UPDATE on Feb. 9 at 6.20pm: This article has been updated with more information.
Authentic Mun Chee Kee King of Pig’s Organ Soup has been closed since Feb. 6, due to a damaged wall in the kitchen.
The eatery is located on the first floor of a three-storey shophouse at 207 Jalan Besar.
The owner of the business, Chen Renyao (transliterated from Chinese), was informed by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) that the wall separating his unit and the one next door is at risk of collapsing.
BCA findings
According to Shin Min Daily News (Shin Min), BCA found cracks and dents on the wall of a unit next door.
They said that the damage was found during inspections at units 203, 205 and 207 Jalan Besar and were caused by land subsidence.
In response to Mothership's queries, a spokesperson from BCA said that to ensure buildings are safe for continued occupation, the Commissioner of Building Control (CBC) requires building owners to engage professional engineers (PE) to conduct regular inspections of buildings under the Building Control Act.
Structural inspections must be conducted for all residential buildings every 10 years and for non-residential buildings every five years to ensure that building structures are well maintained.
This includes inspections of units to check for spalling concrete and other issues such as structural cracks.
Shin Min reported that the damaged wall was not load-bearing, and that the unaffected parts of the building can still be used, according to BCA.
The rear section of the eatery was ordered to temporarily close to facilitate repairs, which are to be designed and supervised by the owner’s PE.
It is not clear how long repair works will take.
Chen said that he was first contacted by the property owner’s agent on Jan. 24, and asked to move within two days.
According to Shin Min, he later received a notice from BCA and appealed for an extension.
He was then ordered to vacate the premises by Feb. 6.
The BCA spokesperson told Mothership that all Closure Orders were directly issued to the building owner and not tenants. According to the spokesperson, an updated Closure Order to vacate the affected premises by Feb. 7 was issued to the building owner.
Closed until further notice
Chen said he is keen to resume business in the same location, but is also looking for a new location.
At the time of writing, a new location has yet to be found.
In the meantime, he has sent some of his staff members to work in his other coffee shop, while some workers from overseas have been sent back to their home countries temporarily.
He lamented the potential financial losses that are expected to be at least S$50,000, as a new location will still need to be renovated.
However, he added that he does not intend to terminate any staff.
Top photo from Google Maps