Striding On: Chris Sun – Charting a Fulfilling Life for All

In the January issue of Striding On magazine, Live Talk features Chris Sun, Secretary for Labour and Welfare of the HKSAR Government. He discusses subjects ranging from youth support to elderly care, leadership to accountability, and from weighty policy initiatives to how he spends what little spare time he has, in an interview with guest host Raymond Tam, Club Executive Director, Corporate Affairs.

Come rain or shine, Sun wakes up at 6 o’clock every morning to squeeze in a 30-minute walk before embarking on his hectic daily work schedule. To help grass-roots youth break out of intergenerational poverty, the father-of-two considers vision and outlook to be equally important factors. “What they need is a better social life that creates bigger social circles, upward mobility and aspirations for a brighter future,” he says.

Sun gives special thanks to the Club for its support in youth development and elderly care, including as vice-chair of the Partners’ Board of the “Strive and Rise Programme”, for supporting the Jockey Club “age at home” Gerontech Education and Rental Service, as well as providing funding support to establish residential care homes in Shenzhen and Zhaoqing for Hong Kong elderlies.

Sun was Commissioner for Labour before being appointed as a principal official, Secretary for Labour and Welfare. “Leadership means you have to break new ground, setting goals and priorities,” he says.  As a man of action, he has spent a great deal of time communicating with the welfare sector since taking office, to promote mutual understanding and gather insights for formulating polices.

Also in this issue of Striding On, Young and Bold features long jumper Tiffany Yue , who won a bronze medal in the Hangzhou Asian Games. Previously, she missed out on the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games by landing only a centimetre short of the Hong Kong youth record. Then came the pandemic in 2020, and leg pain in 2022. But as her performance in Hangzhou showed, these hardships made her a stronger person.

In Standing Together, we introduce the Jockey Club “Craft Your Life Together” Co-living Community Project, which is helping persons in recovery and out-of-home youths who are leaving residential services but cannot move back in with their families.

The latest issue of Striding On can be read online on the Club's website (in Chinese only) at http://corporate.hkjc.com/corporate/operation/chinese/striding-on.aspx.