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The Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mrs Rita Lau, today (January 26) shared the birthday joy of Madam Wu Chan, a visually-impaired centenarian at the Ebenezer Care and Attention Home in Pok Fu Lam.
Mrs Lau paid a visit to the Ebenezer School and Home for the Visually Impaired this afternoon, offering her personal regards to both the students and the elderly ahead of the Chinese New Year.
Madam Wu, who turns 100-year old this year, and about 40 senior citizens were delighted with Mrs Lau's visit. Mrs Lau not only extended early Chinese New Year greetings to them but also presented them with some seasonal food to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.
A birthday party followed with singing and cake cutting by Madam Wu. Mrs Lau wished her health, longevity and many happy returns of her birthday.
Prior to the visit to the elderly home, Mrs Lau also met with visually-impaired students aged 12 to 18 at the Ebenezer School. Its Principal, Mr Denny Lam, told Mrs Lau how the information technology (IT) facilities provided by the school enhanced the students' learning interest, confidence and capability.
Mrs Lau said that the IT facilities not only could help the visually impaired students to cope with reading and learning difficulties, but could also help them to gain knowledge and practical experience with various IT tools. This would allow them to have better integration with the society.
She agreed that promotional efforts could be directed at enterprises to offer more employment opportunities to visually-impaired persons.
Mrs Lau wished the students all the best with their studies and encouraged them to deploy more IT applications to hone their learning skills. She also brought them a fruit hamper as a Chinese New Year present.
The School provides a comprehensive quality education for visually impaired children from primary one to secondary three levels.
During the visit, Mrs Lau also expressed her appreciation to the staff for their dedicated work in providing quality education for the visually impaired students and in taking care of the special needs of the elderly citizens.
Ends/Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Issued at HKT 18:42
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