On this Christmas Day, I would like to start by wishing everyone a Merry Christmas. When we talk about Christmas, we are all reminded of the themes of the season - love, joy and peace. For me, Christmas is also a reminder that we should face our work and life with this spirit in mind. Today, I would like to share with you that colleagues from the Development Bureau (DEVB) and its departments have been going out into the community in their spare time, bringing this love, joy and peace to the people they serve. While I thank them, I would also like to share with you stories of their volunteering work, hoping to spread this spirit to the community.

Setting Up of a Construction Industry Volunteer Team

Quoting the saying “Helping others is the source of happiness”, Mr LAU Chun-kit, Ricky, Permanent Secretary for Development (Works), points out that various departments under the DEVB have formed volunteer teams to care for the community in their spare time. In November this year, the construction industry set up a Construction Industry Volunteer Team to help people and families in need; volunteers from the works departments also took part to repair the homes of people in need in different districts, with the support of District Offices and local organisations. Recently, Mr LAU also led a volunteer team to repair the flats of elderly people living alone in Eastern District, in the meantime giving encouragement to participating colleagues.

Home repairs for the elderly

Mrs SO MO Yin-ling, a colleague from the Architectural Services Department (ArchSD) who participated in the home repair visit, says that since the establishment of the department’s volunteer team in 2003, the team has been actively taking part in or joining hands with other non-profit-making organisations to organise various volunteer activities, in order to contribute to the community. Every winter, they repair homes for the elderly. She adds that it gives her immense satisfaction and joy to be able to help those in need in society.

Many departmental volunteer teams have been established for over 20 years

Apart from the ArchSD, a number of departmental volunteer teams under the DEVB have been established for more than 20 years, such as those of the Drainage Services Department (DSD), Water Supplies Department (WSD) and Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD). Their service targets include the elderly, the visually impaired, young people, school children, and so on, offering a variety of services such as visits, beach cleaning, homework tutoring, distributing gifts, etc. Ms POON Wing-chi, Gigi, Senior Engineer of the DSD, says that one of the more interesting activities of the volunteer team recently was to organise “Little Engineer STEM Workshops” for grass roots and South Asian children to introduce to them the work of the department, and to cultivate their interest in the relevant knowledge from a young age.

DSD was honoured with the Hong Kong Volunteer Awards

While volunteers do not ask for anything in return, I am pleased to learn that the DSD has recently been honoured with two “Hong Kong Volunteer Awards”, jointly organised by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau and the Agency for Volunteer Service, in the categories of “Outstanding Corporate & Non-Commercial Organization” and “Outstanding Collaboration Project” respectively, the latter being for the production of audio-visual information with the Hong Kong Anti-Cancer Society to help patients and carers cope with the impact of cancer, as well as to enhance public awareness of cancer. In addition to recognising the continuous efforts and contributions of DSD colleagues in volunteering, the awards also acknowledged the collaboration of various departments and partners, including other government departments and professional organisations, in organising volunteer services to promote volunteerism and further give back to the community.

Interdepartmental volunteer services

The Civil Engineering and Development Department (CEDD), WSD and DSD organise interdepartmental volunteer services from time to time. Lately, they joined hands to visit the elderly living alone in Sai Wan Estate. Ms LAW Po-yee, Annie, Chief Engineer of the CEDD, remarks that as the epidemic has subsided in the second half of this year, the volunteers are able to talk to the elderly face-to-face, making them happy and learning a lot of new things from them. Ms TAM Ka-yan, Engineer of the WSD, says that apart from helping others, she has also met many like-minded volunteers through participation in the interdepartmental volunteer services.

Better understanding of community needs

In recent years, the DEVB and its departments have actively participated in anti-epidemic work. Mr KAN Cheung-heng, Alvin, and Miss LEE Yuk-sin, Florence, Town Planners of the Planning Department, say that the anti-epidemic work has made them aware of the different needs in society. Lately, on the easing of the epidemic, Mr CHUNG Man-kit, Ivan, Director of Planning, led a “care team” of 30 staff to visit the elderly in Un Chau Estate, Sham Shui Po. This time, they were delighted to be able to chat face-to-face with “the old pals”. They also felt that volunteer services had given them more opportunities to reach out to the community and better understand the needs of the public.

EMSD colleagues bring warmth in winter

As the weather turns colder, the EMSD volunteer team has earlier collaborated with Yan Oi Tong to launch a campaign teaching colleagues knitting skills and inviting them to knit scarves to give to the needy. Mr KONG Mau-shing, Marsden, Chief Engineer of the EMSD, says that thanks to the enthusiastic response from colleagues, more than 230 scarves have been collected to bring care and warmth to the grass roots elderly and other needy people in winter.

I believe that as long as there is love, joy and peace, there will be more positive energy in the community to support more needy groups and build a caring and harmonious society together. As the New Year approaches, I wish you all good health, a happy family and a joyful life!