Lucky Lee jokes he’s lucky because of his name. His journey has indeed been one of luck – but also of kindness and hard work, an extraordinary story of resilience.
He was born to Chinese parents in the 1950s. He spent his early life growing up between Cambodia, Hong Kong and Vietnam, his parents moving him around to avoid a series of wars in the region. Despite their efforts, as a teenager Lucky ended up in a Malaysian refugee camp with his younger brother.
“I had nothing,” Lucky says of this dark time. “No food, no housing. I just tried to survive and that was it.”
The first stroke of luck and kindness: after a humanitarian group’s visit to the camp, Lucky was offered to relocate to Canada. “Without Canada taking me in, I don’t know what my life would be like right now,” he says.
Lucky, accompanied by his younger brother, arrived in Toronto in 1979. They were aline, with no family or friends. Lucky found work at a Chinese restaurant, as a delivery person. Over time, he helped the elderly owners, Mr and Mrs Liu, find ways to run the business more efficiently, gaining their trust as a hard worker.
Mr and Mrs Liu’s belief in him was another important act of kindness. He recalls once overhearing Mr Liu telling his wife how much he liked “the young kid.”
“I heard that and I wanted to cry,” says Lucky. “Even now. They were good people.”
Eventually Mr and Mrs Liu retired and sold the business to Lucky, who operated the restaurant for the rest of his career. The business was successful, allowing Lucky to live comfortably, visit family overseas, and donate to charities – privileges he’d never dreamed of as a refugee escaping war.
In 2018, Lucky retired and moved to a Toronto Seniors Housing building in the southeast region of the city. An active member of his building’s Tenant Circle, he volunteers at the monthly coffee socials, helps fellow tenants with translation needs, and acts as a friendly connector to many in the community.
For him, volunteering is a way to pay forward the kindnesses that were shown to him.
“I was a refugee. You don’t forget where you come from,” Lucky says. “If you can do something good for another human being, do it.”
Originally published in Seniors Speak, a magazine of the Toronto Seniors Housing Corporation
