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Fourth Community Outreach Programme
- Tai Kok Tsui District
Date and Time:
29 July 2007 (Sunday)
A sharing session was held from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm, followed by a guided tour and a visit to the Sunday Market.
Venue:
Hong Kong Jockey Club Mongkok District Cultural, Recreational & Sports Association Lim Por Yen Centre (Sharing session);
Main Hall, Mongkok Kai-Fong Association Ltd. Chan Hing Social Service Centre (Sunday Market)
Co-organizers:
Life Workshop, Yau Tsim Mong District Council
Programme Report:
This is the fourth event of the Community Outreach Programme funded by the Council for Sustainable Development. Over 90 people, including District Council members, Area Committee members, staff of Non-Government Organizations, representatives from resident associations and district organizations, local business operators, residents and youth volunteers, attended the fourth community outreach event organized by the Council. In addition to a sharing session, the event also included a guided tour and a visit to the Sunday Market. The sharing session started with a welcoming speech by Ms Christine Fang, Member of the Council for Sustainable Development and Chair of the Education and Publicity Sub-committee. Ms Fang briefed participants on sustainable development concepts and the work of the Council for Sustainable Development.
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Following that, the event moved on to the sharing session. Life Workshop explained the background of the programme and shared their implementing experience with the participants. Success of the SDF project was attributed to the support rendered by the locals. As such, one of the supporters, Mr LAM Ho-yeung, the Yau Tsim Mong District Council Member from Tai Kok Tsui Constituency, was invited to talk about the achievements of the project to Tai Kok Tsui. Ms TAM On-kei, a registered social worker of the Mongkok Kai-Fong Association Ltd. Chan Hing Social Service Centre and the co-organizer of the Sunday Market, was also invited to share the project implementing experience. Finally, the project volunteers shared their feelings of participating in the project.
Mr Tony CHUN, the Executive Director of Life Workshop, and Ms Morris TO, the Service Co-ordinator, gave an account of the background, contents and implementation of the project respectively. In recent years, many redevelopment projects had been carried out in Tai Kok Tsui. At the same time, there had been considerable changes in land uses and community infrastructure which gave rise to many issues relevant to sustainable development. From the environmental perspective, the many construction projects and the large-scale reclamation resulted in a series of screen-like private housing at the harbour front which had aggravated the air pollution problem in the district. From the economic perspective, the modern-style private residential developments usually came with shopping complexes or major chain stores which would eventually phase out the small individually-owned shops through fierce competition. Since these small shops were mainly family-run businesses, their closure could threaten the livelihood of those involved. From the social perspective, long-established district networks were damaged as the local residents had been displaced through the redevelopment process in the district. Moreover, it took time to foster a sense of belonging among new residents to the community.
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Mr Tony CHUN, the Executive Director of Life Workshop, shared the experience and implementation of the project
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Ms TAM On-kei, a registered social worker of Mongkok
Kai-Fong Association Limited, shared her experience
with the participants
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Mr LAM Ho-yeung, Yau Tsim Mong District Council Member from Tai Kok Tsui Constituency, shared the outcome of the project on Tai Kok Tsui
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The last part was a sharing session by participating youth volunteers. Mr. CHAN Chin-fung and Miss KWOK Po-yee shared with participants their experience in contacting the shop operators in Tai Kok Tsui. Through the contacts, the youth volunteers realised that a balance had to be struck among economic development, social harmony and environmental conservation and they also learnt to treasure the neighbourhood spirit of mutual help.
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Mr. CHAN Chin-fung (left) and Miss KWOK Po-yee (right)
shared their participating experience
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Approved by the Council in 2006, the "Sustainable Development Community Building and Youth Education in Tai Kok Tsui" project had been granted around $270,000 from the Sustainable Development Fund to run for a period of 1 year. The project aimed at enhancing the Tai Kok Tsui residents' and business operators' understanding of sustainable development, mobilizing their participation in sustainable development-related activities, as well as the preservation and revitalization of the local economy and the social network in the district. Project activities included the Sustainable Development Youth Leaders Training Scheme, training on neighbourhood revitalization skills for the residents, a value-enhancement training programme for the local business operators, Sunday Markets, Sunday Market Educational Tours for Youth, an exhibition on "The Memory of the Urban City" and distribution of promotional pamphlets. Through the Sunday Markets and the value-enhancement training programme for the local business operators, residents could come to know the distinctive features of the shops in the district. By providing a platform for the residents and business operators, the Sunday Markets could also encourage residents to spend at individually owned shops in the district. To make preparations for the Sunday Markets, the youth volunteers spent four months on visiting the small business operators in the district so as to build up a relationship of trust with them. With the help of the youth volunteers, over 20 business operators were invited to participate in the Sunday Markets.
The project won the recognition of the residents and support from all sectors of the local community. The exhibition on "The Memory of the Urban City" even enlisted the help of the students of the Department of Cultural and Religious Studies, the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Besides, the project attracted wide coverage by 2-dimensional and electronic media. For instance, the Asia Television Limited produced a thematic feature on this project for broadcast in the News Magazine programme.
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After the sharing session, participants joined an educational tour.
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The Council will continue to organize Community Outreach Programme activities in different districts. You are most welcome to join us. Please browse our website for updated information.
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