In recent years, more persons with higher education qualifications have reached the retirement age. Against this backdrop, the Welfare Council’s Vitality Academy for Life Long has designed a wide spectrum of innovative activities for those who will retire soon or retired in response to the service needs of the elderly. For example, the academy has worked with the Hong Kong and China Gas Company Limited (Towngas) and Institution of Dining Art on an innovative programme, “We Can Cook”. The programme includes a group of professional chefs teaching seniors how to cook at a well-appointed and comfortable learning centre. Apart from such extraordinary learning experience, seniors can broaden their social circle and reestablish their role in a family via the programme. The one-year programme with 12 sessions has started since July 2016, in which participants learnt how to prepare appetizing cuisines of different countries.
The first 4 sessions of “We Can Cook” have been completed. Participating eateries included the Golden Traditional Noodle, Teppan Chiu Teppanyaki, Sawali Club, Manna Organic Station and Tak Lung Restaurant while Chez Les Copains, Lab Made、Lo Chiu Vietnamese Restaurant, Tsukiji Japanese Restaurant will engage in the latter 8 sessions. On 24th November, 2016, a sharing session arranged for participants was held in the Towngas Cooking Centre, where representatives from 3 co-organisers, chef volunteers, 20 plus senior participants and a number of guests were presence to share the joy and ideas of cooking.
Mr Joe Shum, Assistant Director of the Welfare Council, Mr Isaac Yeung, Towngas Head of Corporate Affairs and Mr. Kelvin Yau, Chairman of the Institution of Dining Art officiated at the sharing session and gave speeches. In his speech, Mr Isaac Yeung, Towngas Head of Corporate Affairs said, “For years, Towngas has dedicated to caring for and serving the elderly in order to give back to the community. Through varied social services and voluntary activities, we hope to promote healthy eating and the joy of cooking for the development of harmonious families. We agreed with the vision of “We Can Cook”: bringing families and loved ones together through food, and making society a better place through programmes alike. I believe that social benefits will be increased if organisations of different sectors can utilize their professional knowledge or resources to serve the community.”
Speaking at the sharing session, Mr. Kelvin Yau, Chairman of the Institution of Dining Art, noted that many chefs were culinary experts in the industry but we never thought of how they could contribute to the community with their professional knowledge. Being the valuable assets of society, the chefs could actually serve the masses as well as pass on their knowledge to others. He hoped such programmes could encourage the chefs to reach out and share their love of cooking with the elderly in the local community, thus extending its expertise to culinary enthusiasts and consolidating their professional images.
“Unlike traditional cooking classes teaching just a couple of classic dishes, “We Can Cook” has a professional team of chefs who can teach special Italian cuisines at a well-equipped learning centre, aiming at bringing innovation and professional learning experiences to the seniors”, said Mr Joe Shum, Assistant Director of the Welfare Council. Sham does not simply expect to offer some leisure activities to elders. In fact, he hoped the elderly could absorb professional knowledge or even develop their own skills or interest via life-long learning so as to add vibrancy to their lives.
Sham thanked Towngas for offering the Towngas Cooking Centre as the programme’s learning centre while providing cooking instructors to guide participants on the spot. He also felt grateful to the Institution of Dining Art’s member eateries and dining institutions as their chefs and staff served as mentors to polish seniors’ cooking skills. Experts from various sectors were allowed to give back to community through the programme, reflecting the importance of multi-disciplinary collaboration between commercial and social service sectors. He believed that such kind of collaboration was the core elements of social capital and the new direction of the development of social services.
Kicking off the launching ceremony, each of the three officiating guests posted a word on the backdrop to form “We Can Cook”. The progarmme name, “We Can Cook”, symbolizes that 3 co-organisers join hands to lead seniors to reach their goal. After that, Mr Garofalo Antonio, an Italian manager of the Marco’s Oyster bar and grill taught seniors how to make risotto with asparagus and duck breast, during which senior students were eager to participate. Students later got to taste their own creations—all of them wore smiles of satisfaction—before they took them home to share with their families. Besides, distinguished cuisines including Yunnan-style chicken with coconut stew, clams in Japanese sake, Thai coconut dessert and Vietnam-style quinoa and avocado wraps were demonstrated to let guests taste and review on the spot.
One of the senior participants, Mr Leung has retired for 8 years but has another wonderful phase in life. He actively participated in leisure activities of the elderly centre and worked as a part-time social dance instructor. He is also interested in cooking so he often joined the cooking classes held by the centre, and enrolled for “We Can Cook” programme hosted by the Vitalia Academy for Life Long Learning. At the sharing session, Leung demonstrated how to make chicken with coconut stew, exciting the palate of every guest. “ “We Can Cook” is totally different from traditional cooking classes as it invited professional chefs to teach us contemporary cuisines at a well-appointed learning centre. After class, I enjoy to share delicious food I cooked with family and friends,” Leung said.
Mrs Liu, another participant of “We Can Cook”, would give members of the elderly centre a taste of the new dishes she learnt at the programme to spread care and happiness. “I am happy to see that the elderly appreciated my dishes,” Liu told. Liu is not very passionate about cooking but she loves learning with other senior participants and feels more confident after joining the programme.