Bruce Wong, owner of home food business Wongka

       LAST July, I lost my job in a co-working space. It was a bad time to look for another job and my wife was pregnant with our third child, so I had to improvise. That’s when I decided to start a home food business called Wongka.

       I was actually previously the co-owner of eateries such as Tom, Dick & Harry’s as well as Ali, Muthu & Ah Hock, so I knew a bit about running a business. What I didn’t really know was how to cook.

       My wife, Liu Wen Hsuan, helped me out. We started by selling pad kra pao (Thai basil pork), which I had learned to make in Thailand. My wife is Taiwanese, so she cooked her signature Taiwanese braised pork.

       We started the business with just these two dishes because we were rather desperate to put food on the table and pay our bills.

       Thankfully, we had a lot of support from our friends, who started buying the food and sending it to their own friends.

       But I soon realised that those two dishes were definitely not enough for the menu. I had to learn how to cook more dishes!

       With the help of YouTube, I started learning and improvising my cooking techniques.

       I also roped in my brother and sister-in-law to make our family’s heirloom dish called poh poh lor hon jai (a traditional Chinese vegetarian dish). The recipe came from my 101-year-old grandmother.

       Now we have 16 dishes on our menu. I am very fortunate that we are in a more stable situation financially thanks to our home business and the support we have received from our family, friends and regular customers.

       So when Chinese New Year came along this year and the pandemic wasn’t showing any signs of easing up, I realised it was my turn to help those in need, the way my friends had helped me last year.

       I made a promise to God to dedicate all my Saturdays to making home-cooked meals for orphanages and old folks’ homes.

       So every Saturday, my wife and I and our two young sons – Bruce Jr, 10, and eight-year-old Brandon –wake up early to prepare up to 100 home-cooked meals for various homes and orphanages.

       My wife normally helps to find the places. Then, we call them up and ask if it’s okay for us to donate meals.

       For my Saturday initiative, I use the same high-quality ingredients and cook the same meals that I would cook for my customers because giving someone a nice, hearty meal can make them feel like somebody out there cares about them. That’s important, I think.

       I get my kids involved in this too because I think they need to learn that when you have enough, you have to give back to others who don’t.

       After doing this for a while and talking to many of the orphanages and homes, I found out that nearly all of them are struggling to survive as they have lost their regular donors who used to help keep them afloat.

       A lot of them – especially the places that have no backing – say they now really depend on people like me. It’s a very sad situation.

       That’s why I now set aside a certain amount of money to buy essential items like rice, eggs, washing powder and adult diapers for homes that are really struggling.

       I do this because I strongly believe that in these dark times, we must do what we can to help others. Even dedicating one day a week to helping others is a good thing.

       What’s also really cool is that some of my friends found out what I was doing and started asking how they could help.

       My friends and even my customers started donating basic stuff for the homes. I also got my meat supplier to donate meat every weekend.

       These days, my Saturday charity drive has become so filled with donated items from well-wishers that I have had to hire a van to load all the cooked meals and donated items and distribute them to the homes.

       My hope is that more people can step up and provide a meal for somebody. But I don’t expect people to do this if they can’t handle it because it can be a costly affair.

       For me, I don’t really care about the money I am spending on this effort. I will do this every Saturday until the day I cannot because there is satisfaction in knowing that I did whatever I could to help someone else – that is enough for me.