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The Chief Executive's wife, Mrs Selina Tsang, has paid tribute to Hong Kong's volunteers for their selfless dedication to volunteer work and contributions to society.
Mrs Tsang was officiating for the first time in her capacity as Volunteer-in-Chief at the Volunteer Award Presentation Ceremony 2005 today (December 10).
"From 1998 until now, more than 520,000 registered volunteers and 1,426 registered organisations have committed to volunteering. In 2004, volunteers devoted more than 12 million hours of service to the community," Mrs Tsang said.
She hoped the whole community would continue to work hand-in-hand to further promote volunteering.
At the ceremony, the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Paul Tang Kwok-wai, thanked Mrs Tsang for assuming the position of Volunteer-in-Chief. He said he firmly believed that under the leadership of Mrs Tsang, the volunteer service would turn over a new leaf.
"Volunteer service forms a platform on which different sectors in the society, including the commercial and private sectors, can work together with the same goal of helping people in need," Mr Tang said.
The annual award presentation is organised by the Social Welfare Department's Steering Committee on the Promotion of Volunteer Service to recognise the contribution of volunteers and further promote the volunteer movement.
The slogan for this year is "One Team One Heart One Mind, Volunteering for a better Hong Kong". To sustain the promotion of volunteering, a new publicity poster was launched at the ceremony.
Awards were presented today to commend the outstanding contribution of various types of volunteers.
In 2004, about 50,000 Volunteer Certificates were awarded to committed volunteers, including 100 volunteers who had served the community for over 20 years. These 100 committed volunteers, together with the individual volunteers and volunteer organisations awarded the Highest Number of Service Hours Award, were commended. In addition, the corporate winners of the "Corporate Volunteer Service Project Competition 2005" were also honoured on stage for contributing their creativity and expertise to serve the community.
Also present at the ceremony were the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Student and Youth Volunteering, Mrs Lina Lo Yan Hau-yee; the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Volunteering in Community Organisations, Mrs Sophia Dan; the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion of Corporate Volunteering, Mr Yeung Ka-sing; and the Convenor of the Sub-committee on the Promotion and Publicity of Volunteer Service, Mr Charles Yang.
Ends/Saturday, December 10, 2005
Issued at HKT 16:01
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