The Unsung Heroes of Hong Kong (Pt.1)
Since the beginning of this academic year, various opportunities have risen for me to help the wider communities of Hong Kong. Like I mentioned in my previous blog, I’ve decided to take up these opportunities to interact with more cohorts and simply get out of my comfort zone. As a result, I hope to start a miniseries to not only shed light onto certain Hong Kong communities which are extremely underrated, but also reflect on what I’ve learned through my interactions with them, hoping to inspire one of you to also help others just because!
My Food Angel Experience.
In full transparency, I started seeking volunteering experience simply because my friends were talking about community service over the summer holiday in 2024, and I thought the best way to make the experience as meaningful and the least mundane was going to be killing two birds with one stone: Doing something nice whilst connecting it with what I love most: Food. Naturally, I started researching on food rescue charities around HK and came across Food Angel, a large-scale NGO that preps, packs and distributes healthy meals for local underprivileged communities.
Since it was my first time volunteering in a public space, I started with something basic: Distributing cooked food and packaging them. Sounds easy, right? Well, I thought so too until I went into the 30-degree-Celcius prep kitchen that had already churned out over 2,000 meals and underway to pack more lunches. Hurriedly, I “suited up” and listened to the game plan for the day. 20 helping hands to pack 4 meal choices, a total of 4,500 boxes, in under 3 hours. As much as I thought this was “lighthearted charity work”, I also realized we were fighting against time.
The whole time the meals were being packed, the kitchen remained silent. Everyone was laser-focused on the systematic process, where one person portioned out the food, another person sauced the meal and the last person closed it for the conveyor belt. At times, it felt suffocating, beyond the heat from the kitchen in a literal sense, I was constantly high on adrenaline because I was scared to mess up. The moment messes up in their role, the process stops entirely. Even though I knew everyone was there for the same purpose, it still felt embarrassing to stall up the team.
Hero Number 1: The people who do it just because.
The only break we got was a 15-minute cooldown in the middle and since I came to the prep kitchen alone, I had no choice but to initiate conversations with strangers to make myself less awkward. As it turns out, these people came from all industries and stages of life: from a team of J.P. Morgan employees there as a team building event, to 20-something year old university students. However, the person that fascinated me the most was a retired uncle who I met multiple times that I went to help. Without a doubt, he was there consistently. When I finally built up the courage to ask why he was helping there, he just shrugged, “Since I’m already retired, why not?”. Interesting… His rhetorical question got me thinking, even long after I finished the volunteering work.
Introducing hero number 1: This retired uncle who actually represents a greater cohort within Hong Kong: Those who do it just because. It was quite refreshing to hear this because in an unforgiving city like Hong Kong, people are always on the go, in pursuit of something - Grades, power, money, or the next big achievement to get them all of the above - Yes, the finance bros are irreplaceable to keep Hong Kong as the global financial epicentre that it is, but without those who do great things just because, the inequality gaps within the place I call home will just keep growing.
I’m sure the uncle didn’t truly mean it when he said “why not” because one, so much fulfilment and sense of accomplishment can be derived from helping others, and two, he understands the inequalities within HK and is trying to help. However, I think his mentality is worth noting and something I’ll carry across other tasks I do in the future. Earlier this month, our head of charity began promoting the Long Ducker Day, a school-wide charity event that takes place every year, with food and charity stalls set up on the day. I will for sure be writing more about this experience when the day comes, but when all students were offered the opportunity to host an online fundraiser (in the lead up to the event) and set up stalls on the day, I jumped at the opportunity. Oh, and I also signed up to complete a 16km trail run on the day of Long Ducker because… why not?
Hong Kong is filled with groups who do altruistic acts just because, and I want to be a part of this group. Even though my responsibilities as a student will always take priority, I find separating out time in a day to do something nice in service of others will always end up brightening my day. Not to mention the delicious aromas I smelt for 3 hours during my time in the prep kitchen… Definitely felt tempted to just grab something and gobble it down as I got hungrier, but it also allowed me to realize what it felt like to be on drugs… Cantonese BBQ chicken wings and dim sum… Just reminiscing my experiences is making me hungry!
There’s lots more of these experiences I want to share with you all. Stuff that I’ve started doing just because… For my own satisfaction, physical and mental wellbeing. For now, I want to shout out the kindhearted HK locals that do kind things to uplift underprivileged communities in Hong Kong and honestly, people I would never have imagined met had I chosen not to step out of my comfort zone. Thinking back, it’s been quite a few ridiculous the past few years when I was young and only stuck to the few locations around Hong Kong. As a self-proclaimed foodie with more freedom on her hands, I vouch to explore more of HK through food and interactions with strangers. Again, because why not?
Thanks for reading, and see you all in a bit.
-Winnie 26/02/2025
