Schools, hostels and hospitals: How Hong Kong’s religious groups contribute beyond spirituality

Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying drew a barrage of criticism from clerics a year ago when he said religious groups represented on the Election Committee “do not contribute to the economy”.

Leung’s remarks were meant to show that the 1,200-strong body that selected him for the post was fair, but it turned the spotlight on just how much religious organisations had done – especially on education and welfare services – to make Hong Kong a better place.

Taoism and Buddhism are arguably the largest religions in the city, each claiming to have about one million followers, while the Protestant and Catholic communities have about 500,000 and 368,000 followers, respectively. Islam has about 300,000 adherents.

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But in terms of educational services, the Protestant community leads the way by running a third of the city’s 1,800 kindergartens, primary schools and secondary schools. That includes 260 out of about 1,000 kindergartens, 199 of 452 primary schools and 180 of 395 secondary schools.

The Catholic diocese runs an additional 264 kindergartens and schools, while the Taoist community runs more than 40 schools and kindergartens, as well as subsidising courses at universities and tertiary institutions.

The Chinese Muslim Cultural and Fraternal Association operates at least five kindergartens and schools, and the Confucian community runs three.