Octopus Volunteers and Ethnic Minority Students Visit Tai Kwun and Jamia Mosque To Embrace Social Inclusion

(Hong Kong, 24 July 2019) Committed to fostering an inclusive society, the Octopus Volunteer Team and a group of ethnic minority students and cultural ambassadors visited Tai Kwun and Jamia Mosque last Saturday (20 July 2019), the two iconic symbols of Hong Kong and the Islamic culture, to explore these two distinctive heritages. Through the cultural guided tour and interactive games, Octopus Volunteers and the ethnic minority students developed better understanding of each other’s culture, learned to appreciate and respect different races, religions and customs in fostering inter-cultural harmony.

Octopus Volunteer Team, the organiser of the event, invited ethnic minority students from Pakistan to participate. Over 50 participants, guided by ethnic minority cultural ambassadors toured around Tai Kwun, locating at Hollywood Road of Central. Occupying the former Police Headquarters and Central Police Station Compound, Tai Kwun is a declared monument in Hong Kong with rich colonial features. Participants toured around the Parade Ground, Court Yard and Prison Yard, and learned about the historical reason for recruiting different races in the Police Force, and the origin of water-rice cell and the prisoners’ diets according to sentence and religion backgrounds as they explored the courtroom and underground detention room. The Octopus Volunteer Team and ethnic minority students had an enjoyable time solving quizzes about the tour.

Cultural ambassadors then led the particpants to visit Jamia Mosque, Hong Kong’s oldest mosque which is located at Shelley Street. Mosque is highly respected by the Muslims as this is where they conduct their daily worship. The ethnic minority students introduced the five-time daily worship ritual to the Octopus Volunteers, and shared to them their unique diet and customs, and also their current lives in Hong Kong.

Octopus Volunteer Venny Woo said the cultural exchange activity had been highly rewarding. "This activity has enhanced my understanding of ethnic minority culture and cleared some of my misunderstanding about their religious practices. This is also my first visit to the Jamia Mosque and to experience their worship. It’s such an unforgettable experience."

One of the ethnic minority students, Feroz Sana, said it was her first visit to Tai Kwun. "I am glad to see this Tai Kwun cultural exchange tour is being led by an ethnic minority cultural ambassador. We thank the Octopus Volunteers for teaching us Chinese during the tour, and sharing with us their Hong Kong stories."

The Octopus Volunteer Team is committed to serving the community through organising diversified volunteering activities, and advocating communications and mutual understanding between Octopus Volunteers and the ethnic minority students, thereby fostering an inclusive society.

 

Photo Captions

1) The Octopus Volunteer Team and a group of ethnic minority students and cultural ambassadors visited Tai Kwun, locating at Hollywood Road of Central. Through the cultural guided tour and interactive games, Octopus Volunteers and the ethnic minority students developed better understanding of each other’s culture, learned to appreciate and respect different races, religions and customs in fostering inter-cultural harmony.

2) The Octopus Volunteer Team and ethnic minority students had an enjoyable time solving quizzes about the tour.

3) Divided into groups, participants were guided by ethnic minority cultural ambassadors as they toured around the Prison Yard, learned about the origin of water-rice cell and explored Hong Kong’s multicultural history.

4) In the Jamia Mosque, the ethnic minority students shared with the Octopus Volunteers their diet and customs, and also their current lives in Hong Kong.

 

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