Listen to #Hashtag Hong Kong every Sunday morning at 8.15
Focusing on issues affecting civil society, we'll hear from representatives of NGOs, associations, statutory bodies, and non-profit groups.
(Sundays 8.15am - 8.25am)
Good Morning ! Happy Chinese New Year of the Horse! This morning, I would like to share an excerpt from a story with you, A New Year’s Reunion, written by Yu Li-Qiong (余麗瓊) and illustrated by Zhu Cheng-Liang (朱成梁) .
Papa builds big houses in faraway places. He comes home only once each year during Chinese New Year. Today, mama and I wake up really early because Papa is coming home. I watch him from a distance, not daring to get close. Papa comes over and sweeps me up in his arms, prickling my face with his beard. Mama! I cry in alarm.
Look what I've got for you. Papa rummages in his big suitcase and takes out – Ooh, what a pretty hat!. Mama has a new padded coat too. Let's go and get me a haircut. Then everything will go smoothly in the coming year. Papa says to me after lunch, I sit on a chair waiting for the papa in the mirror, is getting more like papa the way he used to be.
Later it's time to make sticky rice balls. Papa buries a coin in one of the bowls and says. Whoever finds the bowl with the coin will have good luck. Pop! Pop! Pop! Bang! Bang! Bang! We have firecrackers outside all night. I lie between Papa and Mama and fall asleep. Drowsily hearing them whispering, whispering. Early the next morning, mama serves a piping hot to sticky rice balls.
And Papa feeds them to me with a spoon. Suddenly I bite on something hard. The fortune coin! It’s the fortune coin. I shout. Good for you, mama. Quick, put it away in your pocket so the good luck won't escape. Papa is more excited than I am. Mama helps me into a brand new jacket. We're going new year visiting!
This is one of many stories our charity, Bring Me A Book Hong Kong, has shared with children.
One of the greatest joys of my role has been reading aloud to children during our community storytelling sessions. It’s heartwarming to see their eyes light up as the words and pictures come alive, and enjoy the stories together.
Reading together is more than sharing a story. When families read together, this simple activity creates a bond between parents and children. When we take a pause to sit down with our children, laughing and sharing stories, a child feels the joy of connection and the comfort of being heard. These moments are the building blocks of a child’s future, fostering their empathy and strengthening their confidence for life.
As Bring Me A Book Hong Kong marks its 20th anniversary, we are proud of the work we have done with families, educators, and communities to build a culture of parent‑child reading.
Founded in 2006 by James and Su Chen of the Chen Yet‑Sen Family Foundation, Bring Me A Book pioneered family literacy in Hong Kong with a simple yet powerful mission: to inspire a love of reading through parent‑child storytelling.
Over the past two decades, we’ve delivered more than 2,000 workshops and trained over 30,000 parents, caregivers, and educators through our “Mastering Read Aloud” program. These achievements—and the ripple effect they’ve inspired—have helped spark many like‑minded reading initiatives across Hong Kong.
As we look to the future, Bring Me A Book Hong Kong will dedicate our focus to the Feng Zikai Chinese Children’s Picture Book Award, established in 2008.
This biennial award honors distinguished authors and illustrators, elevates the standard of Chinese picture books, and encourages the creation of more original stories in Chinese. Beyond recognizing creators, the Award helps families and educators discover the value of well‑crafted Chinese picture books—through donations, teacher workshops, and outreach across Greater China. As the Award expands its reach, we look forward to enriching children’s literacy through original Chinese picture books, for the Hong Kong community and beyond.
Take A New Year’s Reunion, for example—the story I shared earlier was the very first winner of the Feng Zikai Chinese Children’s Picture Book Award. It was also honored by The New York Times as one of the best illustrated picture books.
Published in multiple languages including English, Japanese, Korean, and French, it shows the growing global appeal of Chinese stories. Picture books are more than stories for children—they connect families, bridge generations, and strengthen communities.
Now let’s see what Mao Mao and her family does next over the Chinese New Year holiday.
On the third day of New Year's, it snows really hard. When it finally stops, Dachun and the other children come and get me to play. We build a huge snowman in the courtyard and have a snowball fight.
I don't go home till it's getting dark. I feel inside my pocket and… I can't find the coin. My fortune coin is gone. I rush out to the courtyard, but it's all covered in snow. Where is my fortune coin? Don't cry sweetie. I'll give you another one. Look. It's exactly the same. Papa scoops another coin out of his pocket.
I don't want that one. I want the other one. I bawl. In the evening. I creep into bed, miserable. But as I take off my jacket. Clink! Something falls to the floor. It's the coin. My fortune coin. Papa! Come quick, come and see. I haven't lost the fortune coin. It's been with me all the time. That night I sleep very soundly.
