Community Spotlight: Chris Mak, Civil Engineer

Curious about what volunteerism and Time Auction events are all about? Meet our community who has shared their memorable experiences in their volunteering journey and meetings with our featured guests!

Meet Chris Mak!

Chris is a civil engineer and his daily tasks include calculations, site monitoring and project management. He is a football enthusiast and a passionate volunteer. Facing the dilemma of schedule clashes between volunteering and football training sessions at weekends, he will always prioritize and value the significance and impact of volunteering.

Chris’ volunteer journey and what he gained

“We are all tired but we know we are creating value in society.”

As a family-oriented person, Chris participates in a wide variety of volunteer services which are related to family issues, from the Samaritans to visiting the elderly who live alone, to taking children from underprivileged families to Disneyland, and distributing food boxes in Pei Ho Siu Mei Restaurant, just to name the more recent ones. Chris shares with us one of his most remarkable volunteer experiences, which is to install bookshelves for children living in subdivided flats in tenement houses where no lift was available. Carrying the heavy tools and necessary equipment to make the bookshelves, he and the other volunteers reached the 6th floor up the stairs and by the time they got to the top, everyone was drenched in sweat, yet no one complained. They were physically exhausted, but a huge sense of satisfaction endured.

As Chris pursues his volunteering journey, he realizes that serving the needy does not just benefit the targeted groups, but also the volunteer himself. To him, volunteering is one of the ways for him to connect with his late grandma. When Chris works with the elderly, he feels a connection with his grandma which pleases him. Moreover, he is increasingly finding himself becoming a more sociable and talkative person, as he opens himself up. He thinks his stories and adventures in volunteering are always great subjects in conversations and can help him recruit more people to jump on board.

Learning from Time Auction events — Success requires hard work!

“Action speaks louder than words.”

Chris learnt about Time Auction via social media, which incentivises him to actively volunteer so that he can bid for opportunities to meet with inspiring guests. Apart from learning through volunteer services, he is greatly inspired by the sharing of mentors. He recalled that his first Time Auction event was meeting with Bob Lam (林盛斌), Actor, DJ and Emcee. At the meeting, he learnt that Bob encountered countless setbacks before he became successful. Chris quoted from Bob, “I wish and I will.” “When you wish upon a star, actions must be taken to realize your aspiration. Many see the bright side and cheer for your success, but seldom will they look ‘behind the scenes’ to see all the hard work and tears that go into that success.” There is no overnight success but mere diligence and perseverance. With his patience and hard work, he thrived through all obstacles.

“It is a great idea to combine something you like and something that can benefit the community.”

As a former amateur swimmer who represented his district to compete, Chris signed up for an opportunity to meet Alex Fong, Singer, Actor & Swimmer. When he realized that Alex started a fund-raising campaign in which participants will swim 45 km around the island, he was immensely impressed by his kind gesture and how the idea encompassed his passion for swimming and doing good.

Chris is truly grateful for every opportunity to bring changes to society regardless of the scale of impact. He promises to strive for a better community via incessant volunteering. He will continue to serve and participate in future Time Auction events.

Thank you so much to Chris for contributing 95 volunteer hours and participating in 9 of Time Auction events!

To see our upcoming experiences, head over to the Time Auction website!

Interviewed & written by Gloria Ip| Edited by Giselle Lee