Press Release
12 December 2022
Golden Age Academy Steering Committee Establishment Celebration Ceremony Concludes Today
Celebrating a New Milestone in Smart Ageing
Organised by Golden Age Foundation (GAF), the Golden Age Academy Steering Committee Establishment Celebration Ceremony concluded successfully today (12 December 2022). Gathering over 100 prominent political, business and social leaders, together with partners and members of the committee and GAF, the event celebrated an important milestone for Golden Age Academy as we look forward to the future development of smart ageing.
During her opening speech, Mrs Rebecca YUNG CHOY, Founder and Chair of Golden Age Foundation, said, “We celebrate Golden Age Day on every year 12 December. The occasion advocates for transforming Hong Kong into a smart ageing city by raising public awareness on smart ageing and empowering the golden age population (individuals aged 45 and above) to reach their full potential. This year, our celebration feels even more meaningful as we also commemorate the launch of the Golden Age Academy Steering Committee after months of preparation. The committee is a cross-sectoral think tank that develops new ideas to effectively promote the growth of the elderly industry and elderly care services in Hong Kong.”
Mrs Yung added that “As the local and global populations continue to age rapidly, it is imperative for us to promote the development of smart ageing cities. Over the past seven years, Golden Age Academy has designed and organised new training programmes and community empowerment projects to inspire individuals of all ages and sectors to become a new driving force in our ageing society. I grateful to all committee members for gifting us their time and energy to help the corporate community gain a deeper understanding of current social problems and discover new opportunities to help Hong Kong thrive as a smart ageing city.”
Dr Eddie Lam – who is also a member of the Executive Council – said that building social capital is crucial to help Hong Kong tackle various population ageing issues, as well as other challenges, some of which can be classified as social tragedies. He also pointed out that each sector used to work in silos in the past and lacked sufficient cross-sectoral engagement. Yet, the establishment of Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) has been a great starting point to counter this trend. Dr Lam hopes the newly established Golden Age Academy Steering Committee can become a new platform for more cross-sectoral collaboration.
Dr Lam added that “Hong Kong needs a platform like this to mobilise our society, including the corporate sector, non-profit organisations, regional entities and social enterprises, to re-establish our social networks. Purely relying on the government's efforts will not achieve effective results and the rest of our society will struggle to keep up.”
Mr Kwan Chuk-fai, Chairman of the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund Committee, said that promoting cross-sectoral efforts and making good use of community resources is vital to confront the difficulties of various social issues. Mr Kwan joined the committee as he believes there is still room to enhance our society. Through the committee, he hopes to gain a deeper understanding of different sectors and industries and innovate new ways for collaboration.
During a press conference held at the peak of the pandemic this year, Mrs Rebecca Yung Choy, Founder and Chair of Golden Age Foundation, shared how GAF launched the Golden Age Care Anti-pandemic Support Programme after just three months of preparation. GAF developed the programme after Mrs Yung noticed that small to medium-sized elderly care homes struggled throughout the pandemic due to a lack of medical staff and the right experience to combat COVID-19. The programme supported and introduced gerontechnology into 34 small to medium-sized elderly care homes with limited pandemic-prevention resources. This includes installing Dr Golden – the programme's disinfection robot – to effectively help staff reduce manpower and assist with regular disinfection tasks. This has significantly helped care homes maintain a safe and hygienic environment throughout the pandemic.
Furthermore, the programme also held virtual visiting activities for elderly residents and their loved ones as family visits were paused throughout the pandemic. This helped brighten residents' weary living environment and relieve their emotional burden. Care home staff also acquired new skills through the virtual activities to improve their sanitisation procedures. In total, the programme served 2,700 elderly residents from low-income families and reskilled over 700 care home employees.
Additionally, the programme also addressed the severe digital divide in the ageing population and trained a group of volunteers between the ages of 18 and 70 as "Golden IT Buddies" to help elderly residents gain essential digital skills.
Launched by Golden Age Foundation in 2018, Golden Age Academy provides innovative educational programmes and participation opportunities to drive social change for the golden age population (individuals aged 45 and above). The academy also aims to empower participants to become a new driving force for social innovation and help solve systemic problems, such as elderly care, education, business for good, sustainability, environmental protection, poverty alleviation, medical insurance and more. By working closely with other corporate and professional organisations, the academy strives to help various sectors understand the needs of the ageing population and enhance the quality of current elderly care services. Furthermore, the academy also helps our society prepare for a better ageing future by training young people for future careers in smart ageing.
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Email: debbie.tsai@goldenage.foundation
The Golden Age Academy Steering Committee is officially established today on 12 December 2022. Mrs Rebecca Yung Choy, Founder and Chair of Golden Age Foundation (fifth left) takes a group photo with committee members, including (from left) Dr Eddie Lam Yat-ming, Ms Sylvia Chung Wai-man, Mr Kwan Chuk-fai, Dr Lam Ching-choi, Dr Roy Chung Chi-ping, Ms Lau Ka-shi and Ms Elsa Wong Yuk-kuen.
Golden Age Foundation founded the Golden Age Day and holds celebratory events annually on 12 December. Today, members of the Golden Age Academy Steering Committee participate in a sharing discussion and explores the theme of “Developments in the Smart Ageing Generation”.