OPERATION Santa Claus 1992 did more than raise $4.2 million for the Hongkong Association of the Mentally Handicapped. It raised awareness of an often ignored and misunderstood part of the community.
Throughout December the South China Morning Post and the Wah Kiu Yat Po put across the plight of the mentally handicapped in daily articles while RTHK broadcast a series of programmes.
General secretary of the association, Ms Nora Wong Pui-ha said Operation Santa had awakened the public to the needs of the mentally handicapped and the vital importance of integration.
But even the month-long series of articles was not enough to break down the entrenched resistance to the mentally handicapped, with hostility crystalised by the battle to get a hostel set up in Tung Tau Housing Estate in Wong Tai Sin.
This has turned into a test case which will determine whether the Governor's promise of helping the less fortunate will be fulfilled.
In his policy speech in October last year, Mr Chris Patten pledged enough hostel places would be created in the next five years to house every severely mentally handicapped person who has been on the waiting list. Many have waited 20 years for housing.
In October 1991, the Social Welfare Department (SWD) informed the association that premises would be made available in the new Tung Tau Estate. The association submitted a bid and was duly notified in January 1992 that it had been selected to run its first hostel for the severely mentally handicapped.
