What a shame, that yet another dai pai dong has had to call it quits. The famous Man Yuen noodle shop in Central shut for the last time yesterday at 8pm after mounting pressure from the government since the license holder passed away back in May. Only spouses may inherit the license; this licencee was single.
Food critic Lau Kin Wai said of the closure (from the SCMP):
“When the government is spending billions of dollars building a culture district in West Kowloon, they are ignoring the local culture,” he said. “The right way to treat the hygiene problem of dai pai dongs is reinforcing management, not killing them.”
I could not agree more. The government automatically assumes that outside=dirty and conversely believes that indoors=clean. This oversimplistic assessment of hygiene is typical of the HKSAR. I am in no doubt that there are many lingering filthy restaurants, and there is no reson to think that outdoor premises cannot be kept clean either. What is important is management and standards : good standards can be maintained under both circumstances, and it would be far more productive to tackle the problem from that angle rather than shutting down dai pai dongs under the banner of hygiene.
As usual, this government seems more concerned about ‘image’ and has little interest in preservation of culture. It is more interested in creating artificial “cultural events”, or spawning new developments in the belief that new projects are the only things that attract visitors and locals. When I travel it is the tradition and culture I am interested in – any country can build a disneyland or a cable car if they wanted to… but history and culture evolves and spans hundreds (if not thousands) of years. As does the food – and for many, food is an important part of our lives.
When will the government learn that our heritage and history are as important as development for the future?