Apr4

Making a difference

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A slideshow to share the bits and pieces of "The Big Day"

The stage for our "Big Give" event – Wow!
To the right: "Jigsaw puzzle" made in boxes for this meaningful event – How very creative!

Toys … More toys … Countless of toys – Awesome!
“Love is just a word until someone comes along and gives it meaning.”

Cupcakes for the participating children and parents sponsored by Swire Hotels – East.
Really yummy!

Drinks for the participating children and parents.
How thoughtful indeed!

Children and parents volunteering to help set up for the Big Day event.
So much love and passion!

“The activist is not the man who says the river is dirty. The activist is the man who cleans up the river.”
Ross Perot

Parent and child working together – Such strong bond, love and fun!

Sticker for the Big Day event – “Yeah! I got one, too!”

Sharing School – St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long)

Children getting seated for the Big Day event – “Can’t wait no more!”

Expectant … Curious… Young and innocent… “What’s out there for me?”

BY Sim, spokesperson of "Toy's Stories - Adventures for Toys" project, welcoming all to the Big Day event

Principal of St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long) giving thanks to all for their participation
and sharing the vision to take the spirit of sharing to the next level

Principal of Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School giving thanks to all for
their participation and particularly to the "Toy's Stories" team for bringing this meaningful event to life

A Commemorative Flag from Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School for
“Toy’s Stories – Adventures for Toys” – Bravo!

A Commemorative Flag from Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School for
St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long) – Fantastic!

A Commemorative Flag from St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long) for
“Toy’s Stories – Adventures for Toys” – Yippee!

A Commemorative Flag from St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long) for
Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School – So Inspiring!

Children from St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long) performing for
Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School

“We are each gifted in a unique way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.”
Mary Dunbar

Such an attentive audience!
“When we love, we admire with the heart.”

“We are each of us angels with only one wing; and we can only fly by embracing one another.”
Luciano de Crescenzo

“Really rejoice in being yourself. Have your own drumbeat.”
Kim Cattrall

“A smile is the light in your window that tells others that there is a caring, sharing person inside.”
Denis Waitley

“Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away.”

Children from Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School
Regardless of race, gender and culture, we are but one big family needing love, hopes and dreams.

Everyone, up! Let’s twist and turn and be silly and happy!

‘Most of us would be upset if we were accused of being silly. But the word silly comes from the old English
word selig, and its literal definition is "to be blessed, happy, healthy and prosperous.”’ – Zig Ziglar

Yes! Let’s be blessed, happy, healthy and prosperous – always!

Parents and children dancing and partying together – How cool is that?

Time to pay it forward… Time to pass the toys forward.

“It is not what we get. But who we become, what we contribute… that gives meaning to our lives.”
Anthony Robbins

“If you cannot do great things, do small things in a great way.”
Napoleon Hill

“It is not how much you do, but how much love you put in the doing.”
Mother Teresa

“And that is how change happens. One gesture. One person. One moment at a time.“
Libba Bray

“Diversity is not about how we differ. Diversity is about embracing one another’s uniqueness.”
Ola Joseph

“Everyday in every way I create my own reality. So what is that I choose to create today?”
Gabriella Goddard

“We all have ability. The difference is how we use it.”
Stevie Wonder

“Passion rebuilds the world for the youth. It makes all things alive and significant.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson

“I do it for the joy it brings. ‘Cause I am a joyful girl.
‘Cause the world owes us nothing, we owe each other the world.” – Ani Difranco

“The living moment is everything.”
D. H. Lawrence

Time for some group photos!
“I am a part of all that I have met.” – Alfred Lord Tennyson

“Blessed is the season which engages the whole world in a conspiracy of love.”
Thornton Wilder

“Being deeply loved by someone gives you strength while loving someone deeply gives you courage.”
Lao Tzu

“Every moment is a place you’ve never been.”
Mark Strand

Children of St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long) and Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association
Primary School joining hand in hand in a series of games and adventures

“Enthusiasm is excitement with inspiration, motivation, and a pinch of creativity.”
Bo Bennett

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go for it.
Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.” – Howard Thurman

‘The other day a man asked me what I thought was the best time of life.
“Why,” I answered without a thought, “now.”’ – David Grayson

“Miracles happen everyday, change your perception of what a miracle is and you’ll see them all around you.”
Jon Bon Jovi

“We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we are curious,
and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.” – Walt Disney

“We do not remember days; we remember moments.”
Cesare Pavese

“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyse you; they are supposed to help you discover who you are.”
Bernice Johnson Reagon

“To the world you might be one person, but to one person you might be the world.”

“Your children will become what you are; so be what you want them to be.”
David Bly

“Youth is happy because it has the ability to see beauty.
Anyone who keeps the ability to see beauty never grows old.” – Franz Kafka

“I have no special talents. I am only passionately curious.”
Albert Einstein

“It’s not about having all the answers. It’s about being open to all questions.”

“Nothing is worth more than this day.”
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

“Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.”
Neil Postman

“Be the change you want to see in the world.” – Mahatma Gandhi

Apr4

Happy Children’s Day!

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“Self-esteem is the real magic wand that can form a child’s future.
A child’s self-esteem affects every area of her existence, from friends she chooses,
to how well she does academically in school, to what kind of job she gets,
to even the person she chooses to marry.”
– Stephanie Martson

【「自尊心」有如一支神奇的魔杖，塑造一個孩童的未來；
一個小孩擁有多少的自尊即影響他/她一生的點點滴滴，
從擇友到交友、從學業成績的好壞到出了社會工作的決擇、
甚至到他/她擇偶並完成所謂的人生大事。】
（切記!）

Apr1

The Big Day – 31 March 2012

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The Big Day for “Toy’s Stories – Adventures for Toys” took place on 31 March 2012.
Here are some photos for a quick glimpse of our Big Day event – The Big Give.

