Blog Archives

A Short Reflection by an “IT Person” on Finding Purpose at CoA As an IT System Specialist in CoA, I spent much of my time working on technical support and development work. That means I am more often facing screens, systems, and code rather than people, and I am a team member without a research background in a research centre. This makes me feel lost from time to time. There are times when I am really not sure if I am actually contributing to the team and what my work is for. That’s why on my desk in our office, I have placed some little ornaments, featuring some of my favourite illustrators and animations. They have diverse stories behind them, but all remind me of the key message: remember your initial aspiration and keep moving onward. (A photo of my desk) That is the mindset that I keep, and I believe that our teams at CoA share. In the JC Stand-by U project, the partnerships among different organizations are supporting families and caregivers, and I, as part of the IT team, am involved in helping with the design and operation of the IT Platform that stands behind and supports the…

As a researcher in health economics, I have always trusted numbers. Models, datasets, and statistical significance were my primary tools for understanding the world. I believed that with enough data, we could explain and evaluate almost everything. However, my experience with CoA has gradually changed this perspective. Through my involvement with CoA, I have had the opportunity to learn more about the daily realities of informal caregivers. Beyond the numbers, I began to see the emotional burden, time constraints, and complex decisions that caregivers face every day. These experiences cannot always be fully captured by equations or indicators alone. Working alongside CoA has reminded me that research should not only aim to measure impact, but also to reflect the real needs and lived experiences of people. It is not about replacing quantitative methods, but about grounding them in reality—ensuring that what we measure truly matters. This journey has been both humbling and inspiring. It has encouraged me to think more carefully about how research can better support caregivers and contribute to meaningful change in the community. I am grateful for the opportunity to learn from CoA, and I look forward to continuing this journey of bridging numbers and real-life impact.…

On bringing data science and philosophy to the hardest questions in elder care When people learn I have a double major in Data Science and Philosophy, the response is usually a polite pause. The two feel, at first glance, like they belong to different worlds — one rigorous and quantitative, the other speculative and slow. But the longer I work at Sao Po Centre on Ageing researching caregiver burden, the more I believe that this combination is precisely what care for older adults needs most. My philosophical education was shaped largely by the classical Chinese and Buddhist traditions. One idea that stayed with me comes from a very old distinction in Chinese thought: the difference between 道 (dào) — the way, the underlying principle — and 術 (shù) — technique, strategy, method. A practitioner who accumulates shù without dào becomes adept, perhaps impressive, but ultimately unmoored. They optimise without knowing what they are optimising for. But beyond this structural distinction, what these traditions gave me was something more foundational: a sense of what a life well spent actually looks like. Confucian thought, at its core, holds that the highest expression of being human is 仁 (rén) — benevolence, a genuine orientation toward…

I’ve been working on the Jockey Club Carer Space Project (JCCSP) under Sau Po Centre on Ageing for almost three years, and it has been one of the most meaningful projects I have been part of. The project was initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, in partnership with the Sau Po Centre on Ageing and six NGO partners. The project aims to establish the carer-centric centers across the districts to provide timely and appropriate support to carers and their families. Like many other large-scale community projects, the project encountered various challenges along the way. One is that our NGO partners have diverse interests and priorities in service delivery as well as differences in operational practices. To address this, we adopted a co-creation approach from the very beginning of the project. This approach has played an important role in fostering the spirit of collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including funders, NGO staff, and researchers.   Regularly co-creation workshops were organized in the first year of the project, which provided a collaborative platform for the close communications among different parties and helped us better understand partners’ needs and interests. In addition, this approach also ensured all the parties…

As a linguist working in Sau Po Centre on Ageing, I’m often met with puzzling looks when I introduce myself. The questions usually follow a predictable pattern: “So, is it like a speech therapist?” (NOPE!) “What does linguistics have to do with ageing?” It’s understandable. When we think about ageing, we usually picture physical changes or the cognitive changes (“My memory is getting worse!”). These are the visible changes that impact our daily lives. But there is an invisible, incredibly complex “workout” our brains do every single day: Language. Speaking is actually a high-performance job. It requires a seamless bridge between your physical and cognitive worlds. Your brain has to find the right word, put it in a meaningful order, and then direct your facial muscles and tongue to move in perfect sync to articulate it. (Photo generated by Nano Banana 2.5.) Through the JC Stand-by-U project, we met a 100-year-old Japanese-Cantonese bilingual. As her dementia progressed, she experienced what we call “bilingual attrition”—she lost her second language and reverted entirely to her native Japanese. Because her family and caregivers spoke only Cantonese, she was left unable to express her basic needs. This linguistic shift led to profound social isolation…

