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The Chief Executive, Mr Donald Tsang, this afternoon (December 20) distributed gifts to the elderly and children in a social service centre in Yau Tsim Mong district and visited a family newly arrived in Hong Kong. Mr Tsang also went to Wan Chai and Causeway Bay to see how the shops there were faring after the World Trade Organization Hong Kong Ministerial Conference.
Accompanied by the Director of Social Welfare, Mr Paul Tang Kwok-wai, and the District Social Welfare Officer (Kowloon City and Yau Tsim Mong), Mrs Barbara Lai Fung Po-kum, Mr Tsang's first stop was the home of a three-member new arrival family in an old building in Tai Kok Tsui. Mr Tsang listened to their needs and views on the services provided for them.
The mother of the family and her 11-year-old son came to settle in Hong Kong in mid-2004 and found it difficult to adjust.
The mother told the Chief Executive that with the assistance of a social worker, she had now obtained various social and welfare services including an adjustment group for new arrivals, interest classes and a retraining course. These services had helped her integrate quickly into the life in Hong Kong. The mother had made new friends, secured a part-time job and her son was adapting well to school life.
ˇ§The new arrivals are a part of Hong Kong. I am very pleased that the services for new arrivals can help them adapt to the new environment, widen their social circle, make new friends and participate in a myriad of activities,ˇ¨ Mr Tsang said.
ˇ§The Government will continue to work with various welfare organisations to provide comprehensive and suitable services to the new arrival families.ˇ¨
Mr Tsang also expressed gratitude to the new arrival mother who, in return for the help she received, had joined the volunteer service to help other new arrivals. This demonstrated the spirit of helping others to help themselves.
Mr Tsang then visited the nearby Mongkok Kai Fong Association Chan Hing Social Service Centre where he distributed Christmas gifts to about 50 children attending the after school care programme at the centre. He also talked to the elderly participating in a Christmas party organised by the elderly centre there.
The Mongkok Kai Fong Association Chan Hing Social Service Centre, with its complex built on land granted by the Government in 1974, started to provide social services for the residents of various ages in the community in 1980. The centre comprises the Integrated Elderly Services and the Integrated Community Services.
ˇ§Christmas is a joyful festival for the whole world. While celebrating it, we should send greetings to people around us,ˇ¨ the Chief Executive said.
Mr Tsang made a special visit to Wan Chai and Causeway Bay with the Secretary for Commerce, Industry and Technology, Mr John Tsang, to see how shops there were faring after the World Trade Organization Hong Kong Ministerial Conference. They had afternoon tea at a restaurant in Lockhart Road and talked to the operators of the shops nearby.
ˇ§I understand that business people in Wan Chai and Causeway Bay were affected during the conference and some of them could not operate. With the generous support from different stakeholders, the Government will soon introduce a series of initiatives with a view to encouraging more visitors and local residents to participate in various events and boosting consumer spending in the area. I hope the businesses here will become more prosperous than before,ˇ¨ Mr Tsang said.
The Chief Executive also commended and thanked the business operators for their tolerance and co-operation in the face of inconvenience and disruptions during the Ministerial Conference.
Ends/Tuesday, December 20, 2005
Issued at HKT 19:08
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