The Chief Secretary for Administration and Chairperson of the Commission on Poverty, Mr Chan Kwok-ki, officiated at the Sham Shui Po Community Living Room Opening Ceremony this afternoon (December 18), to officially start the first project under the Pilot Programme on Community Living Room.

     Mr Chan said that the current-term Government has always attached great importance to the well-being of the grass-roots and brought together the strengths of the Government, the business sector and the community to enhance their sense of contentment and happiness. The Pilot Programme on Community Living Room is a new key initiative. As the first flagship project under the programme, the Sham Shui Po Community Living Room provides additional space with diversified facilities and services for grass-roots families to meet their needs in daily lives and social activities, thereby improving their quality of life.

     On behalf of the Government, Mr Chan expressed sincere thanks to the Sino Group and the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation for providing the venue as well as the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society, Kowloon, as the operator. Other enterprises and district organisations with dedication and capability are also encouraged to join the Pilot Programme on Community Living Room. The Government invites all sectors to act in concert and develop more Community Living Rooms for the benefit of more grass-roots families to build a more caring and inclusive community.

     Mr Chan; the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Chris Sun; the Director of the Ng Teng Fong Charitable Foundation, Ms Nikki Ng; the Executive Director of the Sino Group, Mr Victor Tin; the Permanent Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Ms Alice Lau; the Director of Social Welfare, Miss Charmaine Lee; and the Chairman of the Lok Sin Tong Benevolent Society, Kowloon, Mr Lee Shing-kan, jointly officiated at the plaque unveiling ceremony and listened to Christmas carols performed by mentees of the Strive and Rise Programme, another targeted poverty alleviation project under the Commission on Poverty. They then played games with and presented Christmas gifts to children and parents of over 20 beneficiary households.

     Prior to the ceremony, accompanied by other officiating guests, Mr Chan toured the facilities of the Community Living Room, including the reception area, the interview rooms, and the communal living room for doing homework, holding interest classes and group activities, as well as shared cooking equipment and dining area for beneficiary households to cook, dine and mingle. This flagship project provides additional facilities including the self-service laundry, the shower cubicles, the children’s corner and reading room, the sports facilities and the case interview room. Mr Chan and guests visited these shared facilities and services to take a closer look at how they improve the living and community environment of the sub-divided unit households.

     “The Chief Executive’s 2023 Policy Address” set out the Pilot Programme on Community Living Room, while embarking on a study to tackle the issue of sub-divided units in the long term. The pilot programme continued to adopt the strategy of tripartite collaboration among the Government, the business sector and the community, under which the business sector provides venues and the Community Care Fund provides funding to commission non-governmental organisations to operate the Community Living Rooms, providing targeted support to sub-divided unit households in the district. The Community Living Rooms offer shared pantries and dining rooms as well as common spaces for doing homework, holding interest classes and group activities, providing sub-divided unit households with additional living space in their respective communities. To strengthen community support for the service targets, the pilot programme also arranges information and talks, and makes referrals to other community services as appropriate. The business sector and local organisations are also approached for in-kind donations (e.g. food or food vouchers) and providing volunteer services (e.g. learning support to students).

     Located on 1/F, 188 Fuk Wa Street, the Sham Shui Po Community Living Room will operate for a period of three years and is expected to serve at least 500 sub-divided unit households, with about 80 000 attendances a year.