A comfortable living space has become increasingly important in Hong Kong amid the Covid-19 pandemic , as children have stopped physically attending school and people are required to stay home more often. But that can be difficult to achieve for many of the city’s underprivileged, especially for those living in small spaces or families that do not have the means to get good furniture. Ikea Hong Kong is trying to help the city’s needy people with that. As part of its collaboration with Operation Santa Claus (OSC), the Swedish furniture giant is donating a number of its products to the underprivileged. OSC is an annual fundraising drive co-organised by the South China Morning Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988. Sixteen out of 19 OSC beneficiaries this year have sought help from Ikea. The company said it saw a variety of items on the wish lists submitted to them – and they included storage items and dining tables, as well as desks and laptop stands for students who are attending classes from home. Many of the families we help are those who are moving from subdivided flats to public housing, and they often don’t own any furniture at all Frank Yau, director, Project Space “Beds are also commonly asked for,” said Frank Yau Ka-lok, director of Project Space, a charity that benefited from OSC in previous years and has worked closely with Ikea since then. The organisation focuses on improving homes for the underprivileged to ease overcrowding and enhance safety. “Many of the families we help are those who are moving from subdivided flats to public housing, and they often don’t own any furniture at all,” he added. Ikea emphasised the importance of social responsibility, as it was the company’s global vision “to create a better everyday life for many people”, while also adding a local touch to it through its charity work. Hong Kong is a city where people tend to live in small spaces, and it’s also, increasingly, a very expensive city James Liu, finance director, Ikea Hong Kong “Hong Kong is a city where people tend to live in small spaces, and it’s also, increasingly, a very expensive city,” said James Liu Hong-yuen, finance director at Ikea Hong Kong. “I think one of the tougher aspects of my job is to decide who to help, and where to allocate our donations. Adrian Worth, managing director of Ikea North Asia, said: “We often operate large stores that are very visible in the community. The bigger the brand, the bigger the presence, so it’s more important it is that we are engaged in the community.” He added that it was not only the charities who benefited from the company’s work – staff also felt a sense of mission and pride from helping out. Bowling event for needy turns into online fitness contest amid pandemic “We have a lot of these events. And we always get a strong level of support from our staff,” Worth said, adding “it has been a bit of a nightmare” operating a business amid the pandemic. “It happened so quickly,” he said, recalling how the number of customers to the company’s stores had “absolutely plummeted” in the initial stages of Covid-19 earlier this year. But he was immensely impressed with the swift action and preparedness of the local Ikea staff, many of whom had gone through the severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars) outbreak 17 years ago. “One of the things I have really come to appreciate is how resilient Hong Kong people are,” he added. “People here are able to adjust to a new normal so quickly.”