurant will be our very own specially

made dish called “Gai Woh Bau” (Chicken Nest Bun). We have been

interviewed by media for this dish.


So far I have only two branches, one which is here and another one is

located at PJ C8.


25

I have around 20 plus of workers working here and most of them are

locals.

8. What is the estimation number of customers that visit your

restaurant daily? (Approximately)

I have more than 500 customers daily, most of them come in the

morning or afternoon for breakfast and brunch. We even have

customers during midnight.

9. How is your business operating so far? Is there any circumstance or

obstacle?

Not really, I don’t have much problems in handling the business so far.

10.What is your future plan for the business?

I have no plan of having new branches now.

11.Who are your competitors around this area?

Actually there are many other dim sum restaurants around this area.

For example, Dim Sum Fortune, World of Dim Sum and Restaurant

Foo Yuan Dim Sum.

12.What strategy do you use to compete with your competitors?

I don’t use any strategy but to work hard for my own business, just do my

best for everything that’s it.

Appendix 3 : Photo26

Shop name: Tho Yuen Restaurant

Date: 16 May 2014

Time: 1.30PM - 3.30PM

Photo 1: The main entrance of Tho Yuen Restaurant.

Photo2: From this photo, we can know this restaurant is well known enough as it even attracted tourists from overseas to come over.

27

Photo 3: The wife of the owner of Tho Yuen Restaurant.

Photo 4: All of us were paying full attention to the lady boss during the interview and we have also recorded and written down all the important details mentioned.

28

Photo 5: After the interview, we had our lunch over there and the lady boss recommended few of their signature dishes for us to try out.

29

Shop name: Clan Dim Sum Restaurant

Date: 24 May 2014

Time: 12.00PM - 3.00PM

Photo 6: The outlook of Clan Dim Sum Restaurant.

Photo 7: The signboard of Clan Dim Sum Restaurant with their signature dish Gai Woh Bao (Chicken Nest Bun).

30

Photo 8: As recommended by the owner and the worker there, we have ordered their most liked dishes.

Photo 9: Gai Woh Bao (Chicken Nest Bun), their most well known and signature dish with glutinous rice cooked with chicken and wrapped in a layer of dough.

31

Appendix 4 : Minutes

Minutes 1MAY 9, 2014 1PM – 3PM TAYLOR’S LAKESIDE CAMPUS

MEETING CALLED BY Sharon

NOTE TAKER Tan Chiew Nee

TIMEKEEPER Angoline Boo

ATTENDEES Alfred, Angeline, Chiew Nee, Ling Rong, Jia Jian, Sharon

1 HOURS CHOICE OF BUSINESS TO COMPARE SHARON

DISCUSSION

-Discuss about the types of business that we would like to research in Penang and Klang Valley and further narrow down the scope.

-Search the internet to find more about the businesses which has been operating for 15 to 20 years in Penang and Klang Valley.

CONCLUSIONSFew of choices such as Cafe, Seafood Restaurant, Dim Sum Restaurant and Kopitiam

-Dim Sum Restaurant was chosen because Penang and Klang Valley are both cities with high Chinese population who usually enjoy Dim Sum and there are lots of old traditional Dim Sum restaurants at these regions.

ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE

Camera, note books, stationary All members 13 May 2014

32

Minutes 2

MAY 13, 2014 10AM – 3PM TAYLOR’S LAKESIDE CAMPUS

MEETING CALLED BY Tan Ling Rong

NOTE TAKER Tan Chiew Nee

TIMEKEEPER Angeline


1 HOURS DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONNAIRE LIST TAN LING RONG

DISCUSSION

-Discuss the interview questions about the business in Penang and Klang Valley.

CONCLUSIONS22 questions about history, founder, marketing strategies, branches of business, challenges of business, scale of business and future plans of the restaurateurs.

Based on the sample questions provided by Miss Cassie, we further developed a few more questions in order to have a more holistic approach about the business.


Questionnaire list, Camera, note books, stationary All members 15 May 2014

33

Minutes 3

MAY 20, 2014 10AM – 3PM TAYLOR’S LAKESIDE CAMPUS

MEETING CALLED BY Chiew Nee

NOTE TAKER Jia Jian

TIMEKEEPER Angeline


3 HOURS DISTRIBUTION OF TASKS AND COMPILATION CHIEW NEE

DISCUSSION Analyze the information and writing of report

- Sort, analyze and interpret all the information, videos, photos and notes.

- Distribute the tasks among members and compile the works via email after completion of individual task.

CONCLUSIONS Tasks are divided equally to each member and compiled the report.


Camera, note books, stationary, laptops All members 20 May 2014

34

References

1. Personal Interview in Person

Structure : Nie Cheng. (2014, May 24). Personal Interview.

2. Personal Interview in Person

Structure : Mrs. Liong. (2014, May 16). Personal Interview.

3. Chew, J. (2004, October 1). Tho Yuen Stood the Test of Time. Sin

Chew Daily, pp 11.

35

Entertainment & Humor

English research full report (2)