Emperor International Holdings Limited (Emperor International) (Stock code: 163.HK), together with New Home Association, launched “ALL AS ONE Co-living Scheme” and recently completed renovation work for a total of 22 units. At the first stage, eligible families started to move in in mid-November, and the rest will move in one after one. The whole project took less than three months from conceptualization in September to the completion, helping people in need to receive housing support in a short period of time.

The “Co-living Scheme” project is located at 78-80 Queen's Road West, Ko Shing Building, Sheung Wan, and is operated by Emperor International at a nominal rent of HK$1 to New Home Association for one year and that will be further sublet to those having urgent housing needs or disadvantaged groups who are in queue for Public Rental Housing (priority given to single-parent families or ethnic minorities). The 22 units will range in size from 340 to 390 square feet, and each unit can accommodate up to 2 families or 3 single persons of the same gender and ethnicity, sharing the monthly rent of HK$5,700. In order to speed up the progress, Emperor International has volunteered to coordinate the renovation works of all units. At the same time, Emperor Group's subsidiary Ulferts International Limited (stock code: 1711.HK) has also sponsored the basic furniture, such as beds, mattresses, closets, dining tables and chairs, etc., saving expenses for families in need, fully utilizing the synergy of the Group.

After official move-in in late November, Mr. Alex Yeung, Executive Director of Emperor International and Mr. Wong Chung, Executive Director of New Home Association, accompanied Mr. Ho Kai Ming, Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare and Mr. Fu Chuen Fu, Political Assistant to Secretary for Transport and Housing to pay a visit to the renovated units and the shared co-living space, as well as to visit the families who have just moved into the "co-living" houses, dispatching anti-epidemic packages with sincere care.

Knowing the whole project only took only about 3 months, Mr. Ho Kai Ming, Under Secretary for Labour and Welfare, said, "First of all, I would like to thank the organizers, Emperor International and New Home Association, for their efforts in initiating "co-living" housing project, which will be of great help to the promotion of similar projects in the future. Social housing is a partnership between the government and the public which emphasizes the development of affordable housing and social welfare facilities for the grassroots in an alternative way.” Mr. Fu Chuen Fu, Political Assistant to Secretary for Transport and Housing, echoed the same opinion, saying, "The Transitional Housing Programme launched by the government aims to alleviate families on the Waiting List to Public Rental Housing and those who are in difficulties, which is a race against time. I look forward to more similar projects in the future to benefit more people from the grassroots.”

As the first shared housing project initiated by Emperor International, its Executive Director Mr. Alex Yeung said, “Apart from responding to the government policy and the Group's philanthropic philosophy of ‘from the community, to the community’, I hope we could inspire and motivate more developers and charitable organizations to participate, providing more transitional housing to families and people in need in the near future. In addition, by engaging different government departments, social organizations and institutions, we can exchange views and learn from each other, which I believe will serve as a model for similar projects in the future.”

New Home Association is one of the organizers that will be responsible for the operation of this project. Mr. Wong Chung, Executive Director of New Homes Association, said, “The project is a partnership between the business sector and the social welfare sector on the housing issue. The project is a partnership between the business sector and the social welfare sector on the housing issue. The project is a self-financing and self-sustaining project that makes use of organization's own resources to give back to the community without involving government resources, so as to provide the most timely assistance to those in need. The key concept of “Co-living and Cohesion” is not only to achieve cross-racial integration, but also achieve the goal of self-management under the guidance of the social workers of the New Home Association. In addition, a bonus point scheme has been set up to encourage residents to help each other.”

Mrs. Tang, together with her husband, two children and grandparents, are the first family to move in. The Tang family used to live in a 100-square-feet sub-divided flat in Shau Kei Wan, with monthly rent and bills accounting for over 45% of their income. They have now moved into a 3-room flat with a separate kitchen and toilet, which has greatly improved their quality of living condition. Mrs. Tang said, "In the past, when we lived in sub-divided units, we had no space to move around, so the children had to do their homework and the family had to eat in bed. Now we all have our own rooms, and the children can finally have a desk. I'm really grateful that we can have such a comfortable living environment thanks to the ‘ALL AS ONE Co-living Scheme’”.

Emperor International has also set up an additional unit as "Common Space", which is equipped with laundry machines, a library corner, a game corner and other facilities for daily leisure and entertainment for those families. Ms. Wan, a single mother of 8 and 5-year-old sons, said, "The common space has a lot of story books, toys and educational games for kids, so they can borrow books and play downstairs, which is very convenient!” Ms. Wan, who lives with her two sons and 66-year-old mother, has been waiting for public housing for more than six years and she is the breadwinner of the family after divorce. The family previously lived in a 250-square-feet subdivided flat in the same area, but had to move out within the deadline because the building was acquired. Ms. Wan said that the "ALL AS ONE Co-living Scheme" is like a timely rain to help the family to overcome the difficulties.

Mr. Alex Yeung, who has always been concerned about youth affairs, mentioned that young people are valuable resources for economic development of the society. Moreover, he plans to mobilize different youth organizations, such as Brightway Charitable Foundation, Hong Kong United Youth Association, The Y.Elites Association, etc., to organize volunteer activities within "ALL AS ONE Co-living Scheme", such as organizing homework tutorials, Christmas parties, etc., to encourage young people to contribute more to the community and help people in need. At the same time, Mr. Alex Yeung also invites young people from the grassroots to participate in the "Mentorship Program", which he is currently serving as a mentor, to make use of the Group's and his network and resources to provide opportunities for young mentees to broaden their horizons, offering opportunities for them to move forward.

Since the launch of the program, over 200 enquiries and excessive applications have been received. The project is still open for applications, and applicants can move in immediately after being vetted by the social workers of the New Home Association. So far, 13 eligible families have been approved and will move in, of which 14% are single-parent families and 30% are ethnic minorities.

For more information about the program and to download the application form, please visit the following website:

https://bit.ly/33yDVQH

Features of the "ALL AS ONE Co-living Scheme":

Setting up the "Community Service Team" and "Good Neighbor Award Scheme”

Under the guidance of the social workers of the New Home Association, residents will form their own public service team to carry out community management duties, including cleaning common areas, organizing networking and entertainment activities, etc. In order to encourage residents to live a mutually supportive lifestyle, a "Good Neighbor Award Scheme" has been launched to encourage residents to help each other. For example, helping other residents with temporary childcare and repairing public facilities will be converted into points, and the accumulated points will be rewarded with different levels of prizes.

Setting up “Common Space”

Inspired by Emperor Group's Co-working space, Emperor International has set up an additional unit as “Common Space” which is equipped with laundry machines, a library corner, a game corner and other facilities for daily leisure. Besides, various activities have been organized to build relationships with neighbors. Meanwhile, it aims to provide a comfortable and healthy environment that is physically and mentally good for the children of grassroots families. Through the generous donations from the different business units of Emperor Group, necessary furniture and equipment were placed.

Periodic social workers to follow up

New Home Association regularly arranges social workers to meet with the residents in order to understand their status and demands in a timely manner. Furthermore, it also provides consultation service and feedback channels to help residents deal with problems they encounter after moving in as a way to help them better settle down in this small community.