Operation Santa Claus: panda toys lead Hong Kong hotel’s Christmas charity efforts

Kowloon Shangri-La hosts a wide range of festive activities under the theme of Enchanted Wonders to help promote families, joy and togetherness

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(From left) Paul Wong, SCMP’s general counsel and company secretary, Christopher Chia, Kowloon Shangri-la’s general manager, and Jim Gould, RTHK’s adviser of English programme service, hold Edward Panda toy mascots alongside Santa Claus at the hotel’s Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Photo: Handout

Published: 11:52am, 11 Dec 2024Updated: 1:15pm, 11 Dec 2024

Cuddly panda toys are leading the Kowloon Shangri-La hotel’s Christmas charity fundraising efforts this year, as part of Hong Kong’s Operation Santa Claus (OSC) campaign.

The hotel, located in Tsim Sha Tsui, is once again hosting a wide range of festive attractions that share the theme of Enchanted Wonders to help promote families, joy and togetherness.

All proceeds from the sales of the limited-edition HK$250 (US$32) Edward Panda mascots – wearing a jumper, red hat and red-and-white scarf – from now until January 1 will be donated to OSC.

A children’s choir at the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. Photo: Handout

The annual fundraising initiative, now in its 37th year, is organised jointly by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK to help worthy causes in the city.

The hotel, which has been supporting local charities for decades, launched its latest OSC efforts at its traditional Christmas tree lighting ceremony, which Santa Claus attended on November 29.

Among other guests were Jim Gould, adviser to RTHK’s English programme service, and Paul Wong, general counsel and company secretary of the Post.

A choir of children from Victoria Nursery School’s Harbour Heights campus in Causeway Bay, Hong Kong, sang Christmas carols at the ceremony.