Listen to #Hashtag Hong Kong every Sunday morning at 8.15
Focussing on issues affecting civil society, we'll hear from representatives of NGOs, associations, statutory bodies, and non-profit groups.
(Sundays 8.15am - 8.25am)
Grace Chan, Art Therapist at the Providence Garden for Rehab, The Hong Kong
Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council
Good morning, I am delighted to share with you the health benefits of Art Therapy
today. The Providence Garden for Rehab in Tuen Mun is one of the largest rehabilitation buildings in Hong Kong, operated under the Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council. This centre provides innovative and multidisciplinary rehabilitation services to around 1,000 individuals, including people in recovery and persons with
intellectual or physical challenges.
The Providence Garden for Rehab focuses on holistic rehabilitation, it is community-oriented and advocates for integrated body-mind-spirit development. We aim to enhance the living standards of our service users, so that they can live independently in a caring and accepting environment. Also we hope to promote their integration into the community through various rehabilitation programmes, with a particular focus on art therapy.
Art Therapy combines the creative process with psychotherapy, guided by qualified art therapists. This approach has been shown to reduce stress and anxiety, resolve emotional conflicts, improve self-esteem and self-awareness, and alleviate physical pain.
Research over the past two decades has demonstrated the significant positive effects of the arts on health and well-being. In 2019, the World Health Organisation (WHO) European Region issued a report based on over 3000 studies, identified a major role for the arts in the prevention of illness, promotion of health, and management and treatment of health issues across the lifespan. The growing evidence informed us that by engaging in the arts and the creative process, it benefits various emotional, mental and physical health conditions of individuals.
What sets Art Therapy apart from traditional talking therapies is that the non-verbal component engages the five senses through visual, tactile, and sensory art forms. For example, a person who is going through grief could create a collage picture utilising printed photographs of the loved one, and expressing the emotions using visual and symbolic metaphor. A person who is angry, could safely release anger and frustration by pounding some clay, transforming the negative energy by modelling a tactile clay piece into something meaningful and reflective of the current life experience. The
creative art process is a direct channel to support emotional release and self-exploration of an individual in a safe and positive way, which often could not be fully expressed by words alone. It empowers the individual to feel more grounded and understood, and fosters healing and positive change.
Through our individual and group art therapy services, I engage with a diverse range of ages, from youth to adults, including their caregivers. I've worked with many people facing anxiety and depression, who have found art therapy to be a valuable complement to traditional psychiatric treatment and therapy, enabling them to increase self-love and self-awareness. Additionally, our caregivers’ group has gained attention, as many caregivers experience stress and burnout often. In collaboration with social workers, we offer Art Therapy self-care and stress-reduction groups specifically for caregivers.
Our organisation’s rehabilitation service is also actively involved in promoting mental health and reducing stigma in the community. Through public education art therapy exhibition, the public can get to know the thoughts and feelings of people living with various health challenges through their artwork. We organised a public art exhibition last year named “Art Tales – Our Illustrated Stories” with the support of the Arts Development Fund for Persons with Disabilities. We would continue to organise programs and exhibitions so as to engage the community for public education and stigma reduction purposes.
In the future, The Providence Garden for Rehab will continue to offer art therapy programmes, public education initiatives, and various mental health support groups to bridge service gaps and promote social inclusion and harmony in our Hong Kong community.
This morning I would like to dedicate a song “Photograph” by Ed Sheeran to fellow audiences, maybe you are a caregiver, someone who struggles with depression, or just having thoughts of anxiety from time to time. Remember to practice self-care and take a deep breath. Find a safe space to relax, whether in nature or at home, and consider creating art while listening to music. Allow yourself to take things slowly, sitting with your emotions and understanding that they are part of you. Embrace the ups and downs and the rich inner emotions as part of life’s adventures, and let the colours, shapes and lines of the art creation reflect your life. May you be well and be blessed abundantly!
02/03/2025 - Grace Chan, Art Therapist at the Providence Garden for Rehab, The Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council
Happy 2025 to everyone, we are a small Hong Kong-based NGO focusing on climate justice.
While looking back at 2024, it has been the warmest year on record since 1884 with an average temperature as high as 24.8 degrees. While you may have the impression of how hot the weather was, you may not be aware that we had a total of 52 very hot weather warning days, with the highest temperature reaching over 36 degrees. All these record-breaking weather conditions are telling us that climate change has been more drastic than ever.
