Why help fellow businesses and endure together during hard times?

When business is difficult, people can think about helping one another as well as competing. Something that is hard for one stall to manage may become another opportunity if several stalls work together. I saw a news report about a night market in Wanhua. During the pandemic, business was very difficult, and the association chairman coordinated delivery orders from different stalls so that vendors short of staff could also reach customers. This was one solution he found at that time. Whether it could improve business still depended on the actual circumstances.

What moved me was that he had a stall himself but did not look after only his own business. He had grown up in the night market and felt affection for the place and the people around him. Seeing everyone struggling, he was willing to take the initiative and do something. Giving to people we care about and places we love can be a form of practice in everyday life. We do not need a religious identity before we can do it.

Dao Fan also shared that the family’s small eatery lost many customers because of the pandemic and days of rain. Feeling unable to solve the problems of the whole area, Dao Fan first considered what could be changed at the family’s own shop, and later tried delivery too. At the same time, Dao Fan reminded everyone not to let difficult times wear away their conscience and kindness. Rather than continually waiting for someone else to fail, we can each look for ways forward and willingly help one another. That may give everyone the strength to carry on together.

However, the chairman’s health was not very good at the time, and he was personally busy taking and calling out orders. Watching this, we also worried that he might overwork. We admired his willingness to give, while recognising how hard the work truly was for him.