There has been a great atmosphere in the Chamber over the past few months with a daily flow of happy winners coming to pick up their prizes from our Head Office here in Admiralty.

The Chamber’s Hong Kong We Can Do It! Lucky Draw, which ran from July to the end of September, gave away member-sponsored prizes to more than 6,700 winners over seven separate draws. 

We decided to organize these draws earlier this year with the aim of incentivizing people to get vaccinated. As the Lucky Draw progressed over the summer, the number of vaccinated citizens continued to rise, and now almost 70% of the population has had their first shot. It has been an honour and privilege to be part of a community-wide effort to better protect the health and well-being of Hong Kong citizens against Covid.

I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our member companies who sponsored this campaign. We could not have organized this event without their generosity in donating prizes worth more than HK$43 million in total. I’m sure that the opportunity of winning these fantastic prizes helped encourage many people to get vaccinated sooner rather than later.

Campaigns like the Hong Kong We Can Do It! Lucky Draw also show how businesses in the city are keen to help the wider society and work together for the benefit of all Hong Kong citizens. Our members have always been caring supporters of the Chamber’s efforts to give back to society. From donating to the Good Citizen Award Fund since 1973 to our 160^th Charity Golf Tournament just last month, as well as sharing their time and expertise through our various student programmes, our members are always prepared to give their time and money for the good of Hong Kong. 

This support is particularly appreciated right now, as the continuing Covid-19 situation around the world means that the business community in Hong Kong continues to face considerable headwinds. We know that many companies are feeling the strain, so we are particularly grateful for their involvement in these worthwhile community programmes. 

As with many businesses, we are still unable to return fully to normal operations at the Chamber. The ongoing social-distancing regulations and concern for our members’ wellbeing means that we have not been able to organize any of our flagship and large-scale events this year. 

The only way that we will be able to move closer to normality is by continuing the push for higher vaccination levels. We hope the momentum of rising vaccinations that we saw over the summer will continue. It will eventually allow an easing of the remaining restrictions, so that we can finally see all of our members in person once again.

George Leung
[email protected]