East Week 11-04-07
*Kwan Wai-ling

The Quota for Chicken Consumption is Gone

　　Background of Author: Mr. Ping-lun Chan, a social worker with 30 years of experience, has worked at St. Jame’s Settlement in Wanchai for a very long time. Taking charge of the Corporate Venture of the organization, Mr. Chan has planned and promoted services such as Household and Maintenance Service, Electrical Appliance for the Elderly Program, as well as the Elderly Newspaper, The Voice, where he functions as a Chief Editor.

　　As a landowner, my father lost all his wealth during the Cultural Revolution. My whole family was left with only a place to sleep and survived by consuming ipomoea. Before I came to Hong Kong at the age of 7 or 8, I never knew how meat tastes. Our only property was a small chicken, which can be sold for money when it has fully grown up, as my mother claimed.

　　Nevertheless, before the chicken has grown to maturity, our family has already applied to move to Hong Kong. On the night before our departure, my mother suggested, “Let’s not wait for it to grow, but kill it and eat it now.” Hence, we shared the chicken; that was the very first time I tried chicken meat and that delicious taste could never be forgotten.

　　As a result of this childhood incident, people who know me all know that I love eating chickens a lot, to an extent that I would get very upset without chickens. No matter how it is cooked, steamed, fried, or stewed, I can take huge bites and finish half a chicken on my own; I really like that mouth-watering taste. Sometimes when it is not meal-time yet, I still cannot resist buying a piece to eat when I walk pass Kentucky Fried Chicken; my friends all make fun of me and call me a chicken addict.

　　Unfortunately, when I’ve got nasopharyngeal cancer and survived few years ago, my “relationship” with chickens is over. My doctor, of traditional Chinese medicine, said that chickens are too dry and would worsen my illness, so I cannot risk consuming them anymore.

　　I never thought I’d lose this flavour of life one day. Apparently, there is a quota for everything; when it’s used up, we cannot demand it again. Gradually, I found out that it is actually fine not to have any chicken, because I value my health much more. Once, I mistook some chicken meat as pork meat and finished a full bowl of fried rice with meat; when I found out about it, I actually felt relieved, as I realized that “they just taste the same.”

　　When I was young, I loved speeding on my bike, riding in between two trams, thinking that I have a great deal of youth and trying to challenge the God of Death. After I’ve got back my life from my illness, I realized that when one reaches a certain age, he’d suddenly lose passion for things that he once found important.

　　Nowadays, my material desire has come to a level that I am satisfied as long as I have enough food to eat and clothes to wear.

　　Volunteering for the Elderly, we can help them to fill their quotas that have not been used up; whether through contributing a fan, maintaining their shelters, or giving them a haircut, we can already satisfy their basic needs for their ideal standard of life.

　　I always need a large amount of volunteer workers, for charity projects such as Elderly Home Maintenance Services, Repair Services of Rehabilitation Equipment, Home Haircut and Photography Services, Funeral Navigation, and the Voice. I welcome all volunteers, especially those who are skillful at household maintenance, water and electricity set up, haircut, photography, computer appliance, or want to make monetary donations. If you are interested, please feel free to contact me via telephone at 8107-8324, which is on 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; I would be much grateful for your kind hearts!