修理咖啡館是打卡熱點？
Is Repair Cafe a famous check-in spot?

不久之前，收到來自台灣大學生們的電郵。因為他們正在籌備一個 修理咖啡館的項目，所以希望邀請我作訪問，在網上見個面互相交流。當下馬上答應了，因為想起自己在籌備大學畢業作品時，也訪問了不少人物。性格比較內向的我覺得這是一件難事，需要鼓起不少勇氣才能主動聯絡編織和環保相關的人士。想起也覺得很尷尬，哈哈。

其實在第一次聽到修理咖啡館這個詞時，覺得相當新奇。初時我單純地以為是字面解釋那樣，有一個共用空間：一邊是維修公司、一邊是咖啡店。人們能在這裏一邊嘆咖啡、一邊等候修理完成。就像是前陣子在香港很紅的洗衣咖啡店一樣，商業性質的打卡熱點。然而事實完全不同啦，不然也不會在這裏長篇大論～

修理咖啡館源自13年前(2009)，由Martine Postma在荷蘭阿姆斯特丹開設的第一間Repair Café。這間修理咖啡館是一個讓所有與修理相關的人聚集的地方。人們能在這裏互相交流維修心得、為壞掉的物件進行維修、學習維修等，有維修知識的人會在這邊義務幫忙教學和維修。就算你沒有需要修理的物件，也可以到這裏閒聊、喝咖啡和幫忙維修，甚至還有書本提供，讓你自學維修。理念超讚的！！不只希望人們減少棄置物品、凝聚社區鄰里和傳承維修技術及舊物的情結。然後它更演變成一個全球性的社會運動和公民集會！據說全球已經有2,396間修理咖啡館呢～



那麼香港有修理咖啡館嗎？答案是有喔！！
而且我很喜歡它的名字，很港式！

復修冰室由綠色組織「喜動社區」籌辦，位於葵涌職工盟石籬培訓中心。維修義工大部分來自職工盟培訓課程水電維修班的畢業學員，大多是退休後才開始學習維修的。由2019年開始，三年來他們維修了882件電器及387件鐘錶，服務人次超過1000人。

Recently, I received an email from a team of university students in Taiwan. Because they are preparing for the set up of a Repair Cafe inside their school, they ask me to share the experience of Up Stitch with them. I replied Yes immediately because it reminded me of my final year project last year. It was not an easy job for me as an introvert to contact the ‘strangers’. It was definitely an awkward moment for me haha.


The term “Repair Cafe” is actually so new to me. And I thought that it literally means a share space that one side provide the repair service and one side is a cafe, which is similar to the laundry cafe that was very hit for a period of time in Hong Kong. But the repair cafe is totally different purpose! And that’s why I’m writing here XD

The first “Repair cafe” is named repair cafe! Opened by the founder Martine Postma in Amsterdam 13years ago(2009), which as a meeting place for any people related to repair. Anyone are welcomed to share their repair experience, to repair the broken stuff, to learn how to repair, and etc. The repair experts will be here to teach and repair voluntarily. If you got nothing to repair, you are still welcomed to come for chitchatting, drinking coffee, helping others to repair. There are also books for you to learn repair by yourself. The concept is super!! Letting people to reduce the waste, building up the connection between the community and neighbourhood, also passing on the repair skill to the younger generation!


Soooo Is there repair cafe in Hong Kong?
The answer is YES!!

And I really like the Chinese name of it because it’s very Hong Kong style! XD  (bing1 sat1=‘ice room’~=Cafe)



Repair Cafe Hong Kong is created from Community Leap, which is an organization that focus on the environment and the community. They located in Kwai Chung. Most of the volunteer of repair cafe is graduated from repair class of CTU training center. And they started to learn repairing after retirement. Starting from 2019, they have repaired 882pcs of electrical appliances and 387pcs of watches, over 1,000 people are served over these 3 years.