A Harvest of Happiness

“Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labour.” (Ecclesiastes 4:9)

The above Bible verse pretty much sums up the journey of our partnership with the Employees Retraining Board (ERB) over the past 27 years, where we join hands to help pull people out of unemployment or under-employment, and transform the lives of the helpless. I was excited to learn that three of our trainers have recently been honoured with an award in the ERB Annual Award Presentation Ceremony 2020-21 for their teaching accomplishments.

Mr. Cheng Sik Lam, the awardee who runs the IT application course at Christian Action, shared with me that it was the friendship with students that motivated him to continue teaching. He said, “I was deeply impressed by one class of students who farewelled me in the last lesson - they sang the Cantonese song: The Light of Friendship."

Ms. Wong Wai Kwan was nominated for the third time. She said that the award was a significant recognition of her teaching Florist and Floriculture. She said that she found it very fulfilling to make a difference to the lives of others. “Students felt relaxed when learning about flower arranging, so it was a release from the stresses of home life. Some socially isolated elders, with deteriorating mobility and cognitive function, were also happier learning with other peers in my class.”

Mr. Lee Chun Fai, the certified instructor in Foundation Certificate in Adventure Based Activities Assistant Training, was surprised to receive his award. He said that helping people overcome their life challenges gave him a great deal of satisfaction. He said, “One student, who used to be a drug addict and an inmate, enrolled in my course with an optimistic attitude. He was a good role model for other classmates, and also for me, that we should not give up on ourselves, and that it’s never too late to change our lives."

In addition to the distinguished achievements of our trainers, ERB recognised Christian Action by giving us three other awards for excellence: the ERB Outstanding Awards for Placement Service (General Stream), Course Development, as well as Promotion and Marketing.

It was a privilege to be invited to the Award Presentation Ceremony on 6 March at the Southorn Stadium in Wan Chai, where I shared my service experiences at Christian Action with fellow leaders from other training bodies. I received the trophies from the officiating guests: Dr. Law Chi-kwong, GBS, JP, Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr. Yu Pang-chun, SBS, JP, Chairman of ERB, Professor Simon Wong Kit-lung, JP, Vice-chairman of ERB and Mr. Byron Ng Kwok-keung, BBS, Executive Director of ERB.

My sincere thanks go to ERB for their unwavering support of our training services.