LU holds sharing session on Jockey Club Age-friendly City Project: Rural Neighbourhood Development Project cum STEM Product Design Competition Award Presentation Ceremony
Prof Joshua Mok Ka-ho, Vice-President of LU gives a welcome speech at the Ceremony.
On 10 July (Saturday), the Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies (APIAS) of Lingnan University (LU) organized a sharing session on the Jockey Club Age-friendly City Project: Rural Neighbourhood Development Project cum STEM Product Design Competition Award Presentation Ceremony to share the achievements of the university-led district-based programme. Certificates were presented to elderly volunteers (the “Rural Befrienders”) in recognition of their efforts to build an age-friendly community, and prizes were presented to the winning student teams of the STEM Product Design Competition.
Miss Cheng Wing-yan, Assistant District Officer of Tuen Mun District Office of the Home Affairs Department, and Miss Rachel Kwong Hoi-ying, Assistant District Officer of Yuen Long District Office of the Home Affairs Department, were invited to present certificates to the “Rural Befrienders” at the ceremony, which was attended by about 80 people. Meanwhile, Prof Joshua Mok Ka-ho, Vice-President of LU, Ms Annie Ng, Project Manager, Charities of The Hong Kong Jockey Club and Prof Dickson Chan, Director of APIAS of LU presented the awards to the winning teams of the STEM Product Design Competition. Among the honourable guests were Mr Ricky Yu Wai-yip, District Social Welfare Officer of the Social Welfare Department’s Tuen Mun District Social Welfare Office, Tuen Mun district councillor Mr Tsang Kam-wing, representatives from th eTuen Mun and Yuen Long District Elderly Community Centres, academia, non-governmental organisations, seniors and secondary school teachers and students.
In his welcome speech, Prof Joshua Mok Ka-ho, Vice-President of LU, expressed his gratitude to everyone involved for their loyal and generous support over the years. “Lingnan University engages different partners to promote an ‘Age-friendly City’ and wellbeing for elderly people, and this event also echos the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goal 17, Partnerships for the Goals. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many face-to-face activities were cancelled, and scheduled home visits could not be made. However, the LU project team and its partnering organisations have overcome these challenges by developing various online learning resources and programmes. We also invited elderly volunteers to create and share video clips on social media with rural older villagers. I am particularly pleased to see young students applying STEM knowledge to design gerontechnology products and solve real-life problems for rural elderly.”
The Human Library’s animated film premiered at the event. An elderly volunteer serving as a “human book” was invited to share his experience and he hoped that people could learn more about the everyday life of the rural elderly through the animated film. Student representatives from the two STEM Product Design Competition’s winning teams, Pui Shing Catholic Secondary School and Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Yau Tze Tin Memorial College, introduced their winning designs “Smart shopping cart” and “Smart walking cane” respectively and also talked about their personal growth by joining the competition. They were delighted that the project had promoted intergenerational communication and enhanced their understanding of the needs of the rural elderly. It was hoped that their inventions could be helpful to the elderly.
In response to the challenges and opportunities of the city’s ageing population, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust has initiated and funded the Jockey Club Age-friendly City Project (“JCAFC Project”) since 2015, in partnership with the APIAS of LU and three other gerontology research institutes in Hong Kong. The Rural Neighbourhood Development Project was set up under the JCAFC Project in 2018 to further strengthen the social community networks among rural elderly in Tuen Mun and Yuen Long districts and to offer assistance and care as well as a wide range of activities and promotions to elderly people in need.
Event highlights: