An 11-year-old boy who busks in Wan Chai in the afternoons has won the hearts of many Hongkongers after they learned that he plays in public in order to afford his guitar lessons after his mother became unemployed.
A user, who posted on a public Facebook group set up for musicians to find bandmates to jam with, said he noticed a young guitarist busking under Canal Road Flyover on Tuesday. The boy had placed a small sign saying that he was busking to earn money for his school fees.
After chatting with him, the Facebook user found out that the boy is an 11-year-old called Angus who has been learning classical guitar for two years.
“The boy lives only with his mother, who is out of work due to the COVID-19 pandemic, so they have no money to send him for guitar lessons,” said the Facebook user.
The user, who also has a son learning the instrument, added that Angus plays the guitar well and has a lot of potential.
The post mentioned that the boy will be busking at the same place from 1:30 to 2:30pm every day this week.
Many musicians who commented on the post offered to give free lessons to the boy.
Others praised him for being brave and working hard to achieve his dream.
“I admire him for coming up with ways to do what he wants to do,” said one user.
“Good boy, he’s so mature in his thinking,” said another.
Many Hongkongers have lost their jobs or are unable to work since the strict regulations meant to curb the coronavirus pandemic have also caused a large number of businesses to shut down.
Hong Kong’s unemployment rate between last December and February rose to a five-month high of 4.5 percent.
