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. I am here to talk about a mission of freedom, companionship, and how we are addressing two of Hong Kong's most pressing social needs through the incredible power of trained dogs.
Established in 2012, our foundation was built on a clear and critical goal: to provide professionally trained guide dogs to our visually impaired community, thereby offering them the life-changing gifts of mobility, independence, and dignity. Our vision has always been a Hong Kong where every visually impaired person who needs one can have the freedom a guide dog provides.
In our city, there are approximately 160,000 visually impaired individuals. Now, consider this number: we currently have only about forty guide dogs in active service.
The International Guide Dog Federations suggests one guide dog for every hundred visually impaired individuals. Here, we are serving far less than one percent of the need. Every successful guide dog pairing is a triumph, but it also highlights the immense gap we are striving to fill. Each person on our waiting list is someone whose world is smaller than it should be, waiting for the key that a guide dog represents.
This urgent need is the core of our work. But it’s not our entire story. In the course of our rigorous training program, we encountered a beautiful phenomenon. Not every dog has the specific temperament to be a guide dog. Some, while wonderfully intelligent and affectionate, are better suited for a different kind of service. We call them “career-change” dogs. Instead of seeing this as a conclusion, we saw it as a new beginning. We asked: what other profound impacts to our society can these exceptional dogs achieve?
This inquiry led us to innovate, creating our Animal-Assisted Services and our pioneering Companion Dog Programme. We are proud to have launched Hong Kong's first resident companion dog service for elderly homes, and the first such service in collaboration with the Correctional Services Department.
The need we are addressing is profound. We all believe our elders deserve a life of health, wellness, and dignity. Yet, recent study indicates a great social pain point: one in every ten elderly persons in Hong Kong experiences emotional issues such as anxiety and depression. Loneliness and isolation are very real challenges.
Our response was to deploy our carefully selected companion dogs into these environments. But we didn't want to rely just on heartwarming stories; we wanted evidence. So, we partnered with Shue Yan University to conduct a formal, six-month study at two elderly homes. The results were unequivocal.
At the beginning of the programme, 38 percent of the elderly residents showed different levels of depression and anxiety. After six months with our resident companion dogs, that figure saw a dramatic and significant drop—down to just 17 percent.
This is a demonstrable outcome. It represents a tangible improvement in the quality of life for our elderly. It is solid evidence that we have powerful, effective, and non-pharmaceutical means to alleviate emotional distress. This proven methodology is not limited to elderly homes; it is a model we are now applying to support students with emotional problem, and to provide comfort to end-of-life patients in hospices.
So, you see, our work creates two powerful streams of impact. One stream provides the gift of independence, trust and safety to the visually impaired. The other provides the gift of emotional support and connection to the isolated and vulnerable.
A mission of this scope and complexity cannot be achieved alone. We rely on the heart and support of our community. That is why I am here today, to ask for your help.
I invite you to come and see us at our first Hong Kong guide dog training school. We offer guided tours of our training school. Witness the dedication of our trainers, the intelligence of our dogs, and the tangible reality of our mission. Let us show you what your support makes possible.
Please consider becoming a volunteer. Whether it's helping to socialise our puppies or assisting with our daily operations, your time and energy are invaluable gifts that directly fuel our work.
We are not just training dogs. We are building a more inclusive, compassionate, and supportive Hong Kong. We are unlocking potential and easing pain. With your help, we can ensure that everyone who needs a guide to navigate the world, or a companion to warm their heart, will have one.
Thank you for your time, and for your belief in a kinder future.
To end this programme ,I would like to play "You'll Never Walk Alone" by Josh Groban. We hope that by empowering the visually impaired with guide dogs as a team, one would never walk alone. I hope you enjoy.
We are pleased to share in Hashtag Hong Kong on an important topic of child protection. This year is our 45th Anniversary. Our mission is to promote a caring and non-violent environment for the optimal growth and development of our children through quality services in prevention, crisis intervention, treatment, training and advocacy.
