Know Your GuideFong: TST – Bringing HK’s Multicultural Community Together to Support Local Small Businesses

On the sunny Sunday afternoon of 6 July, the basement of the iconic Chungking Mansions came to life as Hongkongers gathered at Foundation for Shared Impact (FSI)’s Know Your GuideFong: TST event, to engage with and support the small local businesses run by the city’s multicultural entrepreneurial community. 

Know Your GuideFong is an immersive and community-driven event series that celebrates the multicultural spirit and vibrant entrepreneurial community quintessential to Hong Kong. For those who don’t know, guidefong is the Cantonese word for “neighbors” or “friends in the community” – the people who would look out for each other through thick and thin. 

Uplifting Local Under-resourced Entrepreneurs Through Enhanced Visibility and Connection with Local Communities

Through the TST edition of the event series, we were able to scale up our successful GuideFong Bazaar last year and doubled the number of small businesses we support to 31 this year. Our partnership with event sponsors, Heath Hong Kong and PayPal Hong Kong; payment partners, PayMe and KPay Group; media partner, The Beat Asia; and content partner, KOLture, has enabled us to welcome 150+ visitors, who generated a collective HK$33,000+ in sales revenue for the participating GuideFong businesses. A big shout-out to PayPal Hong Kong, who granted us a sponsorship to purchase products and services from selected GuideFong businesses to be included in the goodie bags, which PayPal Hong Kong’s employees helped prepare (see more below)!

Moreover, the event has also raised HK$3,000+ in ticket sales, which will be used to fund the ongoing direct business support we provide to under-resourced entrepreneurs through our Project GuideFong. 

On GuideFong’s Instagram alone, the promotional content engaged 470+ accounts and recorded 280+ content shares, increasing the GuideFong businesses’ visibility even before the event. The success of this year’s event is corroborated by the participating GuideFong businesses: 

• Kerry’s Collections: “As a vendor at the Pop-up Market, I enjoyed this amazing event. The venue was perfect, and I would like to say thank you to our sponsors for the great hospitality and professional support.”

• Sher-E-Punjab: “The youths and guests were really friendly and kind. We enjoyed the FSI and GuideFong teams’ support and promotion of our restaurant, it was a memorable experience for us.”

• Chakwal International Hair Salon: “People from different backgrounds and cultures came to visit us, and it was quite nice to see new faces.” 

• YogabyRicha: “The whole event was very well organized, and the volunteers were very approachable and helpful. Also, the way social media platforms were actively used was very helpful in increasing the reach.”

Take a look at how we uplift participating GuideFong businesses through the initiatives of Know your GuideFong: TST:

• Treasure Hunt Equipped with the TST GuideFong Map designed by our pro-bono designer, Joy Lee, visitors went on a Treasure Hunt to discover the 12 hidden gems in the TST neighborhood. In addition to sales revenue, visitors also supported the GuideFong businesses with beneficial actions, such as leaving a Google Review. For the support they provided, visitors gained stamps to redeem goodie bags. 

• Walking Tour The 16 participants who joined the two Walking Tours at 3pm and 5pm visited and interacted with the business owners of Golden Sports at the Far East Mansion Shopping Arcade, and OBC Mart, Kamal’s Sweet Corner, Moti Palace, Paul’S Kitchen, and the Diversity Hub Hong Kong by Christian Action at Chungking Mansions.

• Pop-up Market 19 GuideFong businesses, including four GuideFong Lab businesses that were trying out their business concepts, gained visibility and sales revenue at the Pop-up Market held at Heath Hong Kong, benefiting also from the foot traffic along the bustling Nathan Road. 

• Goodie Bags Each and every one of the 70 Goodie Bags, prepared by our event sponsor PayPal Hong Kong on their Impact Day this year, was packed with gifts and vouchers sponsored by our GuideFong businesses: Cesta House of Healing, EMC Hub, Kerry’s Collections, Nepcha, Nourish Scrubs, Priyo Shaad, Sababu, Shilpa’s Masala Mill, The Blomstre, and YogabyRicha.

• Media Coverage Our partnership with The Beat Asia, in addition to shining a spotlight on the ethnically diverse women entrepreneurs in our community, further uplifted our broader entrepreneurial community through the pre-event promotion and on-site coverage of the Know Your GuideFong: TST event. 

A Fun and Mutually Beneficial Event 

The Know Your GuideFong event was a truly wholesome and one-of-a-kind experience that brought Tsim Sha Tsui’s vibrant community to life, to quote Adnan Riaz, FSI’s Community Business Support Assistant who led the two Walking Tours on the event day, introducing participants to the lesser-known parts and people of Hong Kong, as he always does when leading our regular GuideFong Tours. 

Said Adnan: “From the laughter and excitement of the Treasure Hunt to the bustling energy of the Pop-up Market, and the insightful discoveries on our Walking Tours – every moment created unforgettable memories. We weren’t just celebrating a day; we were celebrating the inspiring stories of ethnically diverse entrepreneurs and the incredible journey they are on.”

Apart from our event sponsors, payment partners, and media and content partners, we would also like to thank the 27 youth volunteers – the GuideFong Ambassadors and HSBC Scholars and Hub for the Future members – who supported us with photography, content creation, on-site logistics support, set-up and clean-up, as well as the nine local KOLs who created engaging content to support the city’s small local businesses. 

Said Fahad Tanveer, a GuideFong Ambassador: “The event was truly an eye-opening and enriching experience for me. I had the incredible opportunity to help local ethnically diverse businesses showcase their unique products to everyone. This event wasn’t just about shopping; it was a celebration of culture and community. It taught me the importance of a diverse marketplace in Hong Kong and its role in our community. Witnessing the passion and creativity of the business owners inspired me deeply. The energy of the event and the smiles on the faces of both vendors and shoppers made every effort worthwhile.” 

Also seeing the event as an incredible opportunity is Syed Abeer, a GuideFong Ambassador: “From assisting in external communications with checkpoint vendors for the Treasure Hunt, to planning and creating content to promote the event, it gave me the chance to interact with various groups of people, giving me a greater understanding of the importance of GuideFong. It was rewarding to see all of our hard work pay off, observing the liveliness and success of the Know Your GuideFong event, promoting the importance of shopping local and celebrating neighborhood gems!”  

The sentiment was echoed by Yan Lok Lau, a HSBC Scholar and a member of the Hub for the Future, managed by FSI: “It was such a rewarding experience that I got to interact with budding entrepreneurs from diverse cultures. The biggest takeaway was the communication skills that I developed through intercultural communication. Rarely do I get the chance to experience all Hong Kong has to offer in its entirety, but I was able to at such an event!”

As was the case with our GuideFong Bazaar last year, the HSBC Scholars and Hub for the Future members found the volunteering experience meaningful. Said Michelle Phagami: “Volunteering in my free time helps lighten my mood and refocuses my attention on things that bring impact to the community that I care about.”

Get Involved

Know Your GuideFong: TST may have come to an end, but our work to support under-resourced ethnically diverse entrepreneurs and youth doesn’t stop. In case you want to catch the highlights of the event, check out this photo album! Stay tuned to our 2025-26 Mentorship Program for Ethnically Diverse Entrepreneurs, updates on our regular GuideFong Tours, and in the meantime, find out how you can get involved with our work to support causes that align with your personal values or corporate sustainability strategy.