Most talented Foodpanda rider in Singapore? He plays 7 instruments and has developed an AI chip for bicycles

Suavely strumming a guitar and singing while peddling on a bicycle… delivering food?

The music video featuring a cover of the electronic ditty On My Way rearranged by 22-year-old Foodpanda rider Lau Jin Ming might be a little amateurish, but it is evident even in the short two-minute clip that Jin Ming has the musical chops.

His display of guitar skills and creativity was enough to land him $150 in prize money for being among the top 10 in Foodpanda's annual online talent competition which took place back in June.

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBVUSPBeMLI[/embed]

But as AsiaOne dives deeper into conversation with Jin Ming, we discover that his is no ordinary talent.

He shares with us a story of how his prodigious musical ability was first discovered at around the age of "four or five".

Jin Ming was at a toy store when he began banging on the keys of a toy piano, and based on what his mother told him, "she said I could create a melody [of the music that was playing in the the store] even though I had no prior knowledge [of playing the piano]". 

His parents were taken aback but also suitably impressed enough to buy him the toy piano. "They were like, 'this boy wants to play music, so here you go, just take the toy piano home'," recounts Jin Ming with a laugh. 

And music has been a big part of Jin Ming's life since then.

Besides playing the keyboard and cello, which the Hwa Chong Institution alumnus learnt to play during his teenage years in the Chinese orchestra, Jin Ming also taught himself to play the drums, violin and guitar — with the help of YouTube videos.

Looking at the ease with which he performs the complicated (to us, anyway) finger-strumming piece in his music video, it's hard to believe he picked up the instrument just a few years ago, during his free time in National Service.

The second-year mechanical engineering student also beatboxes on occasion, as well as composes and arranges his own music.

What makes it all the more impressive is the fact that Jin Ming doesn't know how to read musical scores. "If I see those tau geh (musical notes), I'll just think they're food lah," he jokes. 

So why doesn't he want to get into music full-time? With his passion and talent, who knows if he'll hit the big time as the next Jay Chou or JJ Lin?

"A lot of people have asked me that, but I see music as a side thing.

"I think it’s a good way to de-stress. And because it’s not my full-time job, I can just go to it anytime,” says Jin Ming, whose diverse interests span across fields such as engineering and cycling. 

Cycling before he could walk

Incredibly, cycling has been a part of Jin Ming's life for an even longer time, if that's even possible.

Jin Ming shares how his dad has always been proud of the fact that he learnt how to cycle even before he could walk.

It's a cute story, but one that even Jin Ming himself is not quite sure he believes.

"My dad really loves to cycle, so bought me a tricycle to try, even before I could walk. He told me when I wanted to get around in the house I would crawl to the bike and get on the bike to peddle instead of walking," he says.

This is probably why becoming a food delivery rider seemed like a natural choice when Jin Ming was 16 and looking for a part-time job during the school holidays.

"I was very into cycling, so I thought why not just do what I love as well as earn income in the process," said Jin Ming, who said he chose Foodpanda because its policy "was more aligned to my personal preference", referring to the flexibility of the shift hours available to riders.

"On a good day, I can make around $22 per hour. So for a typical five-hour shift I can earn around $100 to $120," Jin Ming shares. 

He would work almost every day during the school holidays, which was up to five days a week. Sharing that his family background is "more towards the low income side", this meant that Jin Ming has not taken an allowance from his parents since he was 16.

"I earned most of my allowance from Foodpanda back then," says Jin Ming, whose mum is a housewife and dad works as a shop manager at FairPrice.

His dad was supportive of the idea to ride part-time, even now. "He is happy that I'm earning money because I'm doing what I love."

His mum was initially supportive as well, but during the pandemic, she became a lot more apprehensive.

"During the circuit breaker she didn't allow me to [ride] for two months," Jin Ming shares. As an added precaution these days, Jin Ming makes sure to have a bottle of hand sanitiser on his bike always, which he uses between deliveries.

Now that he has his hands full as an intern, however, the National University of Singapore (NUS) student has less time to head out for food deliveries. But he's certain he would still be doing it for the long haul.

"The reason why I do Foodpanda is because I see it as a workout as well, so not only does it complement my passion for cycling, it's also a very good way to get fit. So it's like an excuse for me to get out of the house sometimes," says Jin Ming, who currently owns four bicycles of different types. 

"So I think in the future I will definitely still keep up this work for my health."

But being a food delivery rider definitely has its risks, and there have been close shaves on the road.

