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David Vetter

Gigi Choy

Six-year-old Sonya Chan runs over to a steel object rising out of the ground like a metallic flower. As she starts striking its shiny surface, deep notes ring out.
“Playing is important because it’s fun!” she says with a laugh.
A few metres away, slightly older children dash and splash through a water zone, and in a sandpit about six metres long, two dozen children are digging, building and generally rolling about.
The new playground at Tuen Mun Park in the New Territories is almost the size of a football pitch and on this sunny weekday afternoon, at least 200 children of all ages are enjoying themselves.

The playground, which opened last month, is the culmination of more than four years’ work by children’s organisations and educators.
Designed by the Architectural Services Department and run by the Leisure and Cultural Services Department, it is the first barrier-free play space for children in Hong Kong. Designers drew input from children in the area, and won the endorsement of Unicef.
“We believe play is essential for children’s development, and that it is a basic need,” says Kathy Wong Kin-ho, executive director of Playright Children’s Play Association, the NGO instrumental in guiding the project.
Wong says the city has failed to deliver on Article 31 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, which promises children the right to “relax and play, and to join in a wide range of cultural, artistic and other recreational activities”.
Are Hong Kong’s super-safe and boring playgrounds failing our children?
“A lot of children in Hong Kong have a lot of problems,” Wong says. “They’re not happy, and it’s getting worse.”
In a 2017 report, Baptist Oi Kwan Social Service found that as many as one in 10 primary school children were suffering from serious depression. A Chinese University study that year found less than half of those aged between two and 17 achieved the internationally recommended level of one hour of physical activity per day.
Wong points out that studies have also shown that unguided physical play teaches children things they cannot learn from television or computer screens.
The Leisure and Cultural Services Department manages 638 public playgrounds. In a 2016 study of 1,200 children, almost two-thirds thought playgrounds should be more exciting. Most had generic, unchallenging facilities, with low-climbing frames and swings.

The problem, researchers concluded, was that the adults behind Hong Kong playgrounds were too focused on averting risk.
This is disastrous for children, says Paul O’Connor, research assistant professor at Lingnan University’s Department of Sociology and Social Policy.
“Young people in Hong Kong are conditioned to not fail. They are asked to play safely, to follow the rules and colour within the lines,” he says. “Kids’ playgrounds in Hong Kong are rubbish; the same tiny swings and slides. Kids need a greater space in which to fail.”
O’Connor, 43, an avid skateboarder, says over-protecting children can leave them unable to deal with setbacks later in life. “Kids who are given space to play deal with failure, get away from screens, make real-life friends, and learn a host of creative skills along the way,” he says.
Hong Kong’s playgrounds should challenge children and help them grow
Based around these principles of unguided play, the Tuen Mun playground engages the senses with its interactive water zone, sand area and music zone featuring huge, built-in musical instruments to encourage children’s creative impulses.
It is for children of all ages and abilities, including wheelchair users.
Playright collected ideas from a competition before work began in 2016. It also appointed children from Tuen Mun schools to be advisers on the project.
“On completion of the plans, the reaction from the children was very touching,” Wong says. “They said, ‘We feel like the adults heard us’.
“We hope this project is just the first step in inspiring Hong Kong to build more inclusive free play spaces for children.”
Inspired playgrounds around the world
Kabe Ng took her children Chloe, Shella and Namson there after hearing about the place on Facebook.
“It’s free, it’s convenient, and it’s much better than Disney,” says Ng, 26, as three-year-old twins Shella and Namson sit building castles in the sandpit.
“Everything is outdoors. Instead of having to take rides individually, kids here can play together, and they get loads of exercise. They also get to make new friends.”
Lili Chou, 28, was pleased that her son, Victor, five, enjoyed the obstacles and had made a new friend, a little girl, within their first 30 minutes at the park.
Chou thought the trip was well worthwhile. “There’s nothing like this near our estate,” she says. “It gives Victor a real sense of adventure.”

Yau Lok-yee and Lam Lam who are both 12 years old and attend secondary school nearby like unwinding at the playground.
Recalling what it was like before, Yau says: “It was really boring; it just had a few swings. This is much more fun.”
The girls had suggestions for additions to the park: a rock climbing wall for older children, and more accessible food stalls.
The only real problem with the playground? Lam says: “It’s too popular! People love it, so it gets crowded.”


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Lam Lam 12 (front) and Yau Lok-yee playing slide in Tuen Mun Park. The innovative children's playground in Tuen Mun Park, which opened in December 2018, is the culmination of many years of work by Playright, a Hong Kong NGO. It is the first "barrier-free play space" for children in Hong Kong. 23JAN19 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

Six-year-old Sonya Chan playing at Tuen Mun Park. The innovative children's playground in Tuen Mun Park, which opened in December 2018, is the culmination of many years of work by Playright, a Hong Kong NGO. It is the first "barrier-free play space" for children in Hong Kong. 23JAN19 SCMP / K. Y. Cheng

The playground in Tuen Mun Park is the first ‘barrier-free play space’ for children in Hong Kong. Photo: K.Y. Cheng

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The size of a football pitch, Tuen Mun Park was designed with children in mind, and unlike some other city parks, it isn’t in the least bit dull.


City Weekend

Playgrounds in Hong Kong are uninspiring, but one NGO is trying to change that with an area that hits all the right notes

The size of a football pitch, Tuen Mun Park was designed with children in mind Learning to play right outside is essential for a child’s development

The size of a football pitch, Tuen Mun Park was designed with children in mind

Learning to play right outside is essential for a child’s development