Xinhua News Agency, Hong Kong, March 12th Title: "Moving Hong Kong" single mother and her "friend son"
Xinhua News Agency reporter Zhang Yashi
At noon, a restaurant in the Cheung Sha Wan Industrial Zone in Hong Kong was packed with customers. There was a "ding" sound from the water bar next to the kitchen, which meant that the drink was ready, and the waiter quickly delivered it to the customer; another waiter saw the guests pushing the door in and politely asked them to take a seat.
This restaurant called "Xile Catering Classroom" employs many employees with varying degrees of intellectual or learning disabilities. After careful training, they can handle it with ease, whether serving food or greeting guests.
On January 15, Song Luo Mengjun was interviewed by reporters. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
“Xi Le” has been operating for more than ten years. The founder is Song Luo Mengjun, known as “Song Tai”. She hopes to help these special groups become self-reliant by opening a restaurant. This care for the disadvantaged made her selected as one of the "2023 People Who Touched Hong Kong".
Difficulty experience led to the cause of "Joy"
"Joy" was born from a special child.
In 1987, Mrs. Song gave birth to her daughter Song Cuiyuan. When her daughter was six months old, her husband died of illness, leaving Mrs. Song to take care of her daughter alone. As her daughter grew up, Mrs. Song discovered that her daughter's development was slower than other children of the same age. When she was a teenager, her daughter was diagnosed with mild intellectual disability and autism.
On January 15, Song Luo Mengjun was interviewed by reporters. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
Mrs. Song, who has a strong personality, has never complained about others and has been gritting her teeth to bring up her daughter. "A person's life will always go through ups and downs. Do we want the good things and give up on the bad ones?" Mrs. Song's voice was gentle, but her eyes shone with perseverance.
In Hong Kong, children with intellectual disabilities usually attend special schools. In addition to teaching classroom knowledge, schools also arrange skills training for students so that they can equip themselves with skills to integrate into society in the future. Song Cuiyuan has not found a suitable job since graduating from a special school. Mrs. Song believes that her daughter cannot continue like this for the rest of her life. She resolutely sold her house and raised funds to open "Xi Le" so that her daughter could have a job.
As the boss's daughter, Song Cuiyuan has no privileges in her restaurant. She has to do all the chores in the restaurant. Mrs. Song recalled that on her daughter’s first day at work, there was a table of customers who spoke substandard Cantonese. They repeated their order many times but failed to make her daughter understand. The customer was a little impatient, so Mrs. Song explained to the customer.
“The guests were very considerate after knowing the situation.” Mrs. Song said, “We do not want to treat these children specially, but we want to achieve inclusiveness.”
January 15, Song Luo Mengjun was interviewed by reporters. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
Song Tai opened "Xi Le" not only to pave the way for her daughter's future, she also wants to use the restaurant as a platform to provide job opportunities and vocational training for people with autism or intellectual disabilities. She calls them "friends" young".
“In addition to giving ‘friends’ a job, I also hope that society can tolerate and accept them.” Song Tai said.
Happy to see the growth of "Friends"
The touching story of Song Taihe and his group of "Friends" has gradually attracted social attention and received government funding. Many social welfare agencies and parents have approached them, hoping to find employment options for children with special needs.
“Many people think that these ‘Friends’ are lucky to be employed by ‘Joy’, but in fact I am the lucky one.” Mrs. Song said that she was gratified to see her daughter and the “Friends” continue to grow.
On January 15, Song Luo Mengjun (left) and his daughter Song Cuiyuan fed their pet cat during their free time at work. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
After some hard work, Song Cuiyuan has become a good helper of "Joy". The day of the interview happened to be the day when the restaurant distributed free meals to the elderly. After Song Cuiyuan washed the dishes in the kitchen, she immediately went to the store to help with the meal distribution, doing it in an orderly manner.
Speaking of the most obvious progress, it is none other than the “big brother” of the old employees.The 36-year-old joined "Xi Le" when it first opened. "Big Brother" has a mild to moderate intellectual disability, and has language barriers, poor expression and self-care abilities, and can't even speak his own name clearly.
Song Tai asked his "senior brother" to try out jobs in different positions and taught him step by step how to make some simple dishes. In the process, "Big Brother" overcame many difficulties, such as how to find the way when delivering food.
January 15, Song Luomengjun was working at the front desk of the restaurant. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
Under Mrs. Song’s patient guidance, the current “elder brother” is a completely different person compared to before. He is a small man with confident eyes. He is mainly responsible for delivering food and other tasks, and the tasks assigned to him are always completed properly. Nowadays, he has become cheerful and better at communicating with others. From time to time, he takes the initiative to buy ingredients for his colleagues to cook and even gives names to the dishes.
January 15th, Song Luo Mengjun (right) communicated with “Big Brother”. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
About two years ago, "Big Brother"'s mother passed away, and the heavy responsibility of taking care of his sick father fell on him. "He now knows how to cook for his family and take on the role of taking care of others." Mrs. Song said with relief when talking about him.
I hope there is only "Happy"
"Happy" The environment is spacious and bright, the pure white walls are decorated with colorful patterns and words such as "Double Happiness", coupled with the considerate service attitude of the store staff, just like the name of the store, it is very exciting Feeling beaming.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday, "Xi Le" will distribute free lunch boxes to the elderly over 70 years old, with 200 box lunches each time. The day of the interview happened to be Monday. At 3 p.m., the elders entered the restaurant one after another. Song Cuiyuan checked the registration numbers on the elders' hands with her mother, and the lunch boxes were quickly distributed.
January 15, Song Luo Mengjun (right) worked at the front desk of the restaurant. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
Apart from age, Mrs. Song did not limit the eligibility of the elderly to receive lunch boxes. They only need to register in advance. Mrs. Song believes that the prosperity of Hong Kong today is the result of the hard work of the elders in the past, so she hopes to do something to give back to them.
Live to be old and be old. Mrs. Song turned 65 this year and joined the ranks of the elderly. However, she is still not tired. She admitted that she has no retirement plans for the time being and hopes to work for at least another ten years. "Seventy-five is not very old. You can still do a lot of things!" Mrs. Song confidently stated her future blueprint.
January 15, Song Luo Mengjun (second from right) communicated with employees in his spare time at work. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
“If I have the chance, I would like to open another restaurant nearby with longer business hours and more ‘friends’.” Mrs. Song said that now “Xile” is open from Monday to Friday, mainly It is used as a lunch market and the rest of the time is used as a training base, allowing some institutions and schools to provide vocational training for "friends". This is also the reason why the name of the restaurant contains the word "classroom".
At present, the main food of "Xi Le" is Hong Kong-style barbecued rice and dim sum, which are widely welcomed by customers. Mrs. Song hopes to set up a dim sum making workshop in the near future and set up retail shops in different locations, managed by "friends".
“We hope that our ‘Friends’ will bring ‘Joy’ to all districts in Hong Kong, so that citizens in every district can enjoy ‘Joy’ food, so that every district can have joy!” she said.
On January 15, restaurant employees were preparing free lunch boxes for the elderly. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
On January 15, restaurant employees distributed free lunch boxes to the elderly. Photographed by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
January 15, "Big Brother" was on his way to deliver food. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
On January 15, "Big Brother" delivered takeaways to customers' doorsteps. Photo by Xinhua News Agency reporter Chen Duo
(Source: Xinhuanet)
