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Operation Santa Claus
Hong KongSociety

Kowloon Shangri-La invites families from The Hub Hong Kong for taste of holiday cheer, in partnership with Operation Santa Claus

  • Shangri-La treat families to doughnut-making workshop with its chief baker and afternoon tea in its swanky Lobby Lounge
  • Families receive support from charity The Hub Hong Kong, one of the beneficiaries of the Post and RTHK’s annual Operation Santa Claus fundraising drive

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Kowloon Shangri-La hotel manager Ghislaine Lê (second left) prepares to light the hotel’s Christmas tree last week, alongside the Post’s senior CSR manager Lawrence Wong (left) and RTHK English programming head Hugh Chiverton (right). Photo: Edmond So
Joyce Yip

The luxurious Kowloon Shangri-La hotel this year invited three underprivileged families to come by for a taste of holiday cheer – literally.

In partnership with Operation Santa Claus (OSC) – an annual charity drive organised by the Post and public broadcaster RTHK since 1988 – the hotel last month treated three families supported by The Hub Hong Kong to a festive doughnut-making workshop with its chief baker and afternoon tea in its swanky Lobby Lounge.

The Hub Hong Kong – one of OSC’s 18 beneficiaries this year – offers assistance in education, childhood development and well-being to underprivileged families.

For nearly two decades, including this year, the Kowloon Shangri-La has donated money and organised fundraisers for OSC. But due to the events of the past few years, the last time beneficiaries of the charities took part in an event at the hotel was in 2018, when they put on a choir performance at its Christmas tree lighting ceremony.

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But hotel manager Ghislaine Lê, who arrived just a year ago, said she was grateful for the opportunity to restart the tradition of giving.

“I arrived in December last year – restaurants were closed, we didn’t have the lighting ceremony, everything was room service. So this year, I wanted to make it special since everything is nearly back to normal,” she said. “I wanted people to forget about everything that’s been going on and just be in a festive mood.”

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To do so, Lê leveraged one of the Shangri-La Group’s strengths: pastries.

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