It all started in 2011. The minimum wage was implemented on May 1 of that year, and Ming's roast meat shop business fell into trouble. He once considered closing the business... Unexpectedly, two months later, the government distributed $6,000, but 20 young people felt that the money was unfair. They decided to donate their own $6,000, order meals from Ming, and then go to distribute meals with Ming on the last Saturday of each month.

 

After the video of the meal distribution was posted online, not only did people know about their activities, but it also attracted TV stations to go and film.Ming's business was like swallowing a "resurrection pill". "The day after the program was released, many citizens came to see if our food was really so cheap and affordable. They had to wait for a table all day long, and our business became stable. After that, I promised that as long as we could make ends meet and pay the rent, we would not raise the price. From 2011 to March this year, we kept the price of our 3 side dishes paired with rice at $22."

A month later, Sammo Hung , who also filmed the program, went to the roast meat shop to visit Ming and learned how much the program helped him. Before leaving, he put down $10,000 and asked me to help him distribute food to the elderly and those who had no food. It was this $10,000 that motivated Ming to continue distributing meals, from once a month to every Saturday. The number of lunch boxes and the number of people supporting him increased day by day. Since then, the media has widely reported on Ming's good deeds, and his roast meat shop has been hailed as the "Loving Canteen."

 

Ming's meal distribution expanded from homeless people initially, to elderly people living alone and South Asians, and the burden has become increasingly heavy. Ming opens the shop at 10 a.m. every morning. After lunch and tea, Ming will direct the preparations for the distribution of rice at the Tai Nan Street branch, while the volunteers are busy scooping rice and putting it into boxes. The "designated action" after the meal distribution is Ming's sharing session, where he discusses his philosophy and ideals with volunteers. The volunteers are curious about Ming's good deeds, and even wondered why some homeless people were in their prime, but they were idle and waiting for food. You have to explain to them that they are Vietnamese refugees, they are not allowed to work, and the government has to pay them $1,200. They cannot rent a room and cannot even afford food. "

From 10pm to 1am every night is Ming's private time. He settles the accounts and closes the shop. After that, he needs to prepare for the next day. "I need to sleep for 7 to 8 hours every day. This is the most basic thing. I need to have energy to work.".

No rest all year round, All hard work

In view of his charity "business",  the amount of energy he needs is probably the same as others to the Nth power. He only takes a break on the first and second day of the Lunar New Year to recharge. But in 2017, the only two-day holiday he has was spent at the carnival to set up his stall, which means he has no days off all year-around. "It is very happy, not hard. It's a little harder than it was before, but I think i did more excercise so that is better" 

 

I was so busy that I couldn't go home, so I just rented a cubicle across the street. Didn’t your family members complain? Ming smiled and said, "They intergrated and are working together, I have not had an easy life for decades. had to live happily even if I didn’t have money.”




The words "civilian philanthropist" came to my mind, but Ming did not dare to boast of this. With his eyes narrowed, he hummed the theme song of the TV series "Justice Bao": "Calling on fellow travelers to work together to build a paradise for mankind is a piece of loyalty..." Ming feels that there are actually many people with good intentions, but often the donations from fundraising activities are not easy to trace. "But here, if you order 100 meals then 100 meals will be sent out. It's very simple." 

 

Ming believes that the government has too many regulations and restrictions, making it difficult to help those in need in a timely manner. He cited the example of a fire in a tenement building earlier. The scene was cordoned off and residents were forced to move into a shelter. A district council contacted Ming and asked him to provide lunch boxes for the victims. Ming agreed without hesitation, "I asked him to come to me in half an hour to for the meals, "I asked him to come to me in half an hour to drive meals, but in half an hour you couldn't find a social welfare director to come out."


Transformed into a social enterprise, looking forward to sponsorship from foundations

Seeing that nearly half of social enterprises were poorly managed and had exhausted their funds and closed down within two years, he thought, "Then they are not social enterprises, but money-spending enterprises that cannot really help people..." So he decided to transform "北河同行深水埗" into a social enterprise, hoping to become a model and, after obtaining government recognition, to expand similar concepts to other poorer areas. 

 

As for which areas will be "occupied", Ming said that volunteers from each district will provide their opinions and then decide which areas are the poorest and are in most need of priority assistance. "I hope to help them solve their problems in a timely manner."




To flourish everywhere, besides enthusiasm, the most important thing is -- money! Ming hopes that big financial groups will help. "For example, a company has to pay $30 million (tax) to the government every year, and it takes $2 million (tax) to open a canteen there, and sponsors this charity canteen in their name, and after giving us a start, we will continue to distribute meals with the power of local citizens to help those in need. They can find an honorary director to monitor whether what we do is worthwhile." 

