A New Zealander living in Singapore says he is helping a burgled Moerewa butcher because he admires his determination to keep making an honest living despite repeated break-ins.
Greg "Jacko" Jackson, of Jacko's Discount Meats, has been flooded with support and donations since his daughter set up a Givealittle page to help him back on his feet after thieves smashed through the back of his shop and made off with meat worth $6000, cash, and his knives.
Among those who responded to the call was Gisborne-born, Napier-raised Tim Yee, who now runs a firm in Singapore importing chef's equipment. Mr Yee said he had sent a German-made set of knives to Mr Jackson because he knew how important they were to his livelihood.
He sympathised with Mr Jackson because he was the victim of a burglary in 2007 while working as a chef in Malaysia.
"I had my car broken into late at night when I dropped by the bank to deposit a cheque. My laptop, back-up hard drive and some cash was stolen. I couldn't have cared less about the cash and laptop, but the information on the hard drives had 10 years of recipes, menu planning, photos, my entire career portfolio on them, and they were gone in an instant," he said.
