A chef at Lung Mun Cafe, a restaurant that publicly supports Hong Kong’s protest movement, was attacked by two men in an assault that some suspect is politically motivated.
The 42-year-old chef had just arrived at the restaurant’s Tsim Sha Tsui branch when two men attacked him, injuring his head, neck and arm, which had to be wrapped in a cast. He was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in an ambulance.
Pictures shared on Lung Mun Cafe’s Facebook page show trickles of blood down his neck and large blood stains seeping through his shirt. Dozens of blood spots were splattered on the ground.
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According to Apple Daily, a man also threw a bottle at him before running away. The Facebook pictures also show broken glass shards littered outside the restaurant.
Police cordoned off the area for investigation, but the restaurant opened for business as normal later in the morning.
On Facebook, restaurant owner Cheung Chun-kit wrote: “F*** your mother! If you wanna mess with someone, mess with me! Don’t mess with my workers!”
Lung Mun Cafe has been an active supporter of the city’s protests since the movement began last summer. It has passed out free meals and masks to protesters during a number of demonstrations, and has reportedly provided financial assistance to arrested protesters.
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The restaurant’s open advocacy of the protests has made it popular among the movement’s supporters, drawing lines snaking out of the cafe’s doors even during non-peak hours.
Even till today, netizens regularly leave words of encouragement on the restaurant’s Facebook page, accompanied with pictures of the meals they ate there recently. Lung Mun has half a dozen outlets in Hong Kong, including in Causeway Bay, Fortress Hill and Hung Hom.
A day before the national security law was implemented in Hong Kong, Lung Mun announced that it was “quitting the yellow economic circle,” referring to the cluster of businesses deemed “yellow” due to their pro-protest stance. The “circle,” however, has no official membership and the restaurant has continued to publicly support the movement.
Just yesterday, the chain posted on Facebook that proceeds from the business’ mooncake sales will go towards the 612 Humanitarian Relief Fund, a pool of money meant for providing legal assistance for protesters.
This isn’t the first time the restaurant has been targeted. Last October, a group of men broke into its Hung Hom branch, smashing windows and overturning tables before fleeing.