The stage for the Big Give event - Wow!
To the right: "Jigsaw puzzle" made in boxes for this meaningful event - How very creative!

Parents volunteering to help out

Parent and child volunteering to help out

Toys... more toys... countless toys - Awesome!

Chess - such a great piece of educational toy for the next generation!
Two thumbs up!

Hi, Mr Potato Head!

Cupcakes for the participating children and parents -
sponsored by Swire Hotels - East (http://www.east-hongkong.com/).
Really yummy!

Parents and children getting seated for this meaningful "Big Give" event.
Welcome all to the "Adventures for Toys"!

BY Sim, the spokesperson of "Toy's Stories - Adventures for Toys" project,
welcoming all to the Big Day event

Principal of St Lorraine English Kindergarten (Yuen Long) giving thanks to all for their participation and
sharing the vision to take the spirit of "sharing" to the next level

Principal of Shamshuipo Kaifong Welfare Association Primary School giving thanks to all
for their participation and particularly to the "Toy's Stories" team
for bringing this meaningful event to life

Participating children getting together for a good shot and saying "Yeah!"

One of the get-together sessions where participating children coloured the "Toy's Stories" icon

Ryan and his masterpiece - a great artist of generations to come!

"Toy's Stories - Adventures for Toys", our Big Give project, was a hit.
The sharing spirit was everywhere.
Participating schools, both sharing and receiving parties, welcomed it with open arms.
Countless toys are on their way to a loving journey full of adventures.

Jan23

Happy Year of the Dragon

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“Another fresh new year is here…
Another year to live!
To banish worry, doubt, and fear,
To love and laugh and give!

This bright new year is given me
To live each day with zest…
To daily grow and try to be
My highest and my best!

I have the opportunity
Once more to right some wrongs,
To pray for peace, to plant a tree,
And sing more joyful songs!”

– William Arthur Ward

Jan17

Reuters: Hong Kong “Cage Home” Rents Soar Above Luxury Flat

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Hong Kong’s so called “cage men” may be among the city’s poorest, but rents per square foot for their dingy wire-mesh cubicles are now on a par with luxury flats in the city’s famed Peak district.

With Hong Kong property prices soaring and urban redevelopment shrinking the supply of older, cheaper tenement blocks, thousands of cage men living in 15-square-foot cubicles, usually crammed eight to a room, are being squeezed even more.

Sze Lai-shan of the Society for Community Organization said rents for the city’s cage homes had risen around 20 percent over the past year, with some cages renting for up to HK$1,500 ($193.20).

On a square-foot basis, such rents exceed those of some mansions in Hong Kong’s exclusive Peak district where many local tycoons reside.

“There have been rental price rises all the time,” said Sze. “It’s more expensive than the Peak district, which is about HK$30-40 per square foot.”

While the financial hub of Hong Kong enjoys a reputation as one of Asia’s most affluent cities, its wealth gap is among the worst in Asia, with around 100,000 of the city’s 7 million people living in tiny units of less than 60 square feet, according to Sze.

“The government doesn’t really have a perspective for helping these people,” said Sze, who called on the government to build more public housing and to ban such cage home dwellings.

Hong Kong’s government says that public housing is available with an average waiting time of 1.9 years for general family applicants and 1.2 years for the elderly. There is also short-term assistance available for people who need housing immediately.

“People choose to live in bedspace apartments and cubicles probably because these apartments are mostly conveniently located in the urban areas,” said a government spokesman.

According to Jones Lang LaSalle research, the value of luxury and mass residential property in Hong Kong rose 8.1 percent and 9.7 percent respectively in the first quarter.

http://www.reuters.com/assets/print?aid=USTRE63R2KY20100428

Jan17

About Karen and Peter Fung

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Karen and Peter’s father runs a broken fan repair business on Yen Chow Street in Sham Shui Po. His ten sq. ft. shop, beneath the stairway of an old Chinese tenement, is filled with countless models of old electric fans. When speaking about their father, they proudly say, “Our father is a genius, he can fix everything!” After school, they help clean the fans, so satisfied customers will pay readily when they pick up their repaired and shiny fans.

Luck, however, has not been on the Fungs’ side. Their father’s business has been in decline and worse still, the shop was ordered to close for safety reasons by the Buildings Department. After many difficult weeks, their father decided to remove the shop’s giant sign and was able to resume his business. Although this small shop only generates a few thousand dollars a month, it’s enough to feed the whole family.

Karen and Peter hope that their father will one day make enough money to move them out of their partitioned room. Their father has always worked hard to make this dream come true: for extra cash, he sorts through garbage from trash cans to sell on to recycling companies. The children understand that this old junk brings in extra money for the family, and even though it has taken up all the available space at home, they have never complained and have assisted their father over weekends and school holidays.

“Our home is so stuffy and small. But we can always do our homework at McDonald’s, which has plenty of room and air-conditioning,” said 12-year-old Peter, who has his own way of overcoming difficulties. Every morning before school starts, he will take Karen to McDonald’s to make a last-ditch effort to finish their homework. But often, they are distracted by the mountain of French fries which they can only dream of eating!