YMCA 2024 June Perspective
26-06-2024
Cover Story
The 14th Regional Youth Symposium a great success
Presented by Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong and co-organised by Guangzhou Suigang'ao Teenagers Institute, YMCA Macau , Nantou YMCA and Metropolitan YMCA of Singapore, the 14th Regional Youth Symposium was successfully held from 3 June to 6 June. Under the theme of "Creative intervention, make change for youth's way out", the symposium brought together youth workers, experts and scholars from Guangzhou, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan and Singapore to share their experiences and knowledge on the trend of innovative intervention approaches addressing the dynamic needs of young people in different regions.
With an eye on the physical and mental wellness of young people and their supporters, YMCA has joined hands with a number of units to launch the “Accompaniment with Empathy - Mental Health Service Series for Youth” programme this year, organising a wide range of activities to help individuals with emotional needs to promote their physical and mental wellness. The programme was kicked off at the symposium joined by participating guests, encouraging attentive ears and companionship for those in need. Click here to learn more about the “Accompaniment with Empathy - Mental Health Service Series for Youth” programme.
In addition, with over 200 local youth workers signing up for the public seminar session, youth mental health is evidently an issue of public concern. Featured speakers were Professor Rainbow Ho of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, who shared her views on "Paving Creative Future: Expressive Arts Therapy and Youth Counseling"; and Professor Paul Wong, Associate Professor of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, The University of Hong Kong, who discussed "The applications of animal-assisted interventions for young people and their limitations". During the sharing and discussion sessions, representatives from the five regions were invited to share the latest youth counseling practices and the values of younger generations.
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Coinciding with the 180th Anniversary of the YMCA Movement this year, YMCA organised a number of workshops and experiential activities for youth workers from the five regions to exchange the latest ministry services and practical experience in response to one of the work objectives of "YMCA Vision 2030", namely "Community Wellbeing", including participating in a counselling and therapy workshop, trying the new Walking Football, and learning about the latest medical and social service development of YMCA.
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A number of articles on research and case sharing on the development of "Creative Intervention" by youth workers from different regions are available at:
www.ymca.org.hk/14RYS/articles
What's News
CYMCASS students win Hong Kong championship title in ASTRON SPACE LAB
Chinese YMCA Secondary School (CYMCASS) S5 students Kwok Man Hin Rocco and Yu Chun Yeung were awarded the Hong Kong championship title in ASTRON SPACE LAB 2023/2024 organized by The Department of Aeronautical and Aviation Engineering of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University and 60Pins. Their entries have been sent to Europe for onward competitions. In addition, the successful entries will be adopted for the development of the future International Space Station (ISS). Congratulations to both students on their excellent performance and honor to CYMCASS!
CYMCAPS wins Odyssey of the Mind World Finals
Eight students from Chinese YMCA Primary School (CYMCAPS) won the qualification to represent Hong Kong in the Odyssey of the Mind World Finals 2024 at the regional competition in early March. Odyssey of the Mind is a creative problem-solving competition challenging participants to come up with innovative solutions to ambitious problems with no fixed answers, which trains teamwork, creativity and problem-solving skills. After months of intensive preparation and practice, the team travelled to Iowa on 18 May to participate in the Final Tournament, where they competed with 800 teams from all over the world. With the great efforts of the students and the guidance of their teachers, they were finally awarded the Ranatra Fusca Creativity Award. With 8,000 witnesses at the closing ceremony, the students were presented with the honour on stage, leaving the name of CYMCAPS on the trophy of the world's highest honour for creativity. It has been 19 years since the last Hong Kong team won this honour from a secondary school, and CYMCAPS students have excelled as the youngest team in Hong Kong to receive this award.
