Des Voeux Chambers’ first CSR initiative saw children’s faces light up when 8 of our barristers travelled to Tin Shui Wai to read them stories from books that our Chambers donated as part of a new library in support of the Bring Me a Book Charity.
DVC’s Deputy Head, Winnie Tam SC, JP, Catrina Lam, Johnny Ma, Teresa Wu, Rachel Lam, Alan Kwong, Sabrina Ho, and Eva Leung visited The Social Welfare Department Integrated Family Service Centre on the afternoon of 12 March for a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Paradoxically, we learned that although Primary students in Hong Kong score well in terms of academic achievement in reading (3rd out of 50 countries globally), in terms of Interest, Motivation and Confidencethey score in the 30s-40s out of 50.
Bring Me A Book tries to redress this by providing books to underprivileged children from supplied donations that are light-hearted, fun and engaging.
Deputy Head Winnie Tam SC, JP delivered a short, entertaining speech to the children between the ages 3 and 6 playfully berating them for watching too much TV and playing too many video games and steering them towards books instead. This was followed by break-out reading sessions where our members regaled them with tales from various books which were read aloud to small groups of 20 children in all.
The children were lively and receptive and it was an enjoyable afternoon for the little ones and for many of our barristers who dedicated their time towards a worthwhile cause.
