Building a Better Tomorrow

• Investing In Future Leaders
• Playing To Win
• Arts For All
• Community Service

Investing In Future Leaders

Our strategy for long-term development includes investing in tomorrow’s decision-makers and helping them build sound values for the future. Since 1995, we have allocated about HK$54 million to various scholarship schemes, benefitting over 1,400 students from Hong Kong and the Mainland.

To encourage good citizenship among young people, we launched the Community Service Scholarship Scheme in 2008, under which a total of HK$400,000 will be awarded to 20 outstanding undergraduate students who each contributed a minimum of 100 hours of recognised voluntary service in the previous 12 months.

In partnership with the Independent Commission Against Corruption, we enabled over 500 youngsters to explore the importance of positive values such as integrity and fairness as part of the ‘Wealth and Life’ Video Competition.

A record 130,000 individuals took part in the ‘Hang Seng Bank – Help the Police Fight Youth Crime Competition’, which we sponsored for the eighth consecutive time.

Our sponsorship of the Ming Pao Student Reporter Programme helps students improve their critical and analytical thinking through a series of media training activities, including seminars and news reporting. Over 500 students from 200 schools participated in the programme in 2008. Since 1985, we have supported the Inter Post-Secondary College Debate Competition, which increases students’ interest in current affairs and enables them to learn about the power of strong communication skills in facilitating the exchange of ideas.

To celebrate the diversity of talent that creates a strong society, in September we gave children with specific learning disabilities or attention deficit disorder the chance to showcase their creative and artistic skills at the second annual ‘Inspiration Day’ organised with The Pathways Foundation. We also sponsored the Pathways After-School Support Programme to assist families of those in need.

Playing To Win

Participation in sports provides valuable lessons in setting personal goals, working to exceed expectations, and the benefits of teamwork, perseverance and determination.

Since 1991, we have provided over HK$25 million to support the development of table tennis in Hong Kong. The Hang Seng Table Tennis Academy we established in 2001 has nurtured a large pool of young talent and provided more than 130,000 people with the chance to improve their sporting skills through around 2,650 courses, workshops and events.

We held two Table Tennis Fun Days in 2008, inviting about 300 children from low-income families to participate in a range of table tennis-related activities and games at the Bank’s Penthouse.

In 2008, we shared in the pride of China’s achievement in hosting a spectacular Olympic Games. Through the Hang Seng Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme, organised by the Hong Kong Sports Institute, we awarded over HK$1.4 million to Hong Kong Olympic and Paralympic athletes who displayed courage and commitment to attain sporting excellence. To express our appreciation for the efforts of Hong Kong athletes at these special Games, we extended our allocation of awards to include all athletes who placed in the top 16 or broke Hong Kong records at the Olympic Games, and all athletes who placed in the top eight or broke Hong Kong records at the Paralympic Games.

In the past eight years, the Scheme has given about HK$8.6 million to more than 111 local sports heroes who set positive examples and inspire young people with outstanding performances at major national and international games.

Arts For All

We maintain a long-standing association with the Hong Kong Arts Festival. In 2008, we donated HK$100,000 to support the Festival’s Student Ticket Scheme, which enabled about 7,000 full-time students to attend Festival performances at half price.

Community Service

In 2008, our Staff Volunteer Team spent over 11,000 hours participating in social welfare and environmental activities – including hosting Christmas parties and table tennis fun days for underprivileged children; arranging home visits, outing activities, and a festive dinner for the elderly; and working with local green groups to promote nature conservation. The team also contributed over 380 man-hours to paint a mural at Queen Mary Hospital under the Mural Painting Programme organised by Art in Hospital.

To recognise staff's contribution of social service to the community, the Bank has introduced Volunteer Leave which allows qualified employees to enjoy one day-off each year.

Our e-Donations service helped customers give over HK$6 million to charitable causes in 2008.

We continued our long-standing support of The Community Chest of Hong Kong, donating HK$3.3 million to aid its 144 beneficiary organisations. This included HK$1 million raised as part of our 75th Anniversary celebrations in which we asked attendees to a celebratory cocktail reception to make a donation to the Chest in lieu of sending flowers, and record-breaking staff donations of nearly HK$474,000 for Dress Special Day. The Bank matched staff contributions and topped up the amount to HK$948,000. We continued our support of the Corporate & Employee Contribution Programme, contributing a lump-sum of HK$828,000 to become a Platinum Award donor. Over the past 20 years, we have given more than HK$43 million to the Chest. We also provide expertise, with several members of senior management serving on Chest committees.

The global response to the snowstorms that hit mainland China’s central and southern regions and the earthquake that devastated parts of Sichuan province highlights what can be achieved with a can-do spirit and a common goal. We donated a total of HK$3 million to the relief and rehabilitation efforts through our support of the Hong Kong Red Cross and our sponsorship of the Catastrophe Management Initiative, initiated by The University of Hong Kong and Beijing Normal University, which provided a forum for national and international experts to discuss solutions to post-quake challenges.

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