Operation Santa Claus: sky is the limit for these underprivileged young Hongkongers embracing a global mindset

Growing up in a public housing estate in Hong Kong, Dan Cheung Lok-kan’s world consisted of only his family, schoolmates and the buildings in his neighbourhood of Yuen Long.

His security guard father and housewife mother could not afford to send him abroad and he never met anyone from overseas, even though he was growing up in a supposedly international city.

But in high school Cheung was given a life-changing opportunity after winning a youth business development contest.

“My horizons were really limited, but I was given a chance to go to Malaysia for the final competition where I met people from different countries, and I felt more motivated after that,” said Cheung, who later earned a master’s degree in public administration at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.

Cheung, 33, said his experience had motivated him to create similar opportunities for underprivileged young people in Hong Kong.

He is launching a new project through the charity Asia Pacific Youth Development Foundation (AYF), which he co-founded with a friend in 2017. The charity has supported several hundred youngsters over the years by giving them opportunities to reach their full potential and develop leadership skills.

His project, called “Impact Career Programme”, has been chosen as one of the 15 charitable initiatives being funded this year by Operation Santa Claus (OSC), an annual fundraising drive held by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988.

It aims to narrow the “widening opportunity gap” between young people from well-off and low-income families, especially in public housing estates.

“We want to open up the sky for the youth,” Cheung said.

Under the project, AYF will join forces with another Hong Kong charity, Inter Cultural Education (ICE), to empower 60 underprivileged but motivated young non-university students aged 18 to 24 through intensive career development workshops, network building activities and practical work experience.

It will connect the youngsters to people from different fields of expertise, countries or ethnicities who are living in Hong Kong.

Till Kraemer, general manager of ICE, which aims to nurture young people to become global citizens, said the project would tap Hong Kong’s immense diversity to “bring the world” to the youngsters.

“We want to inspire them and make them feel like they are a part of a global community, that they’re not limited to their own community or even Hong Kong,” Kraemer said.

The project will also arrange internships for the students at one of its 10 partner NGOs or social enterprises, where they will volunteer for 50 hours and learn work-related skills and build up their resumes.

Kaur Navpreet (centre) performs Bhangra, an Indian folk dance, at a TEDx event in January. She says the chance to perform and serve as the master of ceremony at the event boosted her confidence. Photo: Asia Pacific Youth Development Foundation

The idea was to help them develop skills that privileged youth on a college or career track already had, Kraemer said.

Two alumni of the groups said they had benefited from more exposure and opportunities.

Kaur Navpreet, 21, said she was an introvert whose blue-collar parents wanted her to have a stable and conventional career, but she was passionate about traditional Indian dances such as Bhangra.

She said the mentors she met through AYF encouraged her to pursue her passion, while the charity also arranged for her to be the master of ceremony and perform a dance at a TEDx event attended by 100 people.

“It really helped me to believe in myself and I got to showcase my talent,” she said. “I feel like from this experience I actually changed a lot as a person … It really helped me to explore different career options.”

She is now majoring in economics and finance, exploring a career in event management while pursuing her passion for dance.

Lily Lee Wun-yin, 20, an alumni of ICE, said her traditional Chinese parents wanted her to get married after finishing her undergraduate programme, as otherwise she “will be seen as a failure” by her relatives.

But after attending the group’s Global Awareness Week for years in secondary school and meeting people from different countries, she said she had gained a “global mindset” and felt more confident about speaking with foreigners in English.

“I’m struggling to be a very good daughter to my family and to also upgrade myself to be a critical thinker and independent woman,” she said.

Cheung and Kraemer said OSC funding was important to strengthen their current programmes and create more opportunities for young people like Kaur and Lee.

“We want to unlock the potential of the youth, and narrow down the opportunity gap,” Cheung said. “This is for the betterment of Hong Kong.”

Since 1988, OSC has raised HK$369 million (US$47.3 million) to support the Hong Kong community through 338 charitable projects. For more information on this year’s beneficiaries, please click here.