Letters | How Hong Kong can help save its NGO sector from burnout

The pandemic has exacerbated the social problems long associated with the city’s wide and widening wealth gap. NGO workers on the front line need support to cope

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A woman takes free food from a refrigerator at Dragon Centre in Sham Shui Po on March 18. More people have needed food assistance and other forms of help since the pandemic began. Photo: Dickson Lee

Published: 2:30pm, 5 Apr 2022

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Hong Kong prides itself as a low-tax jurisdiction. Businesses have flourished. People have seized and generated opportunities and amassed wealth over the years. And yet, even at the height of our economic strength and behind the shiny neon and tall towers, we have always had a serious and deep-rooted poverty problem, with one-fifth of Hongkongers living in poverty. The wealth gap is considerable and continues to widen.

The NGO sector is in the front line and living and breathing the purpose, passion and persistence needed to address both the systemic causes of poverty and the immediate needs of the Hong Kong community. Every single day, we are here for the most vulnerable, providing assistance, shelter, food, mental health support, after-school activities, disability assistance, social networks and so much more.

But the sector is struggling and, as NGO leaders, we have a responsibility to tell you that our staff, in the front line of bridging these social gaps, are suffering too. We need to stay strong to serve others, but we need your help to avoid the impending burnout.

Since 2020, we have seen a significant increase in demand for our work, and this demand continues to skyrocket. Our staff work on escalating issues of hungry families, women being abused, sick children, people suffering mental health breakdowns, marital breakdowns, forced marriages, people without a safe roof over their heads, and a range of critical social issues. We are seeing and dealing with more pain and suffering every day and, yet we must keep going.

We know that Hongkongers care. There are many ways that you as an individual or as a company can take action today. Please check up on the charities you support and ask what they need to stay mentally afloat. Send them a note to let them know that you appreciate what they do.