(Hong Kong, March 6, 2016) Hang Lung As One volunteer team has given over 20 underprivileged elderly people an exciting and novel experience by teaching them how to make coffee the modern way in a western coffee shop yesterday (March 5). Celebrity Gregory Ho, also a coffee lover, joined in the event in which the elderly people learned how to brew a cup of coffee.
The event was a completely new experience for most of the group, aged 66 to 88, who are from the ELCHK Kwai Chung Neighbourhood Elderly Centre. Apart from introducing the coffee-making equipment to the elderly participants, volunteers also savored lattes and cappuccinos with them. A professional barista also spent two hours to train the participants to be a new generation of baristas by teaching them the different types of coffee beans, the correct roasting and brewing methods and how to taste the coffee. With the help of the volunteers, the participants tried out the latte-making art, drawing patterns in chocolate on the coffee foam.
Eighty-two-year-old Uncle Kwok Yiu Wa worked for half his life as a porter, and this was the first time he had been in a modern coffee shop. He said, “I worked as a coolie to support a family of eight. Drinking coffee was too luxurious for me. At most I had coffee costing 30 cents with my co-workers at a ‘dai pai dong’. After retirement, I only drank instant coffee and never knew coffees could be classified by the different origins. It has really been an eye-opener for me.”
Gregory Ho, who has been drinking coffee for over 20 years and loves the long black style, said, “I am like a barista in the entertainment industry as I use my skills and technique to act out different roles, bringing out their uniqueness. Hang Lung’s ‘Be An Arty Youth’ series encourages elderly people to try new experiences and being a barista is indeed something meaningful.”
The Hang Lung As One volunteer team began the “Be An Arty Youth” series last year to give underprivileged elderly people an opportunity to try activities that young people enjoy. This helps them to be active in social life and discover new interests. This year, apart from the coffee-making event, the Hang Lung volunteers will take elderly participants to an art jamming session and show them how to make fashionable handicrafts.