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Kei Yau Integrated Medical Centre: Latest news on Chinese medicine outpatient service
Mr. Khan Taimoor, a registered Chinese medicine practitioner, joined our service in Kei Yau Integrated Medical Center on 11 June. As a general practitioner, Mr. Khan is responsible for Chinese medicine prescriptions, acupuncture and manual therapy for common diseases. Some of the common diseases include: epidemics, internal medicine (e.g. diabetes, hypertension), surgical diseases (e.g. eczema, urticaria), osteoarthritis and pains.
Dr. Lo Shuet, a Chinese medicine practitioner, is also responsible for gynecology at Kei Yau Integrated Medical Centre. For enquiry or appointment, please contact us at 2577 9375.
Kei Yau Integrated Medical Centre is the first non-profit-making medical centre operated by YMCA based on the collaborative model of Chinese and Western medicines. With preventive medicine, doctor for all, electronic medical record sharing and one-stop treatment as the service principles, Kei Yau Integrated Medical Centre is committed to providing quality and holistic medical services to our members and the public.
The Cityview joins Saving the Planet with Yindii
The Cityview has recently joined the eco-friendly food app "Yindii" to serve high quality food surplus in mystery boxes, with the aim of reducing food waste and food ingredients for waste reduction at source. Amazing Bakery at The Cityview launched the "Sweet Delight Surprise" mystery boxes and the "Amazing Breakfast/Lunch/Dinner" mystery boxes at City Café, which have been hugely popular among guests. Download Yindii-Sustainable Food App now to enjoy hotel-quality cuisine at half-price while taking steps to help the environment.
Festured Programme
1 July Celebration Activity [Sports for Wellness Fun Day]
To celebrate the 27th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, a flag raising ceremony will be held on 1 July at 9:00 am at the 6/F sports complex of Kowloon Centre. On the same day, free booths will be set up for the public to experience new sports at the [Sports for Wellness Fun Day], which is open to all members and the public. For those who join or renew their membership at Kowloon Centre on the day, they will receive a complimentary water or outdoor toy to extend the fun of summer activities.
Date：1 July 2024 (Public Holiday)
Time：Flag raising ceremony at 9:00pm / activity booths at 10:00 am - 12:00 pm
Venue：Kowloon Centre
Target：Members and public aged 6 or above
Free Both：Walking football, taspony, floor curling, dodgebee, mölkky, pickleball, blazepod
Quota︰300 same-day queue tickets
Tel：2783 3636 (Ms. Tsui / Mr. Siu)
Programme Highlights
The 67th Festival of Sports Walking Football Cup Tournament 2024
Organised by the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China (SF&OC) and co-organised by Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong, the 67th Festival of Sports Walking Football Cup Tournament 2024 was successfully held on 15 May 2024 at the 6/F sports complex of Kowloon Centre. Three divisions were set up for the tournament, including Men's 65+, Men's 70+ and Women's Open Division. Following a full day of elimination matches, GSU A, PengLai Friendclub (蓬萊之友) and Yan Yan Walking Football (仁昕健步足球) clinched the championship in each of the three divisions. Participants were all very enthusiastic and enthralled by the tournament. The 70+ division was the first of its kind, with the oldest participant aged 80. With the rule of "no running, only walking", Walking Football is a safe, fun and healthy sport especially for the elderly. A Walking Football booth was also set up to invite people of different age groups to experience the fun of Walking Football and promote holistic wellness in the community.
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YM Volunteer "Accompaniment with Empathy" volunteer training programme
To support "YMCA Vision 2030" in one of its four pillars of "Community Wellbeing", YM Volunteer has launched the "Accompaniment with Empathy" volunteer training programme this year. Led by our staff, social workers and counsellors, secondary school and university student volunteers gained insights into their own experiences to learn about emotions, empathetic listening and design thinking, and experienced expressive arts therapy to design a volunteer service project based on the themes of caring for people and the community.
As part of the programme, the "Accompaniment with Empathy" Human Library was held at Lam Tin Centre, where six groups of volunteers shared their achievements, learning outcomes and feelings following three training sessions and a four-month volunteer placement. The "Best Service Project Award" and the "Best Practice Award" were presented to the winners of the "Look After Yourself" and the "Emotional Rage Room" respectively.