When talking about climate change in the past, people might have liaised it with environmental problems only, but it is now widely known that climate has made extensive impacts to social and economic areas as well, and we must take real actions to tackle the climate disasters.
So for example what have you done to cope with the extreme heat? Maybe you have turned on the air-conditioning, went swimming or enjoyed some icy drinks to cool off yourself. However, not everyone in the society is as fortunate. There are quite some vulnerable communities in Hong Kong who suffer much more in terms of physical and mental health. These groups include low-income families living in inadequate housing units, elderly, people with disabilities and chronic illness, and outdoor workers. They contribute the least to the climate crisis, yet suffer from its worst impacts, while having the fewest resources to cope with these challenges, including but not limited to typhoon, flooding and extreme heat. Through our community dialogue initiative, we have mobilized over 100 NGOs to integrate climate action into their daily services and support these vulnerable communities.
The climate crisis is here and ahead, making adaptation essential. Since 2021, CarbonCare InnoLab has launched a pilot community programme in Kwai Chung area, aiming to build climate resilience of the underprivileged groups together with other NGO partners. We provide training and facilitate workshops for the residents to practice low-carbon living styles including onsite gardening and upcycling initiatives, while we also co-create ways with them to enhance energy efficiency and get prepared for extreme weather disasters. Over two years, we are proud to see how the residents forming groups in voluntary basis to continue and lead on these climate actions.
Of course, in the long run, we would like to call for an elimination of inadequate housing as the first step, so no one has to face the extreme heat together with poor air circulation issues which can be fatal. Also, the government must plan for building the climate resilience of the vulnerable groups, which can include the climate adaptation capabilities in the public housing projects, for example, having water resistant and windproof designs for buildings, introducing heat prevention technique and materials, and significant green public areas to ensure air circulation within and between buildings.
Besides the adaptation measures, CarbonCare InnoLab always advocates tackling climate issues from the root cause with a comprehensive mitigation strategy. We are delighted to see Hong Kong announcing our own Climate Action Plan 2050, and set goals to cut half of carbon emissions by 2035 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2050; but there is still a very big loophole in how the government is leading us to achieve these targets.
Taking renewable energy as an example, we welcome the government to continue promoting green transportation policy and to develop green hydrogen, yet there is barely any mention of developing solar and wind power. We urge for a detailed energy transition roadmap with a clear timeline to phasing out fossil fuel.
Since 2019, CarbonCare InnoLab has launched the SolarCare Programmes to build solar energy systems for NGOs and schools with the support from philanthropy and corporate funders. In the past five years, we have built more than 30 PV systems widely spread across the city and generated more than 6000 megawatt-hours in total, and we target to have 20 more systems upcoming. Being sincerely thankful to the trust of funders and our solar partners, we have successfully avoided over 3300 tonnes CO2 emission together, and walk one step closer to a Zero Carbon Hong Kong in the near future.
While more stakeholders are aware of the affordable and clean energy, it requires more incentives from the government to continue the growth. The current feed-in-tariff scheme only lasts until 2033, and we truly believe that an extension of the scheme will largely encourage sustainable investments in renewable energy.
Apart from the local issues, CarbonCare InnoLab also believes in the importance of upholding values as a global citizen. Climate disasters are one of the most prioritized global issues and it requires all the countries to pay tremendous attention and effort to save our planet, which also means saving the human habitat.
Every year, we provide training to the enthusiastic young professionals and students who are devoted to climate solutions and advocacy. Global perspectives and climate issues development are key content in our training. We have been attending the United Nations Climate Change Conference since 2015 as an NGO observer, and we have led groups of youth to participate and negotiate onsite in recent years. The learnings and experiences have inspired our young leaders to create and continue climate actions back in Hong Kong. And we are thrilled to see the alumni network growing into a resourceful and insightful young climate leader circle. The future belongs to the young generation, and CarbonCare InnoLab is dedicated to fight for a sustainable future jointly with their force.
We are celebrating our 10th anniversary and I would love to take this opportunity to present my wholehearted appreciation to our small team of 15 people with aligned values. I would like to dedicate the song, “Truth To Power” by OneRepublic to everyone who is with us on the just transition journey.
12/01/2025 - Ivy Leung, Executive Director, CarbonCare InnoLab