Sun Hung Kai Properties : Read to Dream taking disadvantaged students to Book Fair for tenth year Over 25,000 have benefited from inspirational programme

Read to Dream taking disadvantaged students to Book Fair for tenth year
Over 25,000 have benefited from inspirational programme

July is proving a good month for reading! Sun Hung Kai Properties Limited's SHKP Reading Club followed the launch of its free linepaper multi-media reading platform last week with its tenth Read to Dream programme. Some 1,700 disadvantaged students joined various reading activities including a visit to the Hong Kong Book Fair to buy books. In addition, the SHKP Reading Club invited a noted scholar and an author to speak about the joy of reading in a public seminar at the fair.

Read to Dream is a collaboration among the SHKP Reading Club, St James' Settlement (SJS) and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) now in its tenth year, with a series of activities under the theme SpREAD the Loving Seeds for 1,700 disadvantaged students. Accompanied by hundreds of SHKP and SJS volunteers, each student got HK$250 sponsored by SHKP to buy books at the book fair, also heard celebrity talks and attended creative workshops showing them the world of reading, and broadening their horizons. Read to Dream has benefited over 25,000 disadvantaged primary three to secondary three students from 120 schools in different districts such as Yuen Long, Tin Shui Wai, Tuen Mun, the outlying islands, Kwai Tsing and Wong Tai Sin since 2008. It was the first time at the book fair for about 70% of students in the programme, who also get free transport and meals.

Celebrities and athlete talk of reading

The opening of the three-day Read to Dream programme was attended by SHKP Executive Director Christopher Kwok, SJS Deputy Executive Officer Josephine Lee, HKTDC Assistant Executive Director Sophia Chong and marketing columnist and author Vincent Tsui. Mr Kwok said that perseverance was the key to building a reading habit and encouraged the students to share the enjoyment of reading with their families and friends. Mr Tsui talked about how he started reading as a child, and now that he is a father he believes parents should set a good reading example and inspire their children to look to reading for enjoyment and knowledge. The second day had YATA CEO Susanna Wong, Walk in Hong Kong Founder Paul Chan and former Hong Kong Fencing Team member Wu Siu-cheung telling students about how reading supported them in the face of challenges, and how they indulged their passion for reading while making the most of their talents. A creative workshop on the third day had Young Writers' Debut Competition (YWDC) winner Fontane Yiu leading students in visual arts.

Introducing free new linepaper to the public

The SHKP Reading Club had a booth at the book fair introducing the new linepaper multi-media reading platform. The public could try on the linepaper website (www.linepaper.com) and mobile app with smartphones and mobile services powered by SmarTone. The Club also had noted international relations scholar Simon Shen and the youngest winner of a Hong Kong Biennial award for Chinese literature Ong Yi-hing speaking about reading in a Let's Read On Sunday seminar. The eight winning books of the sixth YWDC debuted at the fair with the nine authors talking about writing for the competition.

About the SHKP Reading Club

SHKP believes in Building Homes with Heart and promotes reading and holistic development. It set up the Reading Club in 2013 to consolidate its reading-related initiatives such as seminars with leading speakers and guided cultural tours to inspire more people to enjoy reading and make it a habit. Anyone interested can join for free at www.shkpreadingclub.com.

About St James' Settlement

St James' Settlement is a multi-social service agency established over 60 years ago. It provides comprehensive services to meet the community's diverse needs and promotes self-reliance for an integrated, harmonious society. Its target groups include children, teenagers, families, homeless people, mentally challenged people and the elderly.

About the Hong Kong Trade Development Council

The Hong Kong Trade Development Council is a statutory body established in 1966 as the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based traders, manufacturers and service providers. It has more than 40 global offices including 11 on the mainland and promotes Hong Kong as a place to do business with China and throughout Asia. The Council also organizes trade fairs and business missions to connect companies with opportunities in Hong Kong and on the mainland, while providing information via trade publications, research reports and online.