Dear Sirs,
I refer to the Notice on Application for Renewal of Liquor Licence by Mr. Ng Ho Chuen of Starbucks Coffee dated 18th January 2020. By the said notice, it appears that Mr. Ng is applying to the Liquor Licensing Board in respect of Starbucks Coffee situated at Shop 201, 2/F, Alexandra House, 16-20 Charter Road, Central, Hong Kong (“the Premise”).
Due to the non-compliance of Licensing Conditions for Liquor Licence, I write to formally object Mr. Ng's application.
Pursuant to Part A (10) of “A Guide to Application for Liquor Licences and Club Liquor Licences” issued by the Board, “a liquor licensee is required to ensure that all liquor regulations and licensing conditions are strictly and fully complied with in the licensed premises”.
It is observed that the Mr. Ng as the liquor licensee of the of the Premise failed to comply with the licensing conditions (“the Conditions”)as set out in Annex V of the same guide, a copy of the same is enclosed herewith for your easy reference.
Particulars
a. Failure to comply with Clause 1 of the Conditions
Clause 1 of the Conditions states that “No disorder shall be permitted on the premises”. Upon various inspection of the Premise. It is noted that Mr. Ng and/or his agent failed to take any reasonable control over the premise. In fact, upon entry of the Premise, Mr. Ng and/or his agent does not even observe the conditions of the Premise as to any the occurrence of any form of disorder.
It is further submitted to the Board that one could easily observe disorder (in a general interpretation) in the said Premise, toddlers running around without parent’s supervision, groups of people gathering without consumption of any of Starbucks Coffee’s product. These are just a limited example of Mr. Ng and/or his agent’s failure to take reasonable control over the Premise to avoid any disorder.
b. Failure to comply with Clause 2 of the Conditions
Clause 2 of the Conditions stated that “No person shall be allowed to become drunk on the premises, nor shall liquor be supplied to any person who is drunk.”
As stated above, Mr. Ng and/or his agent’s failure to control the Premise is not only limited to their failure to disallow disorder on the Premise but also extend to allow persons to become drunk on the Premise.
Mr. Ng and/or his agent failed to take any control over who can enter the Premise, it should be noted to the Board that the Starbucks Coffee located at the Premise is a self-service coffee shop.
By the very nature of this self-service model, Mr. Ng and/or his agent omitted any control over the Premise and have taken no steps to prevent liquor being supplied to any person is/appeared to be drunk.
It had even been observed that various drunken persons (uncertain of whether by liquor supplied by Mr. Ng) frequently occupied the Premise for unknown reasons.
It is submitted to the Board by failing to manage the Premise properly, Mr. Ng and/or his agent have failed to comply with clause 2 of the Licensing Conditions.
c. Failure to comply with Clause 3 of the Conditions
Clause 3 of the Conditions stated that “no game of chance shall be played on the premises”.
Further to the submission above, it is submitted that various games involving chance have been played in the Premise. Mr. Ng and/or his agent seem to ignore/fail to take any steps to prohibit games of chance from occurring on the premises.
Mr. Ng’s reluctance/ignorance/failure to take proper control of the Premise render its failure to comply strictly with the clause 3 of the condition.
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