Operation Santa Claus: sky is the limit for these underprivileged young Hongkongers embracing a global mindset
- Asia Pacific Youth Development Foundation is trying to narrow the ‘widening opportunity gap’ between youngsters in well-off and low-income families
- It is among the charities supported by this year’s Operation Santa Claus, an annual fundraising drive organised by South China Morning Post and RTHK
Growing up in a public housing estate in Hong Kong, Dan Cheung Lok-kan’s world consisted of only his family, schoolmates and the buildings in his neighbourhood of Yuen Long.
His security guard father and housewife mother could not afford to send him abroad and he never met anyone from overseas, even though he was growing up in a supposedly international city.
But in high school Cheung was given a life-changing opportunity after winning a youth business development contest.
“My horizons were really limited, but I was given a chance to go to Malaysia for the final competition where I met people from different countries, and I felt more motivated after that,” said Cheung, who later earned a master’s degree in public administration at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore.
Cheung, 33, said his experience had motivated him to create similar opportunities for underprivileged young people in Hong Kong.
He is launching a new project through the charity Asia Pacific Youth Development Foundation (AYF), which he co-founded with a friend in 2017. The charity has supported several hundred youngsters over the years by giving them opportunities to reach their full potential and develop leadership skills.
His project, called “Impact Career Programme”, has been chosen as one of the 15 charitable initiatives being funded this year by Operation Santa Claus (OSC), an annual fundraising drive held by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988.