 

Keep doing it even while holding on to the crutches

Looking ahead, Ming plans to hire deaf-mute people and rehabilitated people at each newly added 「北河同行」to help them reintegrate into society. "We will use our activities to motivate them, and when they contribute to society... we will train them to work hard in a certain position with a fixed income and a stable job, and motivate them to show their love."

 

No matter how courageous you are, there will always be a day when you have to step down, right! "Even if we have to step back, we must use crutches to support them!" The firm tone could not conceal Ming's immediate goal of training a successor and his determination to continue his good deeds.

 

Ming recalled that he had received a lot of favors when he was young, so he was determined to work hard to make money to help others when he grew up. However, he laughed and said that this goal had not been achieved at the age of 60. "I was too soft-hearted. I wanted to sell the goods to the neighbors at a lower price, hoping to help them, but I didn't make any money... After distributing the food, I realized that my heart always wanted to help others.It turns out that my heart should be placed in the fertilizer of charity so that it can blossom and bear fruit. Other fertilizers are not suitable for me."





Why is it called 北河同行?

"Our activities must remain neutral and unite the strength of all people, so that people of different legislators, different skin colors, different nationalities, different political views and different ages can participate in our activities, so it is called 北河同行". The current base located on Tai Nan Street is named "河同行深水埗". Ming plans to open stores in other areas in the future and will name them after the district.



Volunteer's feeling

Hello："Ming is willing to take money out of his own pocket to give out meals. That is very rare. Not even 10% of people in Hong Kong would do that."

Curiosity led "Hello" to meet Ming. "I was nosy and wanted to see how Ming was distributing food. Later, I saw that there were not many people to help, and I had the time on my hands. I thought I could do the heavy lifting, so I came to help." The first impression that Ming gave him was that he "very hands on for everthing". The infectious power he exuded through his actions made many volunteers willing to "put their heart into doing this (distributing meals)".

 

Hello, who helps Ming distribute meals on at least 20 days a month, humbly said that he never felt that he helped many people. Year after year, month after month, distributing meals and visiting elderly people living alone gave him have a deeper understanding, "Since you're visiting other people's grandparents, why not communicate more with your own family. You can communicate with other people's grandparents, you can certainly communicate with your own grandparents, and I want to pass on this idea."

 

He believes that the problem of elderly people living alone will become increasingly serious, and hopes that everyone will start with themselves and take good care of the elders at home. As a result, the number of elderly people living alone who need to be visited in society will decrease.




蟹妹："I learned the word 'perseverance' from Ming. Many things are difficult at the beginning, but he persisted and never gave up. "

Chef「蟹妹」is one of the female members of the volunteer team. She joined Ming's family about four years ago with her friends.Since then, she has often been seen here, even several days a week.

 

The places where homeless people hang out always give people a feeling of being dirty and filthy, but 蟹妹 never dislikes it, "Maybe it has something to do with my profession, I don't think they are dirty.". Sometimes, homeless people would get a little impatient because they were worried about not having food to eat. She would calmly and kindly advise "I told him: You stay at your seat for a while, we will send someone over, stay at your seat, and you will get it.",

 

Distributing meals has become a part of life. 蟹妹 meets friends in the morning and arrives at 4.30pm to help. "My friend asked me: Don't you think being a volunteer is boring? I don't think so. I'm am not a rich person, but I can still help."

 

蟹妹, , who was volunteering with other like-minded people, said clearly that she had learned perseverance from Ming: "As long as he keeps doing it, we will keep doing it. There will be no day of stopping." After saying this, her eyes became red.




威哥：Ming is more hands-on. I learned from him how to help others. I feel happy when I help others."


威哥, who is relatively more reserved said the most during the interview that he "comes to help out when he's free.". He has been helping for nearly 10 years, "because my mother works in this shop, so she comes over when she's free."

 

威哥 doesn’t have much entertainment in his spare time, so he mostly plays mobile games during holidays. But as long as he hears “not enough people”, he will “step forward” during holidays. Does he feel that this is a big sacrifice? "I didn't think much about anything. My mentality is to be happy and I'll be happier when I can help others."

 

Every time they go out to deliver meals, 威哥 is mostly responsible for pushing the cart, maintaining order, and cleaning up. From Ming, 威哥 realized that seemingly insignificant things can actually constitute infinite power, ""I want to help others when I habe the ability to".