Donations pour in for orphans' schooling and medical care
Donations for children orphaned by the hostage tragedy are pouring in, with several groups expressing willingness to pay for their school and medical fees until they graduate from university.
Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung Kin-chung said yesterday that many charities, including the Jockey Club's Charities Trust and the Community Chest, had donated money to the families through the Social Welfare Department.
'No matter whether short-term support or long-term welfare needs, we're doing what we can to help them. We have more than one social worker allocated to each family,' Cheung said.
The MTR Corporation, which employed Wong Tze-lam, 51, one of the people killed in the drama, said it would pay medical and school fees for his two children until they graduated from university.
Wong's wife, Yeung Yee-wa, 44, also died in the bloodbath while their 15-year-old daughter, Tracey Wong Cheuk-yiu, and 12-year-old son Jason Wong Ching-yat survived.
The company would provide counselling services for the children if needed.
'Mr Wong was a man of patience and perseverance ... We are saddened to have lost a very helpful staff member,' the company's head of operations, Choi Tak-tsan, said.
Tsuen Wan Government Secondary School principal Daniel Wong Yip-cheung said teachers, social workers, students and parents would do all they could to help the children.
'Tracey will start Form Five while Jason will be in Form One next month,' Daniel Wong said.
A tearful woman at the flag-raising ceremony at Golden Bauhinia Square yesterday morning said she wanted to take care of the two children.
'My heart hurts. I hope the pain they feel will fade soon. I am willing to be the mother of the two orphans,' the woman, who did not identify herself, told Cable TV.
Tung Wah Group of Hospitals has also set up a special education fund for at least five children whose parents died in the hostage tragedy. It aims to collect more than HK$1 million to cover their school fees until they graduate from university. For donation details, visit tungwah.org.hk.
Yeung Yee-wa's sister, Yeung Yee-kam, 46, also died in the hostage drama. She joined the government as a clerical worker and was assigned to the Fire Services Department for more than 25 years.
Yeung was described by her workmates as a 'very nice and hard-working' colleague.
A department spokesman said officers from its welfare unit had contacted Yeung's family.
'We will keep in contact with the family and render every support to them,' the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, Lee Ying-chuen, 36, and her mother, Lo Kam-fun, 67, were considered the most fortunate of the hostage families, surviving the gunfire with slight injuries. 'We are lucky. We are safe because we hid under the seats,' Lee was quoted by Next Magazine as saying.
According to the magazine report, Lee said they sat at the back of the bus and, at one point during the day, some hostages discussed ways to subdue the gunman.
But they did not put any plans into action because the gunman seemed friendly and gave no sign of opening fire.
'Why did it turn into a tragedy? We could have survived ... I will have questions about the truth until the very end,' she was quoted as saying.
