Full

School of Architecture, Building and Design
Foundation in Natural and Build Environments (FNBE)

English 2 (ENGL0205)

A Comparative Analysis of 2 Businesses of Similar Industry
in Different Geographical Locations

GROUP MEMBERS
Shirley Liew Qiao Li
Johnson Chan Zhuang Sheng
Peh Ker Nerng
Jason Lee Yaue Shen
Liu Wei Cheng
SUBMISSION DATE
10.2.2014 (WEEK 18)

LECTURER
Miss Cassandra Wijesuria

TABLE OF CONTENT
Content

Page

Key Summary

1

Research Essay

2-6

Trade: Chinese Restaurant

-Introduction of Yut Kee Kopitiam
-Introduction of Heng Heng Kopitiam
-Introduction of Kar Heong Restaurant
-Contrast and comparison of Yut Kee Kopitiam, Heng Heng
Kopitiam and Kar Heong Restaurant
Comparative Analysis of the Businesses‟ Competitive Triats

7-8

Recommendation

9-10

Bibliography
Appendix

-Research questions with answers
-Meeting minutes
-Photos

11
12-20

INTRODUCTION

Nowadays, business plays an important role in the economic world. Without a good
economy, we are not able to have our education like what we do now. Our English lecturer, Miss
Cassandra did not forget about the contribution of business, she provided us a chance to get to
know more about the running system in variety of business. A research assignment was provided
to us. We are required to do some researches on 3 businesses with similar industries. Based on
the requirements, we had chosen the businesses of Chinese restaurants as our research topic. We
will compare their business operating systems from past until now.
Chinese restaurant is an establishment that serves Chinese cuisine and it is well-known in
Malaysia. Styles and tastes of Chinese cuisine are also varied by class, region and ethnic
background. This led to an unparalleled range of ingredients, techniques, dishes and eating styles
in what could be called Chinese food. The spirits of the old Chinese kept the true originalities of
the Chinese cuisine until now, Chinese people do not forget the tastes and cultures of Chinese
food. So, we are interested to get know more about the Chinese cuisine business.
Besides, we will get to know the background stories, sustainability, business environment
and etc. After having our information from our researches, a presentation and report must be
done by us in the selected date by our lecturer. Through this project, we will get to know more
about what kind of businesses are running in Malaysia.

RESEARCH ESSAY

Yut Kee is one of the oldest coffee shops in Kuala Lumpur and this outstanding coffee shop was
established since the year of 1928. Yut Kee is located at Dang Wangi, Kuala Lumpur and this old coffee
shop had successfully operated for more than a half century. Yut Kee is well known of its Hainanese
cuisine, this brings in a huge crowd. Tai Fu is the founder of Yat Kee, he was the chef of a businessman.
This restaurant was passed down to Jack Lee, and eventually his son, Mervyn took over it. Today, this
restaurant is already run by the third generations.

Hainanese are known for whipping up Westernized Malaysian dishes during the pre-war era. The
founder is one of the great Hainanese cooks. Yut Kee is still practicing its long-standing Hainan‟s
traditional cuisine until today. Due to the originality, this restaurant is still a famous stop for breakfast and
lunch by the locals and non-locals customer. Bonding is very important to sustain the restaurant, the
owner says that this restaurant is all about bonding. Because this is a family business, it bonding the
whole family together. The owner of Yut Kee remembers all the close customers‟ names. He believes that
this little stuff might create trust between each other and it lets the customers feel warm.

Pontian is a district in Johor. It was formed from a fish village and slowly become a town that
famous with seafood. The name of Pontian comes from a Malay word „perhentian‟ which also means
stop.For the cuisine in Pontian, the Pontian style wanton mee is a must try dishes. It is unique with it
chewy texture and also the homemade tomato sauce. This recipe is created by old Mr Loh who is the
founder of Heng Heng Kopitiam. Mr Loh comes from Guangzhou, China. His father decided migrated to
Malayisa to seek for a better life due to the civil war.

