[Wan Qingyi Care]The granddaughter of a philanthropist with unremitting brain power retired and devoted herself to charity in a low-key manner

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Text◆Zhang Shumei Picture◆Huang Zhidong

The granddaughter of Hong Kong’s great philanthropist Ho Kam-tang, Ho Chi Minh-hui, keeps a low profile. When searching for her name online, most of the content is related to charity.

Before she retired, she was the financial director of an international law firm; her life remained busy after retirement. Do you think you are busy drinking tea, shopping and traveling around the world like other rich ladies?

However, she endlessly shared her experience in community service. She put down her work and continued to use her professional knowledge to engage in public welfare affairs and learn different things.

(Hong Kong News) Sabrina Ho, 60, resigned from her position as financial director of an international law firm three years ago and left the company where she had worked for 26 years. “When I retired, I sent messages everywhere, ‘I have time now, if you need help with anything, please contact me’!”

As a result, her self-promotion was very effective. She listed down her current “jobs”, including the vice-chairman of Mrs. Mei’s Women’s Association, as well as being a member of many committees under the Hong Kong Society for the Protection of Children, the Boss Society, etc. No wonder even her husband couldn’t help but “complain” “You need to make a reservation in advance to have a meal with her.

My son was helped by SEN agency

Among the many service organizations, The Child Development Center (CDC) is the one she has served the longest, with 24 years of service. She joined before retiring and became even more deeply involved after retirement. The parent committee , treasurer until he became chairman, “I have been chairman for more than ten years. Because it is a small NGO, it is not easy to attract talents.”

The organization is small, and she has to do many things herself. Over the years, she has to deal with every call or message immediately, and she has already lost count of how much time she has invested.

She is so considerate because she has been there.

CDC’s main job is to help children with special learning needs (SEN) such as learning disabilities, developmental delays, and autism. “My son was born 14 weeks prematurely, weighing only 780 grams. He stayed in the neonatal intensive care unit of Queen Mary Hospital for 8 months, underwent multiple major surgeries, and went through hell many times.”

Take over the CDC and help anyone who comes.

Due to damage to his brain caused by bleeding at birth, his son’s neurological development and speech abilities all had problems. When she was 2 years old, children of the same age were preparing to attend kindergarten, but Sabrina was very hesitant and didn’t know what services to find to help her son learn. Until she met the then CDC Vice Chairman, who shared support for students with special educational needs and arranged for her son to enroll in school. From speech therapy, occupational therapy to physical therapy, it’s a multi-pronged approach.

“My son has been studying there for two years. I saw his progress and the CDC also provided a lot of support to our family. I am very grateful.” So later the organization invited her to join as a volunteer, and she agreed without much thought.

She also noticed that there were many children waiting for pre-school rehabilitation services subsidized by the Social Welfare Department, especially families who did not understand Cantonese. Therefore, after taking over the CDC, she applied to the Social Welfare Department to provide subsidized services, hoping that children, regardless of whether they spoke Cantonese or English, could To get appropriate services as soon as possible, we try our best to welcome everyone who comes.

She said that her grandfather, Ho Kam Tong, spared no effort in doing good deeds during his lifetime, and funded the establishment of Kwong Wah Hospital, St. John Ambulance Hong Kong Branch, etc. Her mother once said: “Grandpa did so many good deeds to accumulate blessings for the next generation.” But she had another idea. Some thoughts.

“I don’t (do service) to accumulate blessings. Especially at CDC, I have personally experienced that raising a child with special needs requires the help of many people. When I help a child, I am actually helping the entire family. No matter how many families benefit from it, ,It’s good enough for me!”

When she was 50 years old, she had been thinking about retiring from time to time. She had already decided to leave the industry around the age of 60. The final retirement plan was realized three years early because of her family. Living with her aunt, she saw that her two elders were in poor health. “I don’t want to have regrets,” she repeated three times, “especially since they are older and have limited time. I want more.” Spend time with them.”

Learn to play ball and build interest with your family

In addition to spending time with her family and participating in charity services, she also teaches herself Italian, rides horses, and plays the piano because she firmly believes in not letting her brain stop.