When I get up the next morning, I see mama helping Papa pack. He's leaving today. Soon Papa's packing is done. He crouches down and gives me a big hug. Whispering in my ear. Next time I'm back. I'll bring you a doll. Okay? No, Papa. I shake my head hard. I want to give you something. I put the coin all warm from being held in my hand for so long in Papa's palm and say, here, take this. Next time you're back, we can bury it in the sticky rice ball again. Papa is very quiet. He nods and hugs me tight.
As Bring Me A Book Hong Kong enters into this new chapter, our hope remains the same: to inspire each family to keep reading—one book at a time.
This year World Wetland Day's theme is "Protecting Wetlands for Our Common Future". It is crucial to recognize the vital role wetlands play. Water sustains life and wetlands make our existence on Earth possible. Moreover, they contribute to climate adaptation by absorbing and storing stormwater. They are key components of the Earth’s climate system and store more carbon than any other ecosystem.
Wetlands are highly productive and biodiverse. They serve as nurseries for many fish and shellfish populations that are important for ecological balance and commercial fishery. 40% of all known plant and animal species live or breed in wetlands, including many endangered species. However, they are among the most threatened ecosystems. At least 35% of the wetlands in the world were lost since 1970 and the rate is accelerating. This has led to 25% of all wetland species facing extinction.
The largest wetland system in Hong Kong is in Deep Bay in Northwest New Territories. It is part of the Pearl River estuary with Shenzhen River and Kam Tin River empty into it. It is very shallow and vast expense of mudflat is exposed during low tide. A belt of mangroves grow along its shore. When the Sung Dynasty immigrants settled in the area, they converted some of the marshland into paddy fields to grow rice.
In the 1940’s, villagers started turning coastal marshes into tidal shrimp ponds called gei wais. A sea wall was established using the dug out mud. A sluice gate connecting to the sea was built. By opening it during high tide, shrimp larvae, fish fries and nutrients were flushed into the gei wai in which they grew naturally. Shrimp harvesting was conducted at night during low tide by putting a net across the opened sluice gate. Fish was caught in the winter when the gei wai was completely drained. This man-modulated tidal habitat supports many aquatic animals, water birds and the Eurasian Otter. Several new-to-science invertebrates have been recorded. The most recent discovery was a box jellyfish named in 2023.
In the 1970's, many of the paddy fields and gei wais in Deep Bay were converted to fish ponds to supply freshwater fish to the growing urban population. Fish ponds are artificial system that relies on stocking of fish fries, adding feeds and aerating the water. During harvesting, the pond would be drained gradually and the small fish and shrimps in the shallow water became easy prey for water birds. However, import from mainland China has made fish farming less profitable. Many of the fish ponds are now inactive or abandoned.
Over the years, the Deep Bay wetlands face many threats. In 1970's and 1980's, pig farm waste together with industrial effluents polluted the lowland rivers and Deep Bay. The water quality has laregly improved in recent years thanks to new regulations, water treatment facilities and coordination between Hong Kong and Shenzhen Governments.
Urbanisation on both sides of Deep Bay has reduced the size of the wetland system. To counter that, HK Government and Green Groups have acted to conserve the remaining wetlands. A key achievement is the establishment of the Mai Po Nature Reserve in 1983 driven by WWF-Hong Kong. Together with the Shenzhen Futien National Nature Reserve, they give protection to the Bay. Mai Po and Inner Deep Bay was designated as a Ramsar Site in 1995 because of its importance to migratory waterbirds. In addition, the Hong Kong Wetland Park was opened in 2006, allowing visitors to learn about wetlands. Government also provides funding support to management agreement schemes to preserve traditional fish pond practices.
The Northern Metropolis poses a challenge to the future of the Deep Bay wetlands. Another challenge is climate change that is causing sea level rise, more intense rainstorms and stronger typhoons. These exacerbate the flooding risks of the whole area and affect the hydrology of the wetlands. Is it possible to maintain or even enhance the many values of the Deep Bay wetlands?
The Mai Po and Deep Bay wetlands shows success in optimising the ecological, educational and fisheries values through active management. The Northern Metropolis provides an opportunity to elevate that as Government promises to conserve and manage the remaining wetlands through the new Wetland Conservation Park system.
Now that the water quality in Deep Bay has improved, tidal wetlands in the form of gei wai should be restored so that the rich fisheries can be utilised. Technology should be applied so that water inside can be easily drained in advance of an incoming heavy rainstorm or tidal surge. This nature-based solution can increase the stormwater storage capacity and reduce the flooding risk to the nearby human habitation and infrastructure.
The world is facing a double crises of climate change and biodiversity loss. The wise use of Deep Bay wetlands by our predecessors created a combination of natural and man-made biodiverse habitats that also provides food and livelihood to the people. We can make them contribute to the climate resilience of the Northern Metropolis and offer plentiful opportunitities for people to enjoy. What is needed is to see the Deep Bay wetlands as a unique asset crucial for our future.
This morning I would like to dedicate a song “Sometimes when it rains” by Secret Garden to you all. I chose this song because rainfall is very important to us and also important to the wetlands. On the other hand, wetland is also important to ensure that we have plentiful and stable rainfall.
