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Ella Lee

Stella Lee

Pandas An An and Jia Jia brought   smiles to the faces of more than 10 children who lost parents to Sars as they enjoyed breakfast with the bears at Ocean Park yesterday.

The children who lost one or both of their parents during the Sars outbreak a year ago, said they had had a joyful morning, thanks to the invitation  from the Hong Kong Society for Panda Conservation.

Ocean Park is allowing visitors to enter the bear enclosure as honorary panda keepers and help prepare  meals to celebrate the fifth anniversary of the pandas' arrival in Hong Kong from Sichuan.

Among the visitors yesterday were two seven-year-old girls, Kwok Ming-wai and Cheung Suk-ling,   who have become close friends after spending 25 days in hospital being treated for Sars last year.

Ming-wai's mother died of Sars after giving birth to her baby brother, Cheung-sing,  while Suk-ling lost her father.

Permanent Secretary for Home Affairs Shelley Lee Lai-kuen,  who accompanied the children and parents to the park yesterday, said she was relieved to find the young victims coping well with the tragedy.

She said none of them appeared to be suffering serious emotional side effects from their ordeals.

Some of the parents told Ms Lee that talking about the death of dad or mum was not taboo at home, and they were trying to lead a normal life.

Ms Lee, together with former director of social welfare Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor,  former director of health Margaret Chan Fung Fu-chun  and Permanent Secretary for Education Fanny Law  Fan Chiu-fun, set up the We Care Education Fund in May and have raised $82 million for the Sars-hit children in just three months.

Seventy-five children who lost one or both of parents during the Sars outbreak - more than half of whom are  under 12, including five babies - will benefit from the fund.



Breakfast with pandas helps youngsters forget Sars grief