A Community Bank

• Serving from the Heart
• Investing in Our Future
• Playing to Win

Serving from the Heart

In the past 10 years, we have provided over HK$211 million in donations and support - including more than HK$29 million in 2009 - for social and environmental initiatives.

This commitment to giving is reflected at all levels of our organisation. Members of our senior management donate their time to take up positions with charities and public bodies. Our Hong Kong staff and their families logged over 17,000 hours in volunteer service in 2009 - 54.5 per cent more than in 2008. On the Mainland, members of Hang Seng China staff have given more than 950 hours to volunteer on five community projects focusing on young people in Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

We place emphasis on supporting events that promote social cohesion and inclusion. Our volunteers participated in home visits, day trips and special events for the elderly and underprivileged children in 2009. We worked with the Regeneration Society to celebrate the achievements of individuals who have overcome significant physical challenges to highlight the importance of positive life values. To bring cheer to chronically ill children, nearly 100 members of Bank staff and their families helped paint eight murals at the Children's Centre for Cancer and Blood Diseases at Queen Mary Hospital. We also sponsored a series of YWCA-organised seminars that offered help with handling stress.

Through staff participation in the Dress Special Day, we raised over HK$1.2 million for The Community Chest of Hong Kong, with the Bank matching staff donations on a dollar-for-dollar basis. Since 1997, we have donated more than HK$12 million to The Chest through this annual fundraising event. Over 100 members of staff and their families also participated in the Chest's fundraising Walk for Millions across Hong Kong's Stonecutter's Bridge.

We work to facilitate charitable giving by our customers. Since 2001, donations of more than HK$16 million - including HK$1.55 million in 2009 - have been made to a variety of worthy causes through our e-Donation service.

Investing in Our Future

Today's young people are tomorrow's leaders, making youth development a crucial element of our corporate responsibility efforts. We supported 35 programmes focusing on young people in 2009, allocating about HK$6.5 million to nurturing talent and building positive life attitudes.

Since 1995, we have provided more than HK$54 million under various scholarship schemes, enabling over 1,500 students from Hong Kong and mainland China to pursue educational excellence at tertiary institutions, including 188 individuals in 2009, who collectively received HK$2.5 million in financial assistance from the Bank.

Our support of initiatives such as the Ming Pao Student Reporter Programme and the 'Protect Yourself from Crime and Predators Online' video competition organised by the Hong Kong Police Force help young people develop their creative and communications skills while gaining a greater awareness of current affairs and social issues.

Run in partnership with the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, the Hang Seng Bank Leaders to Leaders Lecture Series provided over 300 secondary school students with opportunities to engage in direct dialogue with prominent community leaders on topics related to China's development and position in the world under the broad theme of '60th National Anniversary'.

We worked with The Pathways Foundation to help children with specific learning disabilities and attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder to explore their potential and different ways of learning through a series of after-school programmes and workshops for parents.

Our sponsorship of student ticket schemes for the Hong Kong Arts Festival and the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra - which enabled more than 20,000 students to attend performances at half price - are making arts more accessible for young people.

Education is also the keystone of our community development on the Mainland. In 2009, Hang Seng China launched a bank-wide book donation drive for a primary school in Ya'an, Sichuan province - resulting in the collection of more than 5,000 books and the establishment of the 'Hang Seng Bank Library' at the school's new permanent site.

Playing to Win

Under the Hang Seng Athlete Incentive Awards Scheme, we were proud to recognise and reward the outstanding achievements of Hong Kong's athletes at the 11th National Games in Shandong and the 5th East Asian Games held in our home city. In partnership with the Hong Kong Sports Institute (HKSI), we awarded 203 Hong Kong medallists about HK$7.2 million. Since 1996, Hang Seng and the HKSI have distributed over HK$15 million in incentives to 280 exceptional Hong Kong athletes.

Our sponsorship of table tennis development in Hong Kong now totals more than HK$25 million. The Hang Seng Table Tennis Academy organised more than 350 activities in 2009 - including training courses, assessment tests and championships - that helped over 18,000 individuals hone their table tennis skills. With support from Bank volunteers, we held two table tennis fun days for underprivileged children at the Bank's Penthouse with the aim of using sport as a way to build self-esteem. Two large-scale road shows were also organised at shopping malls with over 6,000 participants.

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