Interview by Yuki Lei
The Fuhong Society of Macau, a non-profit social service organisation, officially opened in 2020 its “Corner of Portuguese Cuisine” in Fai Chi Kei district, providing ex-mentally ill people with on-the-job catering training, with the aim of enabling them to re-enter the job market, and thus increasing their sense of commitment to civil society.
“Cantinho Luso” (“Little Portuguese Corner”) is the restaurant’s Portuguese name.
Founded by a group of volunteers in 2003, Fuhong Society of Macau is dedicated to providing a wide range of services for people with intellectual disabilities and persons in rehabilitation after a mental illness.
Kou Chi Kin, manager of Fuhong Society of Macau’s Pou Choi Centre (寶翠中心), says that ex-mentally ill patients refer to those who have suffered from a mental or emotional illness, such as depression, schizophrenia, anxiety, or different types of personality disorders. He told the Post in a recent interview: “Whenever they were classified as ex-mental patients, it means they have already gone through some form of psychiatric or emotional treatment by the Health Bureau, considering they were able to reintegrate into our community.”
“Pou Choi” means “Precious Jade”.
Kou was quick to add that most of the ex-mental patients are limited in their work ability or have gone through a “not very good” working experience as they cannot work in the same way as a healthy person. He explained: “Unlike when we recover from a cold after taking medication, ex-mentally ill patients, patients with depression in particular, must still take a large amount of medicine even after they have recovered from their condition, which will make them feel tired all the time.”
Kou insisted, however, that ex-mental patients can be employed easily, but in return, their employment period is often very short.
Vocational training for ex-mentally ill people is the main service aim of his centre, Kou said, pointing out that they can choose different vocational training services according to their own preferences, past working experience and occupational therapists’ recommendations, including workshops with training skills, community laundries, gift stores, mobile cleaning teams, and restaurants. Through the work process, he added, ex-mentally ill people will be taught some work skills and social skills to enhance their ability to work independently.
Under the auspices of the Social Welfare Bureau (IAS), the Pou Choi Centre commenced operation in May 2018 as an integrated vocational training centre, providing vocational training, employment referral and on-the-job training services for ex-mental patients. According to the bureau, the number of mentally disabled people holding a valid Disability Assessment Registration Card stood at 3,261 at the end of last year, while Fu Hong Society of Macau, according to Kou, has currently about 450 ex-mental patients receiving different kinds of services at its 12 centres.
Corner of Portuguese Cuisine, a speciality restaurant offering Macanese cuisine, is open from 12 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. from Monday to Saturday. When asked by the Post the reason for only providing lunch, Kou said: “Although our restaurant is only open in the afternoon, it’s a restaurant that has an intense workload, and there’s also work pressure,” explaining that the ex-mentally ill staff spend their afternoons on other vocational training services at the centre after finishing their shifts at the restaurant.
Macanese cuisine is one of the world’s oldest fusion cuisines, combining Portuguese, Chinese, Malay, Indian and other Asian culinary recipes and ingredients.
“She didn’t know anything about it when she first came here, but since she’s been operating the coffee machine, she’s found it very interesting, and she’s even taken some barista exams out of personal interest, and it’s slowly become something she’s grown into,” Kou told the Post about one of the centre’s restaurant staff who works in its beverage section, adding: “We’re here to have a fieldwork and training programme to let them try out things……it’s very easy for those who have been rehabilitated to find a job elsewhere, but there are still difficulties for them to work in a restaurant eight hours a day while, at the same time, they would also lose the chance to further improve themselves at the centre.”
Introducing the Post to the restaurant’s main features, Kou highlighted that in order to maintain its quality of service and training, all dishes are served in limited quantities, with the menu being changed every two months, adding that the recipes of several of the dishes have been provided by top chefs from Macau’s various integrated resorts (IR) during training courses for the centre’s members, and some of the recipes have been provided by Maria de Fátima Salvador dos Santos Ferreira, president of the General Assembly of Fuhong Society of Macau, her youngest sister and her Macanese chef friends.
Macanese cuisine is home-style cooking so that every family has their own recipes or ingredients, Kou pointed out: “We are trying to recreate the family dishes of the people who taught us, which, as a fusion cuisine, becomes one of our features.”
The restaurant is located on Rua do General Ivens Ferraz, near the sitting-out area outside Lok Yeong Garden Building in Fai Chi Kei district. An a la carte lunch costs between 50 and 80 patacas.
Kou Chi Kin (right), manager of Fuhong Society of Macau’s Pou Choi Centre, Maria de Fátima Salvador dos Santos Ferreira (centre), president of the General Assembly of Fuhong Society of Macau, and Jennifer Chau Wai I, director of Fuhong Society of Macau, pose after an interview with the Post last month at the “Corner of Portuguese Cuisine” restaurant in Fai Chi Kei district. – Photos: Yuki Lei
A member of Fuhong Society of Macau’s Pou Choi Centre (front) works with professional chefs in the restaurant’s kitchen.
Guests savour their lunch at the restaurant last month.