Bridging practice, research, and professional identity When I joined CoA two years ago, I was a new MSW student with little knowledge of research; as graduation now approaches, I have been reflecting on how this journey in CoA has shaped not only my skills, but also my sense of direction. I was asked a question I could not answer at the time: after graduation, would I continue in research or return to frontline practice? Today, I have found my answer: I will stay in academia, not because I want to leave practice behind, but because the experience in CoA has shown me another way to stay connected to it. This journey has not always been easy. Over the past two years, balancing the identities of student social worker and researcher has sometimes felt like an internal tension. Social work is grounded in lived realities, relationships, and immediate service needs, while research asks us to think in terms of concepts, evidence, and systematic inquiry. Yet over time, I have come to realise that these roles do not compete with one another; instead, they complement and strengthen each other. My social work training has also taught me to approach community partners with…

Having worked in the Hong Kong Jockey Club Carer Space Project for the past two years, I have come to realize that caregiver service is not only about providing support, but also about making caregivers visible. In Hong Kong, many carers continue to shoulder immense emotional, physical, and financial responsibilities in silence. Their struggles are often hidden within the private space of the family, and as a result, the wider public may underestimate both the scale of caregiving and its psychological impact. This has led me to reflect on an important question: how can we help more people recognize caregiving as a social issue, rather than merely a personal or family matter? At the Sau Po Centre on Ageing (CoA), we are reminded that a carer-centric approach, together with public awareness, is essential to building a more carer-friendly community and connecting carers to timely and appropriate services. One key challenge is that public education today cannot rely on traditional forms of knowledge dissemination alone. We are living in an age where information flows rapidly, competes constantly for attention, and is often consumed in brief, emotionally engaging formats. People no longer learn only through reports, lectures, or professional articles. Instead, they…

Hello everyone! I am delighted to join the CoA family and to bear the administrative duties of the centre since November 2025. In this new role, I have the opportunity to handle a wide range of responsibilities, such as office administration, facility management, events, public relations, designing greeting cards, and research administration.Enjoyable moments with the Full Team Meeting and Lunch Gathering Organizing a full team meeting and lunch gathering for over 50 CoA members and collaborators was undoubtedly a challenging task, but thankfully, the event was successful with the great support of the team. Additionally, it was a pleasure to be invited to present on experiences and skills of research project management to colleagues and students. During the meeting, I also learned new tools and skills shared through colleagues’ presentations.There is no health without mental health Last but not least, work-life balance is essential for all employees. I would like to share a Hong Kong hiking website and a friendly route between The Peak and HKU: https://timhiking.com/hk/blog.php?d=171220&s=%E5%B1%B1%E9%A0%82 Chiman HO…

My medical training taught me to diagnose and treat disease. However, I quickly became interested in the person behind the illness, the psychological and social factors that are often the root causes. This led me to the bio-psycho-social model and to a new question: how do an individual’s perceptions, behaviours, and decisions shape their health and use of healthcare? This question guided my PhD and postdoctoral research at HKU’s School of Public Health, where I studied HPV vaccination decision-making. My goal was to understand the psycho-social influences on this choice and to advocate for policies that could protect an entire generation. It was a long journey, but witnessing the Hong Kong government introduce free, school-based HPV vaccination for all girls, a programme my own daughter will benefit from this Friday, served as a profound reminder of how research can translate into real-world impact. By the end of this month, I will have been at the Sau Po Centre on Ageing for two years. I am sincerely grateful for the opportunity to engage in multiple carer support projects, particularly the Jockey Club “Stand-by U” Caregivers Community Support Project (https://jcstandbyu.hk/), which has deepened my perspective from population-level research to the grassroots realities…

Retirement is increasingly understood not as a single, permanent exit from the labour market but as a series of transitions between full‑time work, part‑time roles, and unpaid contributions. Although employment rates among older adults have risen over the past two decades, little is known about how their postretirement plans align with the opportunities they access. Many who leave work for caregiving express a desire to remain employed, yet re‑entry becomes more difficult the longer they are out of the labour force. In a context like Hong Kong—where no statutory retirement age exists and employment decisions are largely employer‑driven—access to postretirement work depends not only on individual preferences but also on employers’ willingness to hire older adults. This cumulative disadvantage restricts paid work opportunities in later life. Understanding how employers’ perspectives shape real opportunities is essential for designing policies that ensure equitable and accessible employment for older adults. Dr. TANG, Mun Yu Vera…