Samuel Dic Sum Lai

Samuel Lai is a PhD candidate whose research project examines the multiple facades of Caacaanteng ('Tea Restaurant'): from licensing and popular history, ingredients and cuisines, server-customer relationship, skill acquisition, to sociability especially in the locally narrated form of Jancingmei ('Flavour of Human Warmth'). It seeks to link this most common kind of restaurants in Hong Kong serving an eclectic menu of hybrid cuisines at a relatively cheap price to the greater Hong Kong society in terms of food habits, values and morality at large.

This project explores issues including Hong Kong cuisine, server-customer relationship especially masculinization of services in an Asian context, and relationship among apprenticeship, language and skill. It wishes to understand the Sinophone narration of jancingmei through social relations, memory and embodiment. It attempts to contribute to discussions on Chinese and Hong Kong foodways, anthropology of restaurants, skill and friendship/relationship.

Prior to his PhD, Sam completed his BA in Comparative Literature at the University of Hong Kong and his MA in Social Anthropology at Goldsmiths, University of London. His former research investigated operation and ways of organising work of caacaantengs, and how the notion of Tongju Gongcai (common budget as family/jia) manifested and affected operation of small businesses. He served as teaching assistant under the China Studies Programme, and part-time lecturer under the Global Creative Industries Programme, both at the University of Hong Kong. He continuously provides consulting and research services to, and appears on Youtube channels, TV and radio programmes, and book projects on Asian, Chinese and Hong Kong foodways.

• Anthropology of Food and Restaurant
• Anthropology of China
• Business Anthropology
• Hong Kong and East Asia