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Mother's Day Gospel Visit
On 10 May 2024, YMCA Christian Work Department organised a Mother's Day Gospel Visit to the "Home of Love - Yung Shing Sheltered Workshop", featuring hymns, music ensemble, Gospel sharing and homemade Mother's Day greeting cards. Our staff joined 25 hostel residents and sheltered workshop workers in praising God and celebrating God's grace in a cordial and joyful atmosphere with enthusiastic responses. With biblical stories as examples, our staff shared the love of God for everyone.
The event was concluded with a prayer and blessing by Dr. Au Yik Pui Tanya. As an encouragement and blessing, the Christian Work Department also prepared Mother's Day gift packs to be gifted to mothers by the workers.
ESG Focus
Our commitment to the principles of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) since 2019 reflects the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in our organisation's approach to development and the YMCA 2030 Vision for sustainable development in Hong Kong. Apart from publishing the ESG Impact Report, YMCA also endeavours to integrate ESG concepts into our daily operations. This column is dedicated to sharing with our members our ESG initiatives regularly.
"Future Smart Furniture Plan 2024"
In collaboration with Dah Sing Bank, YMCA presented the “Future Intelligent Furniture Programme 2024”, a fully subsidized four-month STEAM classroom training for 80 local students covering topics such as Internet of Things (IoT), mathematics application, science research, and mechanical programming. The programme also featured a visit to an intelligent furniture design company, where students had the opportunity to learn about the concepts of a smart home and its daily applications. Additionally, the students created different types of future intelligent furniture, including USB fans, IoT intelligent lighting and smart potted plants by utilizing various programming skills.
Upon completion of the training, a Student Creative Exhibition took place from 18 May to 19 May 2024 at the auditorium on the ground floor of YMCA College Of Careers, showcasing a selection of outstanding student works, enabling the public to appreciate their learning outcomes. A graduation ceremony was also held at the exhibition, where 12 remarkable designs were awarded, and students shared their unforgettable experiences in making intelligent furniture. Through the programme, YMCA hopes to provide more opportunities in innovation learning for students interested in joining the industry and equip them with strong fundamentals in STEAM learning, which ties in with one of the four pillars of YMCA Vision 2030, namely "Meaningful Work" for young people.
Click here for a recap of the Student Creative Exhibition and graduation ceremony.
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PAIN Kick Zone
As city dwellers who often work overtime and frequently perform repetitive motions, we are more susceptible to joint pain or sports injuries that can affect our quality of life. The Association’s Health Care Professions Department is launching a regular monthly column and publishing short articles about self-care. Topics covered will include arthritis, joint pain and self-healing. For more detailed health-related information, please visit our website www.ymca.org.hk/hcp or call 2783 3616 for inquiries.
The art of body movement – Relationship between Tai Chi and fall prevention in elderly
It is very common for us to see older adults performing Tai Chi every morning. Most of us would perceive Tai Chi as a gentle mobilisation exercise. However, there are much more benefits to Tai Chi. One of them is fall prevention.
In recent years, the importance of Tai Chi for older adults has been increasingly recognised in various research. Researchers have proposed that Tai Chi can effectively improve general lower limb strength due to the semi-squat position adopted in most Tai Chi exercises. Moreover, Tai Chi emphasises the smoothness and breathing control of each action. This can improve the joint control and muscle coordination of older adults. These combined effects can help maintain the postural stability of older adults during daily activities which prevents falls.
Apart from fall prevention, Tai Chi is an excellent group exercise option which enhances the social connection of the older adults. The bonding may be beneficial for older adults who want to start exercising regularly. If you know any older adults interested in Tai Chi, encourage them to try it for themselves!
Discovering YMCA Channel
#YM Past Event | Gerontechnology Service Promotion and Experience Day
＊Some of the activities were subsidised by the Social Welfare Department
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