“Some of my old friends who are good at playing table tennis are learning new things, and they are learning to play with their left hand to train the other side of their head!” She has also started taking golf lessons in recent years, hoping to establish common interests with her husband and son and gain more self-control. Family time. Although she has worked hard in class to catch up with her husband and son, her classes often conflict with her regular meeting schedule and she can only attend two classes a month.

“My husband asked me to work harder and change the meeting time, but I said of course not!” she said categorically, as if she was responding from a distance. It seems that it will take some time for her to master golf. At this moment, serving the community is still in her heart.

Make new like-minded friends Women will enrich their retirement lives

There is a classical building next to the Peak Tram terminus. It is the main building of the Mrs. May Women’s Association founded by the former Hong Kong Governor Sir Helena May. At that time, it mainly provided cheap and clean accommodation for single working women.

When the building was built in 1916, He Gantang contributed a donation, and his granddaughter He Zhihui actively invested in operations and reforms after retirement. This time, he also acted as a tour guide, leading Lu Bingsong and Leong Manfu to visit this Hong Kong declared monument. The three of them visited the elegantly decorated Blue Room, private library, garden, etc. While feeling the historical atmosphere, they listened carefully to Sabrina’s talk about how a woman would enrich her retirement life.

Participate in operational changes to accounting systems

He: He Zhihui Liang: Liang Wanfu Lu: Lu Bingsong

what:The Blue Room, as the name suggests, is because it is blue. Members usually rest and socialize here. However, in the 1950s, because the waiting list for the dormitory was too long, even this room was turned into a three-person guest room, which was later restored. Although the windows in the Blue Room are all made of single-layer glass, it is very quiet here, and the floor is 17 feet high! Show you around.

If you have been to Kam Tong Di, which is the current Sun Yat-sen Memorial Hall, the stairs inside are the same as here. At the bottom of the stairs is the speaking tube and clock, which were replaced in the 1970s. In the past, there was a waiter on each floor. When there was a visitor, the waiter would use a microphone to inform the residents, such as “Miss Chen in Room 9 is looking for you”, or ring the bell to remind the residents that “it’s time to eat”!

Lu:This is the earliest “telephone”.

what:yes. Going down, this is the largest private English library in Hong Kong, with more than 25,000 English books. The oldest among them is the first edition of the English book published in 1883, which is part of our collection.

Lu:It’s very nice here and has a strong book flavor. I used to come here for high-ranking officials’ dinners, but this was my first time to visit it in depth.

what:Our oldest member, Mrs. Lee, was 101 years old last year and could not come because she was too old, so the librarian brought her a box of books every month. They said: “What books has Mrs. Lee not read?”

Liang:Did you ever go to Mrs May’s Women’s Club when you were a kid?

what:Of course! In the past I only came to eat and use the library. After retiring at the end of 2020, I began to participate in the operations here, and basically all large-scale committees have joined.

The first thing I did after joining was to change the accounting system here. Before 2022, you will have to bring cash when you come here to eat, and you will have to arrange for colleagues to go to the bank to deposit money every day, which is a waste of human resources. At that time, I proposed changing the accounting system. Although there were objections, we all did it in the end. Now, just like other clubs, accounts will be accounted for after consumption, and monthly statements will be collected and paid.

Organize events to cater to members’ interests

Liang:You are the company doctor.

what:In the past, most committee members were wives who did not need to work. This has not changed in decades. In recent years, more and more women with professional backgrounds have joined, and everyone’s perspective on things is different from before.

We also organize various activities to cater to the interests of current members, such as reading clubs, lectures, workshops, etc. We just completed a lecture on digital marketing last year, and members were very enthusiastic.

Lu:How many interests do you have here?

what:I like it very much because unlike other private clubs, we don’t have many facilities here, such as swimming pools, tennis courts, etc., but the community outreach here is something we are very proud of. In Charity of the Year, members propose organizations they are interested in helping, and then, just like listed companies doing due diligence, they search for information online, compile lists, and invite organizations to submit reports. We will deliberately choose smaller NGOs because few people know them and it is difficult to raise funds. This year we approached the New Territories Women and Children Welfare Society. Although they have government funding, their Care for Carers project has no money, so we will help them. We will also visit the elderly living alone and teach English to young drug addicts…

I also made new friends, especially on the community outreach committee, where I met a group of people I had never interacted with before. We all had similar interests and we could chat easily. We will also go to museums together and enjoy delicious food everywhere. It’s a lot of fun!

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