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The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mrs Carrie Lam, and the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, together with Non-official Members of the Executive Council and members of the Preparatory Task Force on the Commission on Poverty, visited Tin Shui Wai this morning (August 1) to learn more about the livelihoods of residents and the underprivileged in the district.
They first visited the Employment in One-stop of the Labour Department (LD) and talked with employer representatives at the recruitment day of the centre on the employment situation. As a pilot project, the one-stop employment and training centre provides comprehensive employment, training and job referral and supporting services to job seekers by co-ordinating and enhancing the services provided by the LD, the Social Welfare Department and the Employees Retraining Board.
Furthermore, the Hong Kong Young Women's Christian Association has been commissioned to provide case management and employment support services to unemployed able-bodied Comprehensive Social Security Assistance recipients at Employment in One-stop. During the visit to the centre, Mrs Lam exchanged views with several users of such services to further understand the difficulties they encounter when seeking jobs, the help provided by the comprehensive support services, and the current employment and job-seeking situation.
Mrs Lam, Mr Cheung and others then visited the Tin Shui Wai (North) Integrated Family Service Centre operated by International Social Service Hong Kong Branch. They also exchanged views with the members of a drama group formed by Tin Shui Wai residents, to learn more about how they have raised their self-confidence proactively to face different challenges in life through stage performance training and have even built up a community network that provides mutual assistance. The drama group has performed many times within and outside the district to spread the spirit of "cherish yourself, your family and your community".
They proceeded to the Wellness Centre of New Life Psychiatric Rehabilitation Association, Hong Kong's first Integrated Community Centre for Mental Wellness, to learn more about its one-stop community support and rehabilitation services and how it promotes mental health and social inclusion through activities with cooking and arts elements. They met with rehabilitated persons and their families to better understand their paths to rehabilitation and listen to their views on different problems in daily life.
Later on, accompanied by the District Officer (Yuen Long), Mr Yeung Tak-keung, Mrs Lam, Mr Cheung and others toured a hawker pitch in the district and the Tin Yan Estate Market, which is managed by the Housing Authority, to keep abreast of the residents' shopping patterns.
Concluding the half-day visit, Mrs Lam said, "The Chief Executive has always stressed that 'nothing about people's livelihoods is trivial'. My colleagues and I are therefore very glad that we came to Tin Shui Wai to visit different social service organisations to further our understanding of the local residents' livelihoods by listening to their views on different areas such as employment, family support and community services. We will keep in mind the views from the people when we formulate and implement policies with a view to putting public services to better use."
Also participating in the visit to Tin Shui Wai today were Non-Official Members of the Executive Council Mrs Fanny Law, Mr Cheung Chi-kong and Mr Bernard Chan, as well as members of the Preparatory Task Force on the Commission on Poverty Ms Christine Fang and Mr Henry Cheng.
Ends/Wednesday, August 1, 2012
Issued at HKT 19:44
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