In early time, Mr Loh handmade their own noodle, and also all the other special ingredient such as
wan ton(dumpling), char siew and etc. As the technology becomes more advanced, they start to use
machines to replace hand making to increase the productivity. Even though they are using machines, but
they still strongly maintain the quality and taste.

The customers are mainly local, sometimes many of the Singaporeans will visit the restaurant too.
He believes that providing good quality of food can keep their loyalty to the food. Pontian Wan Tan Mee
had became the most important feature in Pontian. It is not just a meal, it also has the contribution for the
Pontian economy. It will attract the foreigner to come and enjoy the delicious noodles.

Tan Ang Ang, the founder of Kar Heong Restaurant is the descendent of „Hokkien‟. When he was
young, his family is facing financial problem. He had been forced to give up on his studies and learnt to
make the Ipoh chicken rice. After that, he went oversea and worked there for a few years. He started
working as the supplier of fruit juice and soya bean when he came back Malaysia in 1980. Since he had
well culinary skill, his family encouraged him to start the chicken rice business. His wife is the local of
Ipoh, she helped a lot in advising him to the original taste of Ipoh chicken rice.

In year 2007, he started with a small hawker stall. Surprisingly, his business grew up and became
more and more famous. Most of the customers suggested him to expand his business by opening in a shop
lot. Then, he opened a restaurant which named „Restaurant Kar Heong‟ in Petaling Jaya. They face the
problem of not enough workers and also the foreign workers doesn‟t have the knowledge on how to
solve the customer request. They also feel that it is hard to communicate with the workers due to language
barrier. He will try to do everything by himself even though they have a lot of workers helping them. He
determines to make everything homemade. This is to keep the food quality and make sure the customers
are satisfied with the foods.

03

When one is deciding where to go to have a meal, the type of foods is the first point to
consider. Yut Kee Kopitiam is a Hainan traditional cuisine with its Hainanese chicken or pork
chop. Yut Kee is well-known for its westernised Malaysian dishes as Malaysia had been
colonized by western country before. For example, the signature chicken chop is served with
glossy Worcestershire sauce-seasoned onion gravy, peas and potato wedges. This dish is just like
the western chicken chop which comes with mushroom sauce and French fries. Since their foods
is still stick to the original 1928 recipes, many of the customers visit here to get back their
childhood memories.
To those who really like to have noodles as breakfast or lunch, Heng Heng Kopitiam
where only sells Pontian Wan Tan Mee is the best choice for them. The Pontian mee is a unique
Johor dish with a tomato-based sauce which is a blend of ketchup, oyster sauce, soya sauce and
sesame oil. This Pontian mee taste like Chinese-style spaghetti because of the special concocted
sauce. Although Heng Heng Kopitiam runs their business just not like the Yut Kee Kopitiam by
selling variety of dishes, but the Pontian mee has spread to every corner of Johor and even
Singapore. They also originally supplied the mushrooming franchise‟s egg noodles to the others.
Another Chinese restaurant we had interviewed is Kar Heong Restaurant. Just like Heng
Heng Kopitiam, Kar Heong Restaurant is selling Ipoh traditional chicken rice and sar hor fun.
Nga Choy Gai（Ipoh traditional chicken rice）and sar hor fun are totally Chinese foods as they
originally come from Ipoh and do not mix with westernised ingredients. Nga Choy Gai provides
different taste for those chicken lover .
A relaxed and clean environment attracts customers to come back again and again. Yut
Kee Kopitiam has survived for 86 years since 1928. Since this is a old kopitiam, they still remain
the same design of the restaurant. The black and white photos and hand-written menu hang on
the wall is creating a nostalgic environment.

