EJ Insight » Hong KongToday, 12:56
With the help of an old friend, the 64-year-old owner of a tea restaurant in Sham Shui Po has found a new place to resume his business and continue helping needy residents.
Chan Cheuk-ming, who owns Pei Ho cha chaan teng on Tai Nan Street, has for years been known for giving free meals to the homeless and elderly in the neighborhood.
Last month, however, Chan, also known as Ming Gor or Brother Ming, was asked by the landlord to relocate by the end of March after he failed to agree to a 25 percent rent hike, Apple Daily reports.
Chan was deeply troubled: not only would he lose his business, he would also have to stop helping underprivileged residents in the area.
Tse Lam, an old friend of Chan’s, learned about his predicament and decided to rent a store he owns to Chan without having second thoughts.
Tse said he and his family support Ming Gor’s good deeds in the neighborhood.
The rent will be HK$36,000 a month, compared with HK$50,000 that his current landlord had asked him to pay under a new lease contract. Besides, the new store has bigger space.
It is also located right across the street from where Chan runs his old restaurant.
In preparation for the April 1 handover of the retail space to Chan, Tse launched a sale of clothes and handbags to dispose of the inventory at the shop.
The new restaurant is expected to open in June.
Chan, meanwhile, gathered a group of volunteers to deliver meal boxes to homeless people this Saturday, like he did back in late January when the temperature was near freezing.
Chan first worked at Pei Ho restaurant as a waiter before taking over the establishment in 1997 when the original owner retired.
Since 2008, Chan has been offering free food vouchers to the needy, which can be redeemed for a three-dish meal box worth HK$22 at his restaurant.
Word about his acts of kindness spread across the neighborhood and touched other restaurant owners who also started giving away free meal boxes to the needy.
Brother Ming is now happy because worries about the future have vanished through the kindness of a friend.
He pledged to continue with his philanthropic work as long as he is able to do so.
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