Upholding its corporate values and culture, Hang Lung has always endeavored to give back to society through social investment programs and volunteer services, as a socially-responsible corporate citizen. Among these initiatives, the Hang Lung As One Volunteer Team, set up in 2012, has provided our staff members with opportunities to serve the community with their families and friends, and enjoy the happiness of helping others at the same time. At present, Hang Lung has set up a total of 11 volunteer teams involving over 1,500 staff volunteers from Hong Kong, Shanghai, Shenyang, Jinan, Wuxi, Tianjin, Dalian, Kunming, Wuhan and Hangzhou. The annual service hours total over 13,000. Our volunteering activities are dedicated to three major areas: youth development, elderly-related services, and environmental protection.
Pong Nganying, Patrick Siu and Joyce Kwong, are members of the Hang Lung As One Volunteer Team with the most service hours in 2019, 2018, and 2017 respectively. Joyce even trumped her peers by clocking-up 177.5 service hours in 2017.
Joyce says that volunteering is like part of her daily life, as she has been involved in such activities with her family since she was a child. She very much appreciates how the Hang Lung As One Volunteer Team encourages employees to participate in community service with their loved ones, enabling her to continue to spread love to others with her family, as her parents taught her. Among the various volunteering activities, Joyce finds an event organized for the elderly most memorable. She recalls volunteers having to wear a weighted vest of 12 pounds with a strap fastened to their necks and their backs to simulate a humped back with limited mobility. “It was truly unforgettable. Everyone experienced the difficulties and inconveniences faced by the elderly firsthand. It was really sobering for us.” Since then, Joyce has been more actively involved in volunteer activities serving the elderly.
Like Joyce, Nganying is also enthusiastic about taking part in elderly-related services. Her most memorable experience is helping the elderly clean and renovate their homes. Many old folks who live alone are unable to do their own cleaning due to mobility issues, leading to undesirable sanitary conditions. The Hang Lung As One Volunteer Team helped them clean their homes and repair the ceilings so that they can live in a clean and hygienic environment. Recalling that particular visit, Nganying says, “This activity was really exhausting. We spent over ten hours cleaning and renovating the homes for the elderly. We didn’t even have lunch. Although it was backbreaking work, the thought that our efforts could improve the lives of solitary senior citizens made me very happy.” In addition to cleaning their homes, the volunteer team also takes the elderly to “yum cha”, visit the Peak Galleria, and ride on the ferris wheel, so as to enable them to go out and enhance their connection with the community.
As for Patrick, he became a member of the volunteer team without a moment of hesitation after joining the Hang Lung family in 2014, due to his love for helping others in his free time. He even accumulated nearly 100 service hours in 2018. The friendships that have been forged between the volunteers through various activities are especially precious to him. He says that many volunteers would bring refreshments to share with their peers at events, which he finds very heart-warming. Meanwhile, the beaming smiles on the faces of the beneficiaries at the end of an activity is what motivates his continuing active participation.
As Hang Lung celebrates its 60th Anniversary, Patrick hopes that the Hang Lung As One Volunteer Team and its various partnering organizations will continue to support and cooperate with each other, so that more Hang Lung employees can take part in a range of social service activities alongside their family and friends to build sustainable communities and give back to society. Nganying also agrees that participating in Hang Lung As One Volunteer Team activities is an effective way of giving back to the community. She hopes that the company will continue to invest resources into promoting volunteer services, so that volunteers will have more opportunities to exercise the spirit of helping others. Joyce, meanwhile, anticipates that as Hang Lung’s mainland business continues to expand, there will be more cross-regional exchanges between volunteers from Hong Kong and China, thereby spreading the Hang Lung As One Volunteer Team spirit of giving back to the community in different cities across the country.