On gravity of the problem, from year 2011 to 2019, there were around 800 to 900 cases of child abuse every year. This number has been increased by 45% last year to over 1,400 cases. Then you may ask why?
One of the reasons is increased public awareness, from high profile cases in 2018 and 2019. There was an increase in identification and reporting of abuse. In 2019, the Law Reform Commission issued a consultation paper ‘’Failure to Protect Offence.’’ This new offence tackles the question of ‘’which of you did it’’ in serious abuse or child deaths investigations. And a reference chapter on Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse was included as additional information.
In 2020, professional awareness was heightened when the ‘’Procedural Guide for Multi-disciplinary Co-operation’’ was published by the Social Welfare Department, and delineation of roles and responsibilities of professionals was clearly made.
Then in 2020 the pandemic COVID-19 led to family conflicts, job insecurity, children at risk of sexual abuse online etc, adding to the toll of child abuse. Then in 2021, the community was shocked to know that 40 children were abused in a residential child home. So you can see how vulnerable children are in the society.
Even worse, it was estimated that only 1% of abuse cases come to the attention of professionals. Therefore, to save lives, early identification, reporting and intervention are vital. ACA has advocated Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse for some 20 years. In 2013, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended Hong Kong to establish a mandatory reporting mechanism. In 2019, our Ombudsman suggested the same. Soon followed were Government consultations, debates, dialogues and forums among legislators, professional bodies and the community. Now the Mandatory Reporting of Child Abuse Ordinance was finally passed and will be in full effect in January 2026. A simple message – ‘’if you see a problem, you must step forward and ask for help.’’
The main causes of child abuse is a complex issue, multifactorial in origin. Poverty, domestic violence, lack of social support, financial difficulties, parents with mental health problems, drug taking, teenage pregnancies, parents abused as a child, unplanned pregnancy or early separation from parents are risk factors of child abuse. Online child sexual abuse and exploitation is another pressing concern. Such risks easily escalate if proper assistance is not rendered.
The word to remember about the long-term effects of child abuse is ACE - Adverse Childhood Experiences. In 1998, Dr Vincent Felitti and colleagues reported the relationships between the ACEs and leading causes of child deaths. There are seven ACEs: 1)psychological abuse, 2)physical abuse, or 3)sexual abuse; 4)violence against mother and household members who were 5)substance abusers, 6)mentally ill or suicidal, and 7)ever has been imprisoned. The more ACEs you have as a child, the more problems you have in adulthood, like diseases of the heart, lung and liver, cancer and bone fractures. People with 4 or more ACEs, had 4- to 12-fold increased health risks for alcoholism, drug abuse, depression, and suicide attempt in adulthood when compared to people with none.
In a study by the Centre of Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, the estimated average lifetime cost per victim of non-fatal child abuse, including childhood health care costs, adult medical costs, productivity losses, child welfare, criminal justice and special education costs was USD830,000 in 2015. The estimated average lifetime cost per abuse death was USD 16.6 million.
We advocate a number of issues. The institutional child abuse in 2021 was a serious wake up call. ACA has a strong view that each child-related organisation should establish its own ‘’organizational child protection policy’’. Our Child Protection Institute was established in 2013 works with organizations on this, such policy will greatly safeguard our children.
The Report by Law Reform Commission in 2021, ‘’Failure to Protect Offence’’ needs to be enacted soon to provide deterrence to those who knowingly fail to protect a child from serious harm or death. Further, the maximum penalty under section 27 of the Offences against the Person Ordinance should be reviewed. This has been recommended by the court in recent years.
There are many more to do in child protection. Our other advocacies include total banning of corporal punishment, child central databank to inform policies and practices, online safety for children, home visitation service for at-risk children which is well proven in its effectiveness in child abuse prevention, a comprehensive Child Ordinance and Child Policy.
To end with an important note, when we work with children, their best interest must take priority.
Lastly this morning, I would like to dedicate a song 小時候 by 路家敏 to remind us all our precious childhood moments.
