Tam Yuen works as a consultant at a financial services company in the day time in Tin Hau in January.

Facing potential financial hardships and job uncertainties because of the pandemic, some industrious Hong Kong residents still manage to stay positive, armed with a can-do spirit and by opening themselves to trial-and-error situations. 

Tam Yuen has worked two jobs for years, leaving himself only half a day for rest every week. His main job is as a consultant at a financial services company. On the side, he is a food delivery man. The pandemic and social distancing measures have led to the popularity of people ordering food online and this trend has increased the demand for delivery services. 

All jobs are decent, because what really matters is you work hard to earnestly earn a living and support your family

Tam Yuen

a Hong Kong resident

Tam has got used to keeping himself busy with two jobs at a time. He was a sales representative at a commercial bank for eight years. During that time, he also worked part-time as a driver for a travel company. In those years, Hong Kong saw lots of tourist arrivals and tourism-related jobs were plentiful. 

He made the switch from driving for a travel company to food deliveries in February 2020, when tourism came to a COVID-induced halt. His family supported that decision. 

Juggling two such contrasting jobs — one considered white-collar and respectable and the other blue-collar and lower-class — doesn’t bother Tam. “All jobs are decent, because what really matters is you work hard to earnestly earn a living and support your family,” he said. 

Having an insider’s knowledge of how different professions work helps Tam to build a network and find new opportunities. He has maintained contact with clients from previous jobs and some have paid him for investment advice in his capacity as a financial services consultant. The pandemic has nudged more people into considering alternative ways to make money and that means more demand for services offered by people like Tam. 

 Tam’s income has been stable during the pandemic. Living in a rented place with his wife, children and parents, he said his goal is to buy an apartment. His plan is to make a 70 to 80 percent down payment and get a small loan for the balance. As the only breadwinner, he said he wants to put as little financial burden as possible on his family members if anything were to happen to him. 

Never give up

Kang Mu-jung, a 34-year-old architect, also has a side job running a hotel and a cafe. He hopes the side gig will one day become a success, and he will no longer need to work for others as an architect. 

The well-paid architectural job was the reason Kang left his native South Korea years ago and settled in Hong Kong. His primary work also cushioned him from a HK$1 million ($128,967) financial loss that he had suffered by early 2020 as hotels and restaurants were among the industries hardest hit by the social unrest in 2019 before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak in early 2020. 

From the first unsuccessful attempt, he learned to be prepared to deal with unexpected crises. Kang refuses to give up on his ambition to be his own boss by running an authentic South Korean-style hotel and cafe in Hong Kong. 

Luckily for him, rents fell significantly. In March 2020, Kang found a 220-square-feet premise in Sham Shui Po, Kowloon, at a much lower rent than before. 

Other cost-cutting measures included attending to the interior design, picking coffee beans, and buying decorations on Taobao, a Chinese online shopping site, all by himself. 

Kang was not inclined to cut labor costs. He has kept his old staff and hired some part-time workers. “I want to give myself another career path and provide a way out for those in need,” he said. 

Coco Tan, a novice in the Hong Kong food and beverage industry, also had a bumpy start when opening an Italian restaurant. Her partner, an Italian chef who used to own a restaurant in New York, was stuck in Italy as the pandemic raged. 

Money-wise it was not a problem to get the restaurant up and running. But Tan and her partner realized there were issues that money could not solve. Six weeks of training for employees to acquire the requisite culinary skills and standards had to take place online via Zoom. The tricky process  involved accommodating people in different time zones. 

The restaurant opened in September, two weeks behind schedule. Tan, who came to Hong Kong from Germany in 2007 and has a fashion business, said she wanted to make the restaurant a cozy place for people to relax in, share their stories and interact with other guests. 

Footfall has been curtailed because of the government’s ban on group gatherings of more than two people in public places and the prohibition of dine-in services after 6 pm. Tan’s business is still loss-making, but she is optimistic that things will get better. 

At the moment, Tan has plenty of marketing to do to keep growing the number of loyal customers. She said she enjoys building customers’ trust and there is no need to rush things. 

Pave the way ahead

The well-off are usually more resourceful in coping with the financial difficulties presented by unfavorable social factors and the economic downturn that COVID-19 triggered. For those with less financial security or who are new to the job market, the adverse environment deals harsher blows. 

With the expiry date of her visa in Hong Kong drawing closer, Lei Cici, 28, found a job in marketing in October after graduating in Hong Kong with a master’s degree in creative media. That relieved her mounting anxiety.

Before coming to Hong Kong for her studies, she had four years’ experience in marketing after completing a bachelor’s degree on the Chinese mainland. 

While in Hong Kong, she had two jobs, one is related to insurance, and the other is working as a part-time curator for an entertainment company. Both jobs yielded a decent income. 

But the social unrest in 2019 and the pandemic in 2020 made both jobs unviable. “Both jobs rely on customers from the mainland,” Lei explained. Traveler flow between the mainland and Hong Kong has more or less ceased due to the pandemic. For the same reason, entertainment venues have closed, and events were canceled or postponed indefinitely. 

Lei said she likes living in Hong Kong and wants to gain more international exposure here. 

Lei believes the uncertainties and suspension of business activities in many industries will be temporary. She is aware of her responsibilities to her insurance clients. “I will continue to provide services for them and will not leave this industry,” she said. 

Many people have shown resilience and optimism in learning to cope with the challenges posed by the pandemic. How they wrestle with the adversity brought by COVID-19 will go a long way to shaping their post-pandemic lives.

Contact the writer at gangwen@chinadaily.com.cn