The High Price of Art

One of the first things most of us encourage our little children to do is to draw something... a ball, stick figures, and so on. It's a sad fact of life that for many desperately poor families, a set of crayons is a luxury, and a child must be encouraged from an early age to do things that will earn money. Art is seen as a waste of time.

The Child Development Fund project was set up for such families in Hong Kong; families who do not have the financial means to participate in any extra curricular activities. They are part of the 1.1 million people in HK living below the poverty line. Three hundred thousand of these people are children.

In very poor areas like Tin Shui Wai, where poverty levels are high, families don't have even the bus fare to have a day at the beach, or to see a movie, let alone to encourage the children’s artistic talents. The latter is of no importance to such parents, and it is also an unfortunate characteristic of the HK education system which is fully focused on academia. Even children with artistic talents are discouraged from pursuing their passion for art.

Christian Action found out about the project run by HK Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF) which aims to promote art among children, and we asked them to run a workshop for underprivileged kids in Tin Shui Wai. The HKYAF were very enthusiastic, and a group of seventeen of our budding artists, aged between 10 and 16 years, were thrilled to participate.

Wendy Tsang, Assistant Director of the HKYAF said: "Many children are not that interested, but this group of children was different, really special. I could tell by their high levels of enthusiasm that they really wanted to learn and I felt they were so grateful for the privilege of learning new ways of expressing themselves, especially artistically, which is an area that is quite neglected in the Hong Kong schooling system."

The project is sponsored by the Sheraton Hotel and its employees, who participate as mentors. Charles Woo, Managing Director of the Sheraton Hotel said: “I recently returned to HK after working abroad for many years. I was so relieved to find this culture of giving back to the community. It really makes me feel good.” Mr. Woo is backed up by his employees who participated as volunteer mentors. Henry Cheung and Vivian Wong participated in the programme and they both felt equally strongly that participating in this art programme was a great social investment. When asked whether they would do it again, they replied, "Definitely!"