Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa wishes every Hong Kong person a Merry Christmas, and hopes everyone will play a greater part in serving the community and building a harmonious, united and caring society.

Mr Tung spent his Christmas Eve visiting children in care and senior citizens at a community centre.

Christmas Eve visit: Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa spends his Christmas Eve visiting children in care and senior citizens at a community centre.

About 30 elderly volunteers and 30 elderly members gave a warm welcome to the Chief Executive. Mr Tung brought a Christmas cake to share with them and presented a thermal flask as a gift to each of the residents.

Mr Tung officiated at the opening ceremony of this social service building three years ago and visited the elderly staying at the care and attention home at that time. Today he had a brief reunion with one of the residents, a 102-year-old woman.

Then Mr Tung chatted with nine frontline social workers and volunteers aged 65 to 78 to learn more about their work and needs. He thanked the elderly volunteers in particular for their contribution to society.

Promotion on healthy ageing continues

"I am pleased to see the elderly volunteers actively serving the community. The Government will continue to promote healthy ageing, encourage the elderly to pursue lifelong learning and to participate in social activities.

"It is always one of my policy objectives to improve the quality of life for the elderly. We will strive to ensure they enjoy a sense of security, a sense of belonging and a feeling of health and worthiness," he added. 

The number of subsidised residential care places has increased 60%, from 16,000 to 26,900, over the past seven years. The standard of service of these residential homes has improved substantially with all the 740 residential homes being licensed.

Good education set for youngsters

Mr Tung then visited the Po Leung Kuk houses for residential children at Causeway Bay.

He joined 20 children of one of the houses in reading story-books, chatted with them and enjoyed their singing. He gave them teddy bears, a Christmas cake and other gifts.

Children and young people are the driving force in our community's development, Mr Tung said, adding the Government will make every effort to push ahead with the holistic development of youth and continue to provide good education.