This typical Chinese kopitiam is using dark wooden chairs and round marble table as part of the
decoration. Chinese had started using wood as the chief building materials since long time ago.
The crowd in the kopitiam is producing many noises as there are a lot of locals and tourists.
Improper air circulation affect by the poor airflow is just creating an uncomfortable environment.
Heng Heng Kopitiam is quiet different from the Yut Kee Kopitiam because of the
choosen furnitures. Heng Heng Kopitiam is using round wood tables, wooden chairs and blue
plastic chairs which more modern than Yut Kee Kopitiam. Another point is that Heng Heng
Kopitiam creates a clean and pleasant environment for the customers. Because the location is
outside the noise, customers can have their meals in a safe breathing environment. The hawker is
preparing the dishes in a opening small kitchen, so that they have enough space for other uses.
Kar Heong restaurant is using this method as well. Kar Heong‟s kitchen is outside the airconditioned room while counter and costumers are doing inside.
Kar Heong is a restaurant mixing traditional and modern. Those newspaper clippings are
simple decorations for this restaurant. Other than that, light green painted walls are giving a fresh
feeling to the costumers. While walking in the restaurant, the coldness of environment is coming
towards. It is totally different with Yut Kee. Kar Heong is providing a modern environment by
decorating with old fashion floor tiles.
Location of a restaurant can be part of the costumer‟s consideration. Yut Kee is located in
a corner old fashion shop lot which inherit from the past. Jalan Dang Wangi is a street located in
the middle of city. This old school restaurant normally visits by old customers because young
people more likely to visit shopping mall instead of walking around heritage. Although the
location is less traffic, many of the tourists or visitors are attracted to visit this remote place, just
because its culinary delicacies.

04

Heng Heng is opened at Pontian where is 62km away from Johor Bharu.At first, Pontian is
a village and then has developed become a small town. Same as Yut Kee, Heng Heng is located in
a remote street but visitors from neighbouring towns and Singapore regularly visit Pontian to have
a try at Pontian Wan Tan Mee.
Kar Heong is different from the two restaurant. Kar Heong has moved from SS9 to SS15
in 2007. SS15 is an area with high traffic.Kar Heong chooses a great location where surrounded
by three colleges, one high school and a few of residential areas. According to the owner, their
main customers are those students and families. The shop lots are not that outstanding but the
location covers the weakness. People always choose a convenient place to have meal. After they
have a try, they will bring the other friends or families here. Then this place is slowly visited by a
lot of people.
According to a famous saying, when a Chinese individual is honoured, his or her family
is also honoured. The family is a foundation of most Chinese organizations, including the
business. Three of the Chinese restaurants are running by family business. These typical Chinese
business is headed by a patriarchal, normally who is the founder. At the same time, the whole
family members will help up in the business. They have their key positions. Even when their
business become more aware, they basically will hire some workers but the decisions are made
by the family members together. Heng Heng Kopitiam is took over by his son and daughter by
running two outlets today.
The heads of Chinese family businesses usually are succeeded by family members who
carry the business tradition to the next generation. As an example, Yut Kee was found in 1928.
Today it‟s being run by the third generation of the family. This restaurant is passed down to Jack
Lee and his son, Mervyn takes over. As the market becomes more global the traditional model is
changing.Business families are beginning to adopt business practices that are more consistent.
Despite these changes, the sense of the family remains strong and it is likely that the family first,
business second attitude will continue into the future.

05

COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS

Competitive behaviors refer to self-interest or advantage that an individual, Enterprise,
Companies and industries have over its competitors in order to increase its strength, Wealth or personal
gains. Every business has its own competitive behaviors. This is a comparative analysis of Kar Heong,
Heng Heng and Yut Kee.
Kar Heong is a restaurant that well known of its chicken rice. It is located at SS15 and there are
many different types of business running at that area. However, there is only one competitor that running
against Kar Heong, which is New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice. New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken Rice is
operated since 1977, it is famous of its traditional and unique food preparation methods. To sustain its
business, Kar Heong had adjusted the pricing of their chicken rice. This is the only strategy that Kar
Heong practicing, the owner tells that when their price is reasonable they can fight against every
competitor. The pricing of Kar Heong is lower than New Restaurant Ipoh Chicken; this shows the price as
the competition advantage. Competition advantage is an advantage over competitors gained by offering
consumers greater value by a lower price.
Heng Heng is a restaurant that mainly sells wanton mee and it is located at Pontian, Johor. There
are a lot of competitors in its respective geographical markets. There is no specific restaurant to be
mention because wanton mee is selling almost everywhere in Johor. Due to huge number of replication by
others, Heng Heng is facing highly competitive challenges. To complete with its competitors, Heng Heng
maintains its food quality and taste. Although Heng Heng had operated over 60 years, but they still trying 07
their best to maintain the quality n taste by using the traditional recipe and ingredient. The owner trusts
that no advertisement is needed if their food is nice to eat and the taste and quality can be maintained.
Today, Heng Heng is still running their business successfully; the unique taste of the wanton mee brings
in many customers and it cannot be replaced.
Yut Kee is one of the oldest coffee shops in Kuala Lumpur, it is established since 1928. Yut Kee
has a big competitior, which is Nan Xing. This is a big challenge for Yut Kee because the cuisines they
selling are almost the same with Nan Xing. The local people always compare their foods, no matter
pricing, quality or taste. Yut Kee is a family business, they overcome every problem together, and they

