“I engage with a lot of underprivileged youths as part of my work at Act Plus. Our mission is to empower young people from the grassroots community through animation, game design and media education. Our students often have very challenging personal circumstances – broken families, issues at school and poor living conditions. I can relate as I grew up in a grassroots family myself; I lived away from my father as a kid and was raised by my grandparents. I didn’t go to a very good school and because of limited guidance and support during teenage years, many of my peers got involved in drugs, theft and were led astray. Many are still dealing with the consequences today. We cannot choose where we come from or what we are born into, but we can choose how we live our lives; and I think having a guiding hand and supportive community makes a huge difference. That’s why Act Plus is not just about the technical skills, it’s really about forming friendships, building a community and providing a space for isolated youths to feel less lonely. It’s easy to judge or look down on others, but compassion is not sympathy – it’s about being equals with someone and letting go of our ego to truly understand how they feel and how we can help.”

「我喺樂言社呢度嘅工作係要同好多弱勢社群嘅青少年接觸。我哋嘅宗旨係透過動畫製作、遊戲設計同埋媒體創作嘅課程，去幫助基層青年人發展自己嘅能力。我哋啲學生好多時都有唔簡單嘅成長經歷，可能係家庭破碎、喺學校遇到問題、或者居住環境唔好。我可以明白佢哋嘅處境，因為我自己都係喺草根家庭長大。我同爸爸細個分開住, 由公公婆婆照顧。我讀咗一間唔係咁好嘅學校，因為冇適當嘅指導，好多同學都會掂毒品、偷嘢，行咗條歪路。佢哋好多到咗而家都仲承受緊呢啲事帶嚟嘅後果。我哋冇得揀出生背景，但係我哋有得揀點樣行我哋眼前嘅路。我覺得如果沿途有人指引，同埋有一個支持你嘅群體係好重要。所以樂言社呢度唔單止會教實用技巧，我哋仲會同學生做朋友，建立一個群體，有一個空間聚埋呢班被邊緣化嘅年青人，等佢哋唔會覺得咁孤單。要批評或者睇低其他人係好容易，但係同理心唔係同情心，而係要想像自己同對方喺同一個處境，放低本身嘅價值觀，去真正理解佢哋嘅感受，同埋需要點樣嘅幫助。」

“I’ve been working at Act Plus for two years and realise that I really enjoy engaging with young people. I’m 25 years old myself so I guess that helps! I love being able to use my experiences to help them through challenges. Students will reach out to me even outside of class to share their feelings and worries. I think if some of my friends from school had someone to speak with and share their load, they would probably not have gone down the paths that they did. Growing up, life was not so easy. My family had to get government subsidies and I remember feeling really ashamed about that. I don’t feel embarrassed about it anymore, because it’s just part of my past and made me who I am today. When I was in secondary school, I did some summer classes at a community centre; I would hang out there, chit chat and make new friends. I felt safe and happy there; and that’s a feeling that I want to recreate for our students as well. This work has also been a journey of self-discovery; I find a lot of satisfaction in being able to support young people by offering them a helping hand. I also believe that no matter how tough a situation, there must be a way forward!” 「我喺樂言社呢度做咗兩年，發覺自己真係好鍾意同年青人接觸。我今年25歲，我諗呢個歲數都有幫助嘅！我好感恩可以用自己嘅經歷去幫佢哋度過難關。同學仔甚至喺課堂以外都會搵我傾吓心事。有時我會諗，如果當年我嘅同學都搵到人同佢傾偈，分擔吓啲煩惱，佢哋可能就唔會行而家呢條路。我嘅成長經歷都唔係咁簡單。我屋企要攞綜援，記得嗰時我覺得好尷尬。而家我唔會咁諗啦，因為佢只係我過去嘅一部份，亦都塑造咗我而家嘅志向。讀中學嗰時，我喺社區中心參加過一啲暑期班，我會成日去嗰度同人傾吓偈，識吓新朋友。喺嗰度我覺得好安全同埋好開心。我想帶返呢種感覺俾樂言社嘅同學仔。呢份工都幫到我認識自己，能夠幫到年青人，沿途支持佢哋，我覺得好有滿足感。我亦都相信無論情況有幾困難，都一定有方法向前行嘅！」

“We also organise sports outings and hikes with our students so that they can build bonds and make friends outside of class. I was lucky to have had a good friend in school who was kind, compassionate and a great listener. We had opposite personalities – I’m very active, outgoing and outdoorsy; she was introverted and liked to read and watch movies at home. Best friends don’t have to be mirror versions of each other, the most important thing is having the ability to listen and being there for the other person when they most need it. To find balance, I practise yoga and also do a lot of baking. The process of making bread is so therapeutic, you can’t rush things and it allows me to practise being more mindful. I would say that I am a hopeful and positive person. I’ve seen lots of heartbreaking situations both in my own life and through work, but instead of feeling sad and helpless I live by this motto – ‘worry is the worst use of imagination.’. With the right support and a little bit of faith, it will all work out.”

「我哋仲會安排一啲戶外運動同埋行山活動俾同學仔，等佢哋之間可以建立多啲默契，同埋喺課堂以外識啲新朋友。我好好彩，讀書嗰陣有一個好朋友，佢好善良、善解人意同埋有耐性聽我講嘢。我哋性格好唔同㗎，我好外向，好動同埋鍾意出外；佢就好內向，鍾意睇書，同埋留喺屋企睇電影。好朋友唔需要好似對方嘅倒模咁，最重要係識得聆聽對方，同埋喺對方最有需要嘅時候出現喺佢哋身邊。要平衡工作同生活嘅時候，我會做瑜伽，亦都會經常焗麵包。整麵包嘅過程係好療癒㗎，你唔可以心急，所以我個心可以練習慢返落嚟。我會話我係一個積極同埋正面嘅人。我喺自己嘅經歷同埋工作上面都見過好多令人傷心嘅事，但與其覺得難過同埋無助，我會記住一個宗旨：擔憂係想像力最差嘅用法。只要有合適嘅支援同埋信念，所有嘢都會可以迎刃而解嘅。」

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