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Time well spent

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Anika is only four, but she has already grasped the concepts of saving for a rainy day and charity. She has told her mother Susanna Tsoi Lin-yung that the HK$2 and HK$5 coins she regularly drops into her piggy bank will one day pay for things for her mother - or help someone in need.

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It's a heart-warming thought and especially so in a world where running up debts and spending on credits cards seem to be the norm.

But then it is not surprising that Anika is showing good money habits at such an early age. Her mother is a certified public accountant and an ambassador on a scheme which aims to teach literacy skills to Hong Kong schoolchildren.

Tsoi is one of an army of 200 volunteers who go into schools as part of the Rich Kid, Poor Kid programme run by the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA).

She believes it is a parent's duty to try to instil the correct concepts about money into the children and the early the better.

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'Anika is still very young but I believe it is good to introduce the right concepts to her at an early age. She loves shopping but when we are out I will sometimes use the opportunity to try and explain money concepts,' says 40-year-old Tsoi.

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