After years of helping out the homeless, poor and elderly members of his community, the owner of a Sham Shui Po restaurant has been given a helping hand himself, in the face of a rent hike which threatened to end his business.
In 2008, Chan Cheuk-ming, (also known as “Brother Ming”) owner of Pak Ho Dim Sum Cha Chaan Teng, started selling food vouchers at HKD5 to needy people, which allowed them to get one three-item hot meal worth HKD22 in his restaurant per day, Headline Daily reports.
In the years since, the philanthropic proprietor has worked with non-profit organisations in distributing free meals and festive treats to those in need during Chinese holidays, as well as holding a weekly food drive outside his restaurant, and delivering meals during inclement weather conditions (such as the record-breaking cold snap in January). After word got out about his efforts, Chan even inspired fellow restaurant owners in the area to join his cause by donating their food, with some 450 meals distributed every week.
Steamed dim sum at Pak Ho. Screenshot: Youtube
However, it appears that Chan’s landlord wasn’t quite as inspired, as he recently hiked up the restaurant’s rent by 25 percent. In an interview with Headline Daily, Chan said that he refused to increase his menu prices to make rent, and instead started looking for similarly-sized shop spaces in vain.
After learning of Chan’s plight, an old friend of his, surnamed Tse, offered to rent out his shop space across the street at the cut-rate of HKD36,000 a month, with an additional 300 square feet of space.
Despite his current lease expiring next month, big-hearted Brother Ming said that he will continue to give out food as usual until his new restaurant is ready in June.
Speaking to Apple Daily, Tse said he didn’t think twice about offering Chan his space, saying he didn’t mind receiving less rent in order to support a “truly good-hearted person”, and pledged to help him with future food drives, even after retirement.
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