Hong Kong not dragging its feet on lending a hand
Hong Kong is home to a number of charitable foundations, and its culture of giving is starting to rub-off on its neighbouring city of Guangzhou.
The director of the Sociology Department at Sun Yat Sen University in Guangzhou, Professor Wang Ning, said Hong Kong's fund raising efforts are having a positive influence on his city.
"Many Hong Kong organizations and charities have connections with Guangzhou. They might have an office here, or work together with locals on joint projects, so we are able to benefit from their experience."
With a force of over 200,000 volunteers working in over 100 associations and organizations under the Guangzhou Volunteers Union, Guangzhou has long had a culture of people helping one another, Wang says.
In Hong Kong, figures suggest that lending a hand, financially or otherwise, has popular appeal.
According to the Asia Pacific Philanthropy Consortium (APPC), an independent organization that monitors philanthropy and social investment activities in Asia, over 60 percent of respondents to a recent Hong Kong survey confirmed they either participate or contribute to volunteering activities.
Each year, NGOs like Oxfam Hong Kong, World Vision Hong Kong and the Guangdong-Hong Kong Association for the Promotion of Technology Enterprise make increasingly significant contributions to the mainland in areas of health or technology exchanges, the APPC says.
China Daily
(China Daily 03/06/2007 page20)
