Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup Vacates Jalan Besar Shop After BCA Finds Cracks On Wall

Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup Vacates Jalan Besar Shop On 6 Feb

Most supper lovers would be familiar with Authentic Mun Chee Kee King of Pig’s Organ Soup, which operates along Jalan Besar and opens till 2am daily.

If you frequent the eatery, take note that it has moved out of its location after the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) issued a Closing Order.

The order followed the discovery of cracks and dents on a partition wall separating the eatery and an adjacent unit.

Mun Chee Kee Pig Organ Soup moves out of Jalan Besar unit after 12 years

Speaking to Shin Min Daily News, Mr Chen Renyao (name transliterated from Mandarin) — the owner of the eatery —  said he received a notice on 24 Jan ordering the eatery to vacate the premises by 26 Jan.

Authentic Mun Chee Kee King of Pig’s Organ Soup has been occupying the ground-floor unit at 207 Jalan Besar for the past 12 years.

In the order, BCA stated that the foundation of a next-door unit, which connects to the eatery’s kitchen, had sunk.

Therefore, the wall separating both units is at risk of collapsing.

BCA officers also pasted copies of the closure notice at entrances leading to the pig organ soup eatery.

Mr Chen subsequently appealed the order and was given till Tuesday (6 Feb) to vacate the space.

Still on the lookout for suitable location

Despite the extension, he still could not accept the last-minute nature of the notice.

With Chinese New Year on the horizon, Mr Chen said it will be difficult for him and his employees as they have no choice but to close the shop.

The 58-year-old claimed that had he received a two-month notice, he could’ve found a new place to relocate his eatery.

He noted that BCA conducted the inspection in September but only notified him in January, which he found puzzling.

Mr Chen is now on the lookout for a suitable location but estimates that he can only open in March at the earliest. By then, he estimates that he would have incurred about S$50,000 in losses from the closure.

Even if he found a new place, he would have to spend on renovation. There’s also the concern about possibly higher rental expenses.

Eatery owner will try retaining as many workers as possible

As for his 30 employees, Mr Chen said he would allow some of the foreign workers to return to their home countries. He would then invite them back when the new shop is ready for operations.

Mr Chen also said that he would provide these workers with some money.

Meanwhile, he will deploy other employees to another coffee shop that he runs.

Despite the sudden blow to his business, Mr Chen said he’ll do his best to retain as many employees as possible:

I will try to keep as many employees as possible, so that when we reopen the stall, they can still come back to help and I don’t have to bother hiring new people.

Tenant order to vacate premises so engineer can repair affected wall

In response to Shin Min Daily News’ queries, BCA said structural inspections found that the wall separating units 205 and 207 Jalan Besar was damaged.

“Cracks and dents” had formed on the wall, apparently due to ground subsidence.

According to the U.S. Department of the Interior, land subsidence refers to the “gradual settling or sudden sinking of the Earth’s surface” due to subsurface movements of earth materials”.

The BCA spokesperson explained that the tenant was asked to vacate the premises to allow engineers to supervise and repair the partition walls in a timely fashion.

Meanwhile, the units on the second floor of the building are not affected as they’re supported by pillars reinforced with pile foundations.

MS News has reached out to BCA for more information on the case.

Also read: Building Cracks Found In Choa Chu Kang Columbarium, Some Areas Closed For Rectification Works

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Featured image adapted from l16812 on Flickr.