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YMCA 2019 April Perspective

24-04-2019

Cover Story

Cover Story
Healthy Employees, Happy Companies!
Healthy Employees, Happy Companies!By now, everybody knows that regular exercise is vital to health and happiness. It is commonly recognized that staying active with a busy schedule is not easy. Meanwhile, joining a gym can be costly and booking space at a sports venue in Hong Kong can frequently be a hassle. In spite of these challenges, there is a way forward: workplace fitness initiatives! These initiatives help raise employee productivity, since having healthy and happy staff members means fewer absences due to illness. Whether you are a business owner or an employee, workplace health initiatives create a win-win situation for all of us.

The results of a survey on individual well-being conducted last year show that Hong Kong’s overall well-being index has fallen for the fourth consecutive year. The survey reveals that 92 per cent of people in Hong Kong are stressed, with 40 per cent of the respondents indicating work was the primary cause of this stress. Physical inactivity and sleep deprivation are common problems for people with long working hours, and this creates direct impacts on organizations: every year, an average of 78.5 days is lost due to health-related absenteeism and “presenteeism” (coming to work while sick) per employee, accounting for 30% of the average total work hours. This costs every organization in Hong Kong over HK$3 million a year!

However, when employers help employees develop healthy physical fitness habits, not only are the costs of absenteeism and sickness significantly reduced, productivity levels rise and stress levels decrease.

Against this background, Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong is pleased to introduce the “Sport-Friendly Action” campaign, which aims to encourage all employers in Hong Kong to promote workplace fitness and improve the health of their employees through providing on-site exercise facilities and sponsoring employees to participate in organized sports. The ultimate goal of the campaign is to help organizations improve their image and productivity and help to create a society where everyone enjoys the benefits of a positive mind, body and spirit.

The Sport-Friendly Action campaign launch ceremony, which will be held on 25 April in the Crystal Ballroom of the City View Hostel, will remind enterprises, organizations and institutions around Hong Kong of the importance of incorporating fitness equipment and activities into the workplace, and highlight the campaign’s objectives and eligibility requirements.

Representatives of the Kowloon Motor Bus (1933) Limited, one of the company to have received the Sport-Friendly Action decal, will attend the event and share their workplace fitness initiatives with those in attendance, like the company’s fitness facilities, specific workplace fitness training schedules, and the various allowances and subsidies the company offers its employees to participate in sports. KMB representatives will also share their thoughts on the positive impacts of workplace fitness and the importance of healthy employees to their corporate image.

Sunlight REIT, one of our Y-Care corporate gold partners, has sponsored our “Sunlight Little Ironman” campaign for four consecutive years. Sunlight REIT will also be sending representatives to the event to explain why they are so enthusiastic to support Sunlight Little Ironman and the impacts on the company and the community.

As an employee, wouldn’t it be great if your company had a fitness room, offered fitness training classes to you and other employees, and provided you with subsidies to participate in healthy activities outside of work? Employers across Hong Kong need to understand that making fitness and an active lifestyle part of the company’s culture can boost employee efficiency, happiness and productivity – a win-win situation for both parties.

We encourage enterprises, organizations and institutions across Hong Kong to join us!

To learn more about ‘Sport-Friendly Action,’ please click here.

 

 

What’s News
The Chinese YMCA Primary School Wins Silver
The Chinese YMCA Primary School Wins Silver The Chinese YMCA Primary School is committed to promoting STEM education – science, technology, engineering and maths – and our commitment is paying off! Our P6 girls recently won the Silver award at the Hong Kong Youth Science and Technology Innovation Competition 2019. After several rigorous rounds of competition, our outstanding students finished with the highest scores in the robot navigation and obstacle avoidance session, gaining praise from the judges for their technique and excellent programming skills. Congratulations to them – now let’s all keep working hard to carry forward their success and the spirit of STEM education!

 

 

Activities Highlights
Flower-making activity helps love bloom
Flower-making activity helps love bloom Last month, one of our Y-Care corporate partners, Shenwan Hongyuen(H.K.)Limited, dispatched a team of corporate volunteers to visit the YMCA Home of Love – Yung Shing Hostel. There, the volunteers created beautiful gelatine art flowers with the residents and played games with them, spending a happy afternoon with each other. After the visit, the volunteers had a better appreciation of how to communicate with intellectually disabled people. The volunteers are looking forward to bringing more happiness to them in the future!

 

Walking football scores again!
Walking football scores again! Walking football is a sport that allows no running or physical contact and was designed specifically to encourage people aged 50 and above and people with health issues to continue playing and enjoying football. Since 2015, Chinese YMCA of Hong Kong and the AXA Foundation have promoted walking football in Hong Kong, setting up a league and offering training sessions. In mid-April, the 2018-19 Hong Kong Walking Football League Championships were held, eight teams with players ranging in age from 50 to 72 compete against each other for the League Cup in two different age groups.

The day was full of action and excitement. Former South China star Wong Man Wai, 80-year-old Leung Kin Chung and former Hong Kong football player Sammy Yu Kwok Sum were invited to attend the event, and The Happy Valley 80 team, led by former Hong Kong players Lau Wing Yip who represented Hong Kong in three World Cup qualifiers, with Yu Kin Tak, Lo Fok Hing and actor Vincent Wan Yeung-Ming, played a friendly match against the YMCA and AXA team, eventually the Happy Valley 80 team being crowned champions of this invitation match. Meanwhile, in league play, AXA SUPER and DIY B won the League Cup in their respective age groups.

 

Parent-Child Free Fun Day 2019
Parent-Child Free Fun Day 2019Our annual Parent-Child Free Fun Day took place on 14 April. Despite somewhat unfavourable weather conditions, parents and children made the most of it and, armed with umbrellas and smiles, took part in activities like the YMCA Live Board, Colourful Egg DIY, Rolling egg competition and various other camp activities at our Wu Kwai Sha Youth Village.

Chan Siu Cheuk, the headmaster of Christian Zheng Sheng College, gave a lecture on the importance of controlling and managing parent and child emotions, which drew in a crowd of interested parents. We hope that everyone will continue to give their enthusiasm and support our variety activities, no matter what the weather! To learn more about future events, please stay tuned to our website, our Facebook page and other channels!

 

Sunlight Unplug Day & Camp
Sunlight Unplug Day & CampTo underline the importance of spending quality time with our families, we held a two-day event called the “Sunlight Unplug Day and Camp”. Put on with the generous sponsorship of the Sunlight REIT, the event’s goal was to promote family harmony by improving interaction between family members and promoting mutual understanding, while also encouraging everyone to cut down on their use of smartphones.

Part one of this event, the Sunlight Unplug Camp, was held on 13 April. First, clinical psychologist Ho Nim Chee Annie shared some tips on improving parent-child communication with the participants. She encouraged parents to help their children develop self-control instead of simply stopping them from using their phones. This reduces conflict and helps kids gain important skills. The event also featured a “five senses experience” which aimed to strengthen family bonds through playing with the concepts of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.

Part two of the event, a launch ceremony and afternoon tea gathering, will take place at MCP1 Metro City Plaza Phase I on 19 May. In addition to several performances and an exhibition, a tea gathering and parent-child games will encourage further family interaction, with tutors teaching parents and children how to live their daily lives without relying on smartphones.

 

Discover YMCA Channel
The 2019 Walking Football Fun Day
The 2019 Walking Football Fun Day video

 


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