'I won't starve to death if I earn less': Hawker offers free thunder tea rice to senior citizens and people with disabilities

Kindness begets kindness, they say.

To thank customers for their help in kickstarting his business, a 57-year-old hawker surnamed Xu is offering free meals to those aged over 70 as well as people with disabilities, reported Shin Min Daily News.

This initiative is available on every Tuesday and Thursday of March.

Speaking to Shin Min, Xu said that he was struggling when he started selling thunder tea rice at Yuhua Market & Hawker Centre five years ago.

Despite the challenges he faced in the early days of running his business, he persisted in preparing the ingredients by himself and strove to provide good service to his customers, which led to his business gaining recognition.

Many diners would also give him feedback on the thunder tea rice, which the hawker took into consideration when improving his recipe.

Some diners would even help to prepare ingredients for the dish at their homes before delivering them to him, the hawker shared.

Xu said that he is grateful towards his customers, as his business would not have been this smooth-sailing without their assistance.

Now, his business has stabilised, and the hawker sells an average of two to three hundred bowls of thunder tea rice every day.

Not his first time giving away free meals

The hawker revealed that he first thought of launching this initiative during the Covid-19 pandemic.

"A lot of people were laid off at that time, and I thought I should help as much as I can," he explained.

At that time, several regular customers also chipped in by donating money to cover the cost of the free meals.

Since then, Xu has continued to offer this initiative every year.

"I won't starve to death if I earn less," said the hawker. "As I received kindness in the past, I want to share this kindness with others as well."

In the spirit of helping others, Xu won't be checking the identity cards of customers who wish to redeem the free meals.

"No matter if it's the elderly, or someone else in need, I won't reject them," he told the Chinese paper.

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lim.kewei@asiaone.com