Ah Chou moved from Mainland China to Hong Kong for taking care of her two young children residing in Hong Kong. Ever since her divorce five years ago due to marital problems, life has become very uncertain. With the advice from fellow parents at the kindergarten and priests from church, she went to seek help at a family service centre. However, the social worker did not give her any concrete help nor information and in the process of help seeking, she felt even more helpless and despair. Finally, after going through the difficult times, she was able to receive CSSA to cope with her living with the support of a kind - hearted social worker. She then joined a single parent group at the community centre and came to learn about the Association for the Rights of Basic Secure Living.

“After joining the Association, I learned a lot more about CSSA and came to realize what basic rights I suppose to have as a care giver. Since the other members are in similar situations, I feel comfortable and confident talking with them because I feel that they could understand my situation better,” said Ah Chou, echoed by other members in the Association.

Another member, Helen, also experienced the feeling of helplessness in times of her difficult period and finally realizing the importance of self - help organization. “I have three children, one of whom has attention-deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) and a learning disability. When we discovered the problem, my ex-husband was in a state of denial and he began to neglect the family. Even when I wanted to seek help together with him, he remained indifferent. Eventually, our marriage ended.” After the divorce, Helen had a job and received alimony from her ex-husband in order to sustain her living with the children. However, as the factories in Hong Kong moved to Mainland, she lost her job. Considering the need to take care of her ADHD-afflicted child, she applied for CSSA with the help of the school social worker. “When my younger son turned 15, SWD required me to participate in the Support for Self-Reliance (SFS) Scheme, that is, CSSA recipient has to start finding job. I was suffering from the Frozen Shoulder Syndrome, and was difficult to find a job. Yet, none of the staff from Social Welfare Department told me I could seek for medical assessment of my ability to work. I then kept on finding jobs with much pressure and anxiety. I was lucky enough to learn from a community worker about the Concern Group on CSSA Review. With their help, I wrote a letter of my case to the Social Security Section and eventually they arranged a doctor for a checkup. The doctor concluded that I was unsuitable for work because of my shoulder damage, hence I could be exempted from finding jobs.” Helen said as her elder daughter and son grew up and now working, she doesn’t need to receive CSSA anymore. She hopes to devote her time in caring for and supporting people in similar difficult situations through her own experience, and working together to change this plight.

The Association for the Rights of Basic Secure Living is newly set up for a year, it is an independent grassroots self-help organization. They are campaigning for basic living security through collective effort, and hoping to allow members of the public to know more about the genuine difficult situation of CSSA recipients, thus, reducing discrimination against them. “At the present, we have more than 30 members, all of whom are CSSA recipients and low income earners. The majority of members and those seek help are women. Thus, we are also concerned about the problems women face,” Choi Qun, the chairperson of the Association, explained. Helen emphasized that most of the welfare organizations may not be able to support right-based work of the grass-roots. Therefore, they formed the Association a year ago with the aim to promote mutual help and unite themselves to defend for their basic rights and living security. Since the Association is still in its initial stage, resources are very scarce and financial support is also lacking. Therefore, HER Fund allocated a grant in 2009-2010 to support the work of the Association. The grant will cover the leadership training as well as the organization’s operating costs to help further develop their work.

"Appearing on the news, I have already put aside my pride and my dignity, just for the sake of helping others and for the benefit to those who are still struggling for a secure basic living ”Ah Chou is talking about how after becoming a member, she has set aside her pride for the greater good and no longer cares about what other people may say. In fact, it is incredible and not easy for her to be able to confidently express herself in public and with such determination to defend the rights of others for a just cause.

Although the Association has only been set up for a year, their efforts have made definite achievements, such as raising CSSA’s income exemption from $600 to $800, allowing CSSA recipients more income by working in paid jobs; increasing student subsidies to provide more money for children’s book costs. If you are willing to support us through donations that will benefit the work of grassroots women's self-help organizations, please click here to download the donation form.

In our daily lives, we tend to mix up the Chinese terms “sex” and “gender” and stick to traditional views on different genders. We will do a mini-exposé on ten common misunderstandings in e-newsletter.

Misunderstanding # 8: Are you concerned about young girls?

There have been many cases relating to young girls’ problems in the news recently…doing drugs, taxi robbery, etc., which is disturbing and shocking for everyone. We feel disturbed because we are very anxious about our next generation and their problems while growing up. What’s even more worrying is the fact that girls are so wanton! While it is certainly a problem when boys exhibit this kind of behaviour, but given that society has painted a picture of girls as obedient and gentle, this is an even more serious problem when girls are involved!

Upon further reflection, these drug-taking, robberies, “compensated dating”, and criminal misdeeds are all rebellious acts that go against the morals of society. Through these rebellious acts, it seems that they are conveying to us that “we are just like boys and any other person: we have needs for sex, emotions and independence”. Adults always tell the young what they should do; and more, girls have an extra burden because of their gender. They are often being told to “Be Careful“ in all walks of their life because one mistake can affect their future or even her value as a person. This includes their sex relationship, or going out at night, or making one’s own decision or a choice of clothing, or the way their speak and behave in public or even in choosing friends or finding a job.

While mainstream society expects young girls to be self-disciplined and be good where sex is concerned, on the other hand, their bodies are often used as a tool for making money in the commercial world and in the media. What will the young girls think when they face this kind of hypocritical and contradictory social value system? How do they feel? What are their opinions and doubts? What have they experienced? Maybe we have to start to understand their real situations from these questions, and allow young girls some room to express themselves. Perhaps we have to stop "hearing without listening", but to listen with understanding, and to walk with them in the path of letting their voices heard, reflecting and finding solutions together.

Line dancing classes start again in coming July! If you want to strengthen your body, relax and release your stress, remember to register to join this class to dance. We dance together and need not a partner!

                        **All profits will go to HER Fund’s grant-making efforts**

Date︰July 9, 16, 23, 30 (every Thursday for 4 weeks)
Time︰7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Cost︰$50 / lesson；$150 / 4 lessons
Location︰Lai Chi Kok Community Hall (near Liberté)
Class Size︰40 people
Volunteer Instructor︰Eliza Chung (qualified ISTD “Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing” instructor in Western Dance)


Date︰July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 (every Friday for 5 weeks)
Time︰7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
Cost︰$50 / lesson；$180 / 5 lessons
Location︰Cheung Sha Wan Community Hall (55 Fat Cheung Street, Cheung Sha Wan) Class Size︰40 people
Volunteer Instructor︰Eliza Chung (qualified ISTD “Imperial Society of Teachers of Dancing” instructor in Western Dance)


Please call 2794-1100 or info@herfund.org.hk for inquiries and registration.