Homeless team regain dignity as they eye World Cup title
John Fat is not an understated man. The 38-year-old Hong Kong native loses his temper easily. He sports a flashy metal stud in his ear and regales with stories of the millions he made in business and his life as a high-roller in casinos from Manila to Las Vegas.
Now, Mr Fat is soon to fly to Denmark in the hope of leading his soccer team to a world title - but this time he is not boasting about it.
'When you are 18 years old and you join the Hong Kong team, you are very happy and you tell everybody,' he said, watching his team warm up in Sham Shui Po.
'But now I just have this group of friends ... nobody else knows.'
The friends are all current or formerly homeless men. And the international soccer event has more than 500 participants from 48 countries, but few people have heard of the Homeless World Cup.
Mr Fat, who became homeless after his gambling addiction became so severe that his wife kicked him out, is one of eight players representing Hong Kong at the tournament in Copenhagen this coming weekend. Life stories like Mr Fat's are not uncommon for the team members, some of whom spent just a few days on the streets while others have been homeless for months.
Many lost touch with friends and family when they became homeless. But the team provided them with a community, something hard for the homeless to come by, social worker Ng Wai-tung, who founded the team, said. Mr Ng, whose non-profit Society for Community Organisation provides outreach services to street sleepers, established the Dawn Homeless Football Team after hearing of the first Homeless World Cup in 2003.
Men who joined teams gained the motivation needed to improve their lives and more than 40 per cent were able to find housing within the next year, he said.
This has been true for the team's eight members, who were chosen from 50 players because of their determination to put their lives back together. Seven of them were no longer homeless and all eight had some form of work, Mr Ng said.
Alan Lau, 27, who became homeless after losing his delivery job at a restaurant, said he was too ashamed to see friends and family, but he had regained his confidence and controlled his depression after finding a community in the team.
And captain Mr Fat now wants to pay off his debts and win back his ex-wife. 'I will change,' he said. 'I will work hard and buy a house for her. This is my dream.'
