Tho Yuen Restaurant in Penang and Clan Dim Sum Restaurant in Kuala Lumpur are both longstanding dim sum restaurants that specialize in traditional Cantonese dim sum. While both face competition from other local dim sum restaurants, they have each developed signature dishes and maintain quality food and service to retain customers. A key difference is that Tho Yuen has been operated by the same family for over 70 years, while Clan Dim Sum was founded more recently in 2001 by its current owner.

1. 1
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

2. 2
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 – 5
6 – 9
10 – 17
6. Recommendations 18 – 20
7. Bibliography 21
8. Appendices 22 – 34
9. References 35

3. 3
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.

4. 4
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.

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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.

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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

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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.

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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

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(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.

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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.
- Mainly focused on Dim
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.
3. World of Dim Sum
- Newly emerged Dim Sum
restaurant just beside of Clan
restaurant with air-
conditioned premise.
- Focused on Dim Sum only.

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- Mainly focused on Dim
Sum only but with a touch
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

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- Excellent quality control
and secured the taste of
traditional Cantonese Dim
Sum throughout the test of
70 years
- Excellent quality control and
secured the taste of
traditional Cantonese Dim
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

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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,
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.

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vi. Summary Table of Similarities and Difference
between two restaurants.
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.

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Tho Yuen Restaurant Differences Clan Dim Sum Restaurant
Tho Yuen was established in
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.
Founder and
History
Clan Dim Sum Restaurant
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.

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Only one main branch
Number of
Branches
Beside the main brunch in
Sri Petaling, there is another
branch in PJ C8.
Besides dim sum, they also
sell chicken rice, noodles,
dumpling soup and
mooncakes.
Types of
products sold
Selling all kind of dim sum
only.
Half day, 6AM – 3PM Business hour
8PM – 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.

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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
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.

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Recommendation
Base 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
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.

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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
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.

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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
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.

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Bibliography
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.

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Appendices
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?

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Appendix 2 : Interview Notes
Shop name : Tho Yuen Restaurant
Date : 16th May 2014
Time : 1.30PM – 3.30PM
1. When did you started this business?
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.
2. Who is the founder of this business?
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.
4. What are the main products being sold here?
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.

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6. How many branches do you have?
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.
7. How many workers do you have?
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.

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Shop name : Clan Dim Sum Restaurant (Da Jia Cheng)
Date : 24th May 2014
Time : 12.00PM – 3.00PM
1. When did you started this business?
I started off this business in the year of 2001.
2. Who is the founder of this business?
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.
4. What are the main products being sold here?
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.
6. How many branches do you have?
So far I have only two branches, one which is here and another one is
located at PJ C8.

26. 26
7. How many workers do you have?
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.

27. 27
Appendix 3 : Photo
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.

28. 28
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.

29. 29
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.

30. 30
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).

31. 31
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.

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Appendix 4 : Minutes
Minutes 1
MAY 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.
CONCLUSIONS
Few 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

33. 33
Minutes 2
MAY 13, 2014 10AM – 3PM TAYLOR’S LAKESIDE CAMPUS
MEETING CALLED BY Tan Ling Rong
NOTE TAKER Tan Chiew Nee
TIMEKEEPER Angeline
ATTENDEES Alfred, Angeline, Chiew Nee, Ling Rong, Jia Jian, Sharon
1 HOURS DISCUSSION OF QUESTIONNAIRE LIST TAN LING RONG
DISCUSSION
-Discuss the interview questions about the business in Penang and Klang Valley.
CONCLUSIONS
22 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.
ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE
Questionnaire list, Camera, note books, stationary All members 15 May 2014

34. 34
Minutes 3
MAY 20, 2014 10AM – 3PM TAYLOR’S LAKESIDE CAMPUS
MEETING CALLED BY Chiew Nee
NOTE TAKER Jia Jian
TIMEKEEPER Angeline
ATTENDEES Alfred, Angeline, Chiew Nee, Ling Rong, Jia Jian, Sharon
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.
ACTION ITEMS PERSON RESPONSIBLE DEADLINE
Camera, note books, stationary, laptops All members 20 May 2014

35. 35
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.