Traditionally, businesses in Hong Kong and around the world have mainly contributed to the community through monetary donations, without direct involvement, Ng said.
To bridge this gap, Ng stresses the significance of businesses engaging directly with the community, enabling companies to understand the needs first-hand and fostering a mutually beneficial relationship.
Wharf group initiated Project WeCan 12 years ago to address these concerns. In partnership with schools and businesses, the project aims to improve university admission rates and enhance career prospects for underprivileged students from grass roots families.
“We identified secondary school students, in particular secondary school students coming from underprivileged families,” Ng said. “We saw them as needing the most help.”
Hong Kong’s academic curriculum primarily focuses on grooming students for university, often leaving behind those who cannot follow this path.
“What we wanted to do is to remind them, and not only them but the community, that there is a lot more than going to university,” Ng said.
Many students who may not be destined for academic success at the university level are talented in other ways, such as in design, music, culinary arts or computers, Ng said. “So we’ve helped them to get into these various fields without entering university,” said Ng.
Wharf sees best years ahead for Hong Kong’s retail industry as sales rebound
Wharf sees best years ahead for Hong Kong’s retail industry as sales rebound
At the same time, the programme also increases the university admission rate for the students coming from underprivileged families.
“The admission rate for these students was less than 2 per cent when we first started,” Ng said. “Right now, it’s somewhere in the mid-single digit range. It’s a satisfying statistic.”
Ng hopes initiatives like Project WeCan can help address the talent shortages faced by Hong Kong.
Nearly three in four Hong Kong companies have been struggling with a shortage of labour, with a majority saying the problem has lasted for at least a year, according to a survey by one of the city’s largest business chambers.
Hong Kong education fair to target 200,000 students in neighbouring Guangdong
Hong Kong education fair to target 200,000 students in neighbouring Guangdong
Hong Kong saw an outflow of talent during the Covid-19 pandemic. The workforce shrank by 210,000 people between the start of 2019 and the end of 2022, with 94,100 people exiting the workforce in 2022 alone.
Project WeCan initially started with 11 secondary schools in 2011 and has since expanded to 82 secondary schools, covering almost 20 per cent of the secondary student population, according to Tsang Wing-hong, associate director of the Educational Innovation Leadership Project of The Education University of Hong Kong and a director of the initiative. The project has the involvement of more than 70 partner organisations.