*******************************************************
The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, attended the Sai Kung Folk Culture Gala organised by the Sai Kung Rural Committee this morning (February 3) and shared the festive joy by watching performances including lion dance, dragon dance, unicorn dance and kung fu together with residents in Sai Kung.
She then proceeded to Lakeside Garden, where the Sai Kung Women Development Centre of the Sai Kung and Tseung Kwan O Women's Association is located, to extend her Lunar New Year greetings to the elderly and residents there.
In the afternoon, accompanied by social workers of the Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service-Hong Kong, Mrs Lam visited two low-income families to better understand their living condition and offer them her New Year greetings. She said during her visit that the Chief Executive has put forward a series of initiatives in his 2014 Policy Address to support the disadvantaged and nurture the next generation. These include introducing a Low-income Working Family Allowance, increasing the flat-rate grant for each primary and secondary student eligible under the School Textbook Assistance Scheme, as well as enhancing the School-based After-school Learning and Support Programmes and after-school care services provided by the non-government organisations.
This was followed by a visit to the 94-year-old Uncle Fook, who resides at a senior housing unit of the Hong Kong Housing Authority, together with the Deputy Director of Social Welfare (Services), Mr Lam Ka-tai, to send him her festive greetings. Mrs Lam met Uncle Fook during her tenure as the Director of Social Welfare and has been visiting him from time to time since then.
Mrs Lam concluded the day by visiting the Sham Shui Po Office of the Society for Community Organization to gain a better understanding of a home environment improvement project and visited two beneficiary families under the project. The home environment improvement project is one of the activities under the "Bless Hong Kong" Campaign and aims at combining the forces of the business sector and volunteers to help those living in poor environment such as sub-divided units and cubicle apartments by providing them with suitable household furniture (such as children's writing desks) and demonstrating how to fully utilise space and put things in order, so as to help them improve their living environment.
Ends/Monday, February 3, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:26
NNNN