Jin Ming recalls a particularly "heartbreaking" story of how he almost got into an accident while on his way to a customer.

What made the day worse was that it happened after an exceptionally long wait for the customer's food.

"There was a very long queue and although the waiting time on the app showed 10 minutes, I waited for more than an hour," says Jin Ming of the incident which happened last year.

"I guess that misled the customer to think that I was slacking off, or that I wasn't really doing my job fast enough."

With the customer growing more impatient with each text enquiring about the hold-up, Jin Ming apologetically told him that the restaurant was very busy and there was nothing much that he could do.

While the customer "was still okay" after his explanation, that soon changed after Jin Ming finally got the food.

"I was at a zebra crossing, but the car didn't notice me coming so it accelerated. I had to jam brake and because of that I lost balance," Jin Ming recalls, demonstrating how the food delivery bag he was carrying toppled as a result.

"There were soup and drinks inside, so when I reached the customer's house [the food] was 75 per cent gone lah."

Understandably, the customer gave Jin Ming an earful. "They already waited so long and then when the food came it was not even 'proper', so when they saw it they just exploded.

"They were like, 'what is this, I waited for you for so long, and why is the food in such bad shape'," says Jin Ming.

And even though Jin Ming was still traumatised from the near-miss minutes before, he did his best to try and explain the situation. "I told him I'm sorry, but I just got into an accident.

"But he just thought I was finding excuses lah, so that episode was quite heartbreaking."

Thankfully on the flip side, there have been heartwarming occasions as well, one of which occurred during Chinese New Year.

As with all peak holiday periods, there was a long waiting time for the food as well and Jin Ming was late.

"Even though it was a similar scenario, the story is different, because when I reached the customer's house, they were friendly and still gave me an ang bao.

"When I opened it downstairs it was quite a lot of money, $28," shares Jin Ming, who hopes customers can be aware that delivering food to their doorstep is not such a straightforward process.

"There are many aspects of the delivery process that customers do not see that happen in the background," says Jin Ming, such as the wait at the restaurant which can be unpredictable, "and safely getting the food into the customer's hands without taking too long".

There's also the challenge of finding the correct addresses.

"I guess I hope customers can realise that it's not always so simple. Sometimes when bad things happen, try to think of what could have happened, instead of blaming the rider."

Budding entrepreneur and tech whiz 

His experience with Foodpanda has not only made him a few friends who are riders, Jin Ming has also convinced several of his own group of friends to join him. 

"I just asked them to follow me on deliveries and see how it is. And then they said, 'eh actually not bad leh', then they just tried it out," says Jin Ming, whose girlfriend doesn't mind him working as a delivery rider and "thinks it's quite an interesting job".

We find out that the budding entrepreneur has also put his passion for cycling to good use in other ways, creating a bicycle rental club for fellow students.

Marrying his interests in engineering, tech and cycling also meant Jin Ming was driven to create a self-steering AI chip ("look ma, no hands!") for his bicycle. Along with a camera, the programme would analyse the path ahead and send a signal to a motor affixed to the handlebars so you would not need to steer it.

The idea took hold after he joined a hackathon, and the chip took about a year of "trial and error and many iterations" before it worked properly.

But still, it remains a personal project and yet another thing the talented lad is content to do on the side. 

During our interview, Jin Ming happened to find out that he'd won yet another music competition, this time organised by his NUS engineering faculty. With it came the prize money of $1,000, which he's thinking of channelling into his bicycle rental business.

It really does seem that Jin Ming has the full package that makes him the textbook well-rounded individual; he's got the smarts, the talent, athleticism and entrepreneurial spirit — so is there anything that he cannot do?

“I think nothing is impossible. I enjoy the process of learning new things and gaining new knowledge and believe I can learn anything, as long as I put in the time and effort.” 

Are you cut out for the job? 

If you're thinking of becoming a food delivery rider, Jin Ming shares some pointers on what to expect on the job.

• “From my experience, I think you have to be really independent because you will be doing most of the things on your own and you basically function alone."
• "The next thing is you must be flexible, because the situation is always changing, like for a simple example, when cycling from point A to point B, sometimes you may find out that a road is closed and you must adapt to the situation."
• "It helps if you’re tech-savvy. It can be quite a hurdle for the older generation to get used to the app interface. Someone who doesn’t really use mobile devices might not really know how to navigate it. Or they may be able to do the conventional things, but if any contingency arises they might have problems finding the extra help they need. But it's still possible to get a hang of it with experience."

candicecai@asiaone.com