have many new strategies to run their business. To sustain the restaurant, Yut Kee practicing a method
until now, which is keep it same. Yut Kee practicing the traditional cuisine and is remaining the old
fashioned, which is the Chinese setting. The taste of every cuisine is maintaining almost same as the past,
and the shop is full of the old stuff such as old portraits, marble table and wooden chair. Besides the old
cuisine, the mother of the owner had invented a new cuisine that is roasted pork roll that has become the
best seller of the restaurant. Yut Kee trusts that bonding is very important to sustain the restaurant. The
bonding between customers and the owner, for example they remember all the close customers‟ names,
he says that this little stuff might create trust between each other and it let the customers feel warm. With
the unique of cuisine, the vintage setting and the feel of warm, Yut Kee has successfully sustains it
business for more than a half century. However, Nan Xing had affected by Yut Kee and is closed due to
bankruptcy.

Based on the analysis, Yut Kee is more commercially successful compare to Kar Heong and
Heng Heng. This is because Yut Kee has better business strategies, they know how to overcome the
problems they facing and also know how to attract customers by invent the new cuisine. Yut Kee had
operated for more than a half century; this proves that Yut Kee is successful and strong. Yut Kee
maintains its originality to run its business.

RECOMMENDATION
Yut Kee is able to expand its business by opening another outlet. There are too crowding
when the lunch time. This produces a chaos when everyone is going to pay at the same time.
They can change their running system to family-directed operation which is controlled by the
family, even the business is publicly held corporation. They can hire professional managers to
help them in the outlets but they generally take a hands-on approach in the affairs of the business.
Managers are being valued on other attributes. Traditionally, passing business to the next
generation is a means of maintaining family heritage but now this is an opportunity for
reorganization. For addition, poor air circulations will cause high temperature of a space. Yut
Kee should change their old school fans to run ceiling fans and window fans. In addition to the
exhaust fans that improve the overall air, traditional fans can ensure that the air continues to
circulate. Window fans are especially useful for this purpose. Overall, Yut Kee should take this
opportunity to improve their competitiveness.
To have the original taste of Pontian Wan Tan Mee, Heng Heng is the best choice of
everyone. Heng Heng has the potential to open franchises just like Pontian Wanton Noodles
House did before. Franchising is the practice of using another firm's successful business
model. Since there are a lot of customers from Singapore and Kuala Lumpur, Heng Heng can
sell the franchise licenses to the locals of Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Before Heng Heng is
started everything, they should conduct market research before selling a new outlet to franchisee.
Heng Heng can beat other similar restaurant by selling their product to different cities. Normally,
customers will find out the first restaurant to have a try on the really original taste. Other than
that, Pontian Wan Tan Mee should create more choice of foods. Heng Heng can create some new
dishes to the visitors from different places. Customers like to have variety of menu options. They
even will come back again and again to test the other menu.

The first recommendation on improving the competitiveness of the Kar Heong Restaurant
is to expand another outlet out of Petaling Jaya. Kar Heong has caught public attention by
getting interviews from newspapers and some TV programmes. So, they can use this
opportunity to open another outlet in another area. Again, Kar Heong is located in ss15 which is
near to a few of collages and residential areas. It has a good and convenient location to the
students who rent a room in the residential areas. Sometimes students from different places do
not own a car, so they need to walk out to the shops to have meal. By this opportunity, they can
try to start a delivery service to the nearby neighbourhood. They can have extra charges for the
delivery fees. Other than gain profit, they can get more outside customers who cannot get a seat
in the restaurant.

