Is it possible to live off-grid in Hong Kong? ‘Yeah Man’ grows his own plants, makes fire with sticks and is raising his two-year-old son closer to nature
- Mok Ho-kwong, 36, says we’ve grown up in a spoiled environment where we are told more is good and we buy things we don’t really need
- ‘I love my lifestyle. It’s healthy, environmentally friendly and I can protect animals as I’m a vegetarian,’ he says
Making a fire with sticks, cooking without a stove, getting water from a creek – this is the every day routine for Mok Ho-kwong, a 36-year-old man who chooses to live a simple and green life in the New Territories of Hong Kong.
Mok, who calls himself “Yeah Man” (similar to the Cantonese pronunciation of wild man), started living off the grid 13 years ago.
“I studied leisure management at the University of Hong Kong, but I learned a lot about nature and the environment outside school. I realised the harm we’ve done to Mother Nature, and I didn’t want to continue living a lifestyle that creates a lot of waste and pollution so I chose to live off-grid,” Mok says.
His parents and friends opposed his decision at first, saying he should move back to the urban area and get a proper job.
“My parents thought that with my university degree, I could live up to their expectations and get an office job, but I don’t want to live the rest of my life like that, knowing it will go against my will and values,” he says.