HKFYG And Rosewood Hotel Group Support Young People During Pandemic

Driven by a sense of purpose to inspire, enrich and positively impact both people and planet, Rosewood Hotel Group launched Rosewood Impacts with Rosewood Empowers as one of the key pillars. Rosewood Empowers encapsulates the Group’s belief in equal access to opportunity. The Group seeks talent from underserved groups through opportunity employment, promotes youth development and creates value for all our communities.

Rosewood Hotel Group and HKFYG join hands to nurture young family leaders

As the first Rosewood Empowers project under the three-year partnership with HKFYG, the “Family Resilience Plus” program allowed teenagers to strengthen family bonding by assuming the role of the family leader and learning to identify the needs of their loved ones. “Rosewood Empowers was launched in June, seeking to support the community through various initiatives. As its name suggests, Rosewood Empowers aims to empower those in need, enhancing their capacities and boosting their confidence in career planning as well as bringing positive impacts on others. This partnership with HKFYG has demonstrated our commitment to supporting the youths, empowering them to be leaders of the families,” says Sonia Cheng, Chief Executive Officer of Rosewood Hotel Group.

“I have to say how deeply touched and impressed I am by their efforts. By not giving up and seeking solutions to overcome their challenges, they really are role models for us all,” says Mr. Andy Ho Wingcheong, executive director of HKFYG, expressing his deep appreciation to all the students who have showed such perseverance in the midst of adversities. “HKFYG is deeply committed to ensuring that all young people in Hong Kong, especially those facing challenges are given all the support they need. We will continue to work with the HKSAR government, as well as other stakeholders in the community to nurture young people both with the skills to solve problems, as well as build up the resilience they need to manage their wellness.”

Encourage students to play an active role in boosting family engagement and relationships

One of the awardees shared that his mother working in the catering industry suffered financial stress when she was forced to take unpaid leaves during the pandemic. Despite her thin wallet, she never cut his tuition expense, and the family went through the tough time together. The student was also aware of his mother’s back pain problem caused by physical labor and that their refrigerator was broken.

“She’s always busy with work while I am busy with studies. However, the program gave us an opportunity to talk more to each other. Thinking from her perspective, I decided to replace the cooking utensils and refrigerator with the subsidy to alleviate her burdens. I also bought a massage machine, so that I can give her a massage every night and enjoy some quality time together. It doesn’t only help relieve her pain, but also brings us closer.” He described the experience as “First in My Life” as he has never worked on a budget for his family, adding that he was also able to start a conversation with his mother on new topics. Understanding that the proper use of social resources will benefit more people, he is now more determined to plan his career in fields that can help others.

Another student with a winning idea lives with her mother in a small and poorly ventilated home. Before the pandemic, her mother was very active and enjoyed joining various community activities in her neighborhood. During the pandemic, she noticed that her mother became increasingly upset and agitated as group activities were cancelled and she was forced to be homebound. Their relationship also deteriorated as the tension surged especially in a small and confined unit. It was only during her online research for the program that she realized she needed to understand more about her mother’s wishes, hobbies and needs. She observed that her mother suffered from allergic rhinitis and was not able to sleep well due to the confined spaces and poor ventilation. She decided that purchasing an air purifier would help improve the air quality. To encourage her mother to stay active, she purchased a folding treadmill that can cater to smaller spaces When they exercise together on the treadmill, they communicate more and are able to rebuild the relationship. Despite the challenges she came across in this program, she has learnt more about financial management and has grown to shoulder responsibilities at home.

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About The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups

The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) was founded in 1960 and is now the city’s largest youth service organisation. For the past six decades, it has been committed to serving the youth of Hong Kong by providing a variety of services, activities and programmes, which have an annual attendance of over six million. We encourage youth to reach their fullest potential, and with community support, we now have over 90 service units. We also have 12 core services, which include the Youth S.P.O.Ts, M21 Multimedia Services, Employment Services, Youth at Risk Services, Counselling Services, Parenting Services, Leadership Training, Volunteer Services, Education Services, Creativity Education and Youth Exchange, Leisure, Cultural and Sports Services, and Research and Publications. Our aim is to motivate young people to grow into responsible and dutiful citizens and we now have over 250,000 registered volunteers and over 500,000 registered members. We believe that our motto HKFYG • Here for You reaffirms our commitment and dedication to the young people of Hong Kong.