Tan Suet Kim, Founder, 012-6935355
60, Jalan SS 14/2, Subang Jaya, 47500, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.
http://panpages.my/listings/my87553-restoran-kar-heong-家香怡保河粉芽菜鸡
When the business started? What are the reasons to start the business?
Tan Suet Kim started his eatery business in 1980 by opening a small stall. Due to economic problem, he
continued his business at her stall for 27 years. In 2007, she opened a restaurant which was located in
ss15.
What was the motive for starting the business?
In the beginning, his business was running in a stall. After that, he had opened his restaurant in 2007
when he had stable income.
What is the main product? Are the product handmade or by machine? By own company or have
supply?
The main products of his eatery are chicken rice, Ipoh hor fan, Ipoh sprouts, fresh prawn wantan noodles
and roasted pork. Besides, most of the ingredients were supplied by food supplier.

Who are the main customers?
The main customers are students because the location of the restaurant is near to school area. Some of the
students bring their family along to enjoy their meal. Due to the quality and uniqueness of the food, the
customers had made the business of Kar Heong restaurant into fame. The restaurant is getting more
popular.
Can you provide us brief history? How about your recent development?
When the founder was young, he was not educated. Fortunately, he had found his interest in making
chicken rice. He was encouraged by his family to open a restaurant. So, he had opened his restaurant in
1980. After, that he made his restaurant in franchise. Recently, he had opened 2 retail restaurants in
Selangor area.
Do you have many competitors? Who are them? Who are your top 3 competitors?
Kar Heong restaurant did not have any competitors when 77 Hor Fun Chicken Rice shop was beaten by
them.
What is your strategy?
The selling price of the food was set in low and reasonable price. Reasonable price of the food had
attracted a lot of customers. Besides, Kar Heong restaurant was advertised by different types of mass
media such as newspaper, television programmes and magazines.
What is their main problem of this business?
The main problem faced by Kar Heong restaurant is the weakness of the workers on running eatery
business. Worker did not have knowledge on how to serve customer. As examples, they did not know
how to cook a proper food and clean the surrounding of the restaurant.

12

13

Tai Yu, Founder, 60 3-2698 8108
35,Jalan Dang Wangi, 50100 Kuala Lumpur, Wilayah Persekutuan Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/鎰記茶餐室/251023431653438?fref=ts

The business started in 1928. The business started because the economy problem so the founder switch on
to this business, because with a good cooking craft. Another reason is this business with low capital and
spending. All the things are handmade.
The founder was well- known in cooking Hainanese food. As a Hainanese, he did not abandon the food
culture of the Hainanese food. He was determined to open a Hainanese restaurant to sustain the originality
of Hainanese food.
What is the main product? Are the product handmade or by machine? By own company or have
supply?
Most of the food is handmade. The popular food are Hainan Chicken Chop, Roast Pork Chop, Lum Mee,
Lamb Chop, Fried HaiLam Mee, Roti Babi.

Most of the customers are old customers who are known by the staff of Yut Kee . They are loyal to the
food of Yut Kee.
Yut Kee had won “Best Cheap Eat Award” .The successor of Yut Kee planned to run this eatery business
for 100 years to show that they have a good sustainability.
Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3 competitors?
Nam Xing is the only competitor of Yut Kee but it was beaten by Yut Kee due to the business strategies.
Nowadays, Yut Kee does not have any competitor.
What is your strategy? (pricing, advertising, product, variety)
The price of the food is reasonable enough to attract a lot of customers. The food is made by original
recipe, the staff of Yut Kee restaurant wanted to bring out the originality of the Hainanese food to the
customers. It made Yut Kee a trustable restaurant.
What is the main trouble of this business?
Yut Kee was lacking of workers especially Chinese workers. Chinese workers did not like to work as
waiter or worker of restaurant, most of them quit the job when they were almost 18. Yut Kee had hired a
lot of foreign workers to run the business. The foreign workers were loyal and like their job, it made the
flow of business more efficiency.

