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.
People living with dementia face profound difficulties in their daily lives, struggling with memory loss, confusion, and an increasing inability to perform routine tasks. These challenges often lead to deep frustration and feelings of helplessness. The obstacles they encounter are complex and far-reaching, including delays in diagnosis, physical deterioration, cognitive decline, emotional turmoil, social withdrawal, and the practical difficulties of receiving proper care. At the same time, family members and carers experience tremendous emotional pressure, physical exhaustion, and significant financial burdens as they try to provide adequate support. Communication breakdowns and unpredictable changes in behavior further complicate relationships, creating tension and misunderstandings. The situation is made worse by insufficient support services and the persistent stigma surrounding dementia, leaving both patients and their carers feeling isolated and overwhelmed.
Hong Kong's aging population makes these challenges particularly pressing. Recent government statistics show that 21% of Hong Kong's 7.5 million residents are aged 65 or older, marking the city's transition into a "super-aged" society. Research from The Chinese University of Hong Kong indicates that 10% of people over 70 living in the community have dementia, with most cases going undiagnosed in its early stages. This suggests there may be tens of thousands of older people in Hong Kong currently living with undetected early-stage dementia, missing out on crucial early intervention opportunities.
The Jockey Club Centre for Positive Ageing has been at the forefront of addressing these issues. As an organization dedicated to serving people with dementia, we provide comprehensive services while also offering professional training for carers and conducting important research to improve care standards. In 2023, we were thrilled to receive approval from the Jockey Club Charities Trust for our ambitious "Brain Health" Dementia Screening and Community Support Programme. This four-year initiative represents the largest support programme for early-stage dementia patients and their families in Hong Kong's history, focusing on early detection through screening, coordinated medical and social services, and robust community support.
Diagnosing dementia presents significant challenges that contribute to delayed detection. The process currently depends heavily on specialists like geriatricians, neurologists, and psychiatrists, whose limited availability creates long waiting times in public healthcare and expensive private options. Many elderly individuals consequently postpone seeking help. Expanding training for family doctors in dementia care could greatly improve this situation. Another major hurdle is the subtle nature of early symptoms, which patients often fail to recognize and families frequently misinterpret as normal aging, leading to dangerous delays in diagnosis and treatment.
Early detection makes a crucial difference in dementia outcomes. When treatment begins in the early stages, medications can more effectively slow cognitive decline. Early diagnosis also gives patients and families valuable time to prepare for the future and make important care arrangements. Maintaining brain health through social interaction, regular exercise, proper nutrition, and good sleep habits can help preserve cognitive function, but dementia makes these healthy behaviors increasingly difficult to maintain. Patients often struggle with poor appetite, disrupted sleep patterns, and diminished motivation, while many also battle chronic conditions like diabetes or hypertension that require careful medication management - a particular challenge for those with memory problems.