07-687 1975
766, Taman Anggerik, Jalan Parit Mesjid, Pontian, Johor
0900am-1800pm

The business had been running for more than 30 years. Because of the financial crisis,we started
the business with a small capital.
We started our business from a small food stall. As the number of customers increase, we
decided to open up in a shop lot.
What is the main product? Are the product handmade or by machine? By
own company or have supply?
The main product is Pontian Wan Tan Me. The product was first handmade but as the
technology advances,we decided to change to machines.

The main customers are regular customers who are locals and Singaporeans.
Mr Loh came from Guangzhou, China. Due to the civil war, his father decided migrated to
Malayisa to seek for a better life.
Do you have many competitors? Who are they? Who are your top 3 competitors?
The replicasare everywhere. There are a lot of Wan Ton Mee restaurants which have the original
signs. They try to copy the taste of HengHeng Wan Tan Mee. It will mislead the customers of
the taste of our product.
What is the main trouble of this business?
The trouble is same with what I said in the previous question.

PHOTOS OF KAR HEONG RESTAURANT

Research Essay Meeting
Taylor‟s University
Meeting Minutes

23 January 2013 10.00a.m. – 12.00p.m.
rd

Meeting called by

Shirley Liew

Type of meeting

Information sharing and feedback

Facilitator

Peh Ker Neng

Note taker

Johnson Chan

Timekeeper

Liu Wei Cheng

Attendance

Lakeside Campus

Shirley Liew, Peh Ker Neng, Johnson Chan,
Liu Wei Cheng, Goh Jhien Jhieh, Jason Lee

Agenda Topics
10.00AM

Locations of the place

23rd January 2014

Discussion : The type of business to interview, which shops and when to interview.
Conclusion : Focus on Chinese Restaurant. Liu & Peh decided to interview at their own hometown Johor
Bahru, Pontian during Chinese New Year. The rest decided to interview at KL.

11.00AM

Interview Questions

27rd January 2014

Discussion : The questions to interview the Chinese restaurant. Everyone suggests some interview
questions.
Conclusion : We had 8 questions for the interview.

12.00PM

Restaurant Yut Kee

5th February 2014

Discussion : Interview another shop located in KL.
Conclusion : Johnson and Jason would interview this shop.

10.00PM

7th February 2014

Research Report

Discussion : The division of the works around each other.
Conclusion : The jobs were divided.

Compare & Contrast essay

Shirley Liew Qiao Li & Peh Ker Neng

Introduction & cover

Johnson Chan Zhuang Sheng

Appendix

Liu Wei Cheng

16

10.00AM

Report Printing

Discussion : Print the report.
Conclusion : Goh would print out the report.

8th February 2014

REFRENCES

Bhaskaran Raman(2004), How to Write a Good Report(online). [Accessed april 2004].
Available from World Wide Web.
http://www.cse.iitk.ac.in/users/braman/students/good-report.html

Buchhoitz,K.(2009). Business & society. South-Western/Cengage Learning.
Business today, (2001). Twenty First Century Media.
Chinese restaurant.(2011). Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House.

Chinese style restaurant, (2013). Straits Publishing & distributing Group/Fujian Science &
Technology Pub.

Johor Kaki (2012,april). The Original Pontian Wanton Mee(online). [Accessed 6 april
2012]. Available from World Wide Web.
http://johorkaki.blogspot.com/2012/04/original-pontian-wanton-mee-heng-heng.html

KAMPUNGBOYCITYGAL (2013), Yut Kee Dang Wangi (online), [Accessed 31 August
2013]. Available from World Wide Web.
http://kampungboycitygal.com/2013/08/yut-kee-dang-wangi-kuala-lumpur/

Ming-Jer chen (2012), Inside Chinese Business: A guide for Manager Worldwide(online).
[Accessed 2012]. Available from World Wide Web.
http://www.quickmba.com/mgmt/intl/china

Peter.L(1977). Communication in business. Longmans.
Swanson,S.(2012). How to open a Chinese restaurant & cook Chinese food. English Press.

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