The "Five Blessings" have long symbolised a life of happiness and fulfilment in Chinese culture. While people often pursue "Health", "Wealth", "Longevity" and "Love of Virtue", the fifth blessing, "Peaceful Death", is frequently overlooked. The Jockey Club End-of-Life Community Care Project (“JCECC”), a ten-year project initiated and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust and launched in 2016, collaborated with local animation creator Chao Yat to produce "The Final Wish．The Finest Gift". The cartoon animation premiered today at Tai Kwun, where a sharing session with the director and voice actors, as well as a public seminar, took place.

“The Final Wish．The Finest Gift" was curated and directed by Chao Yat. The story depicts two characters with contrasting perspectives on life, each choosing to approach the final stage in their own way, leading to vastly different outcomes. Birth, ageing, sickness and death are inevitable stages of life's journey. Chao Yat hopes that this creation will inspire those nearing life's end to resolve their inner conflicts and live out their final days free of regrets.

The animation features veteran broadcaster Kam Kong, as well as artist and radio host Sammy Leung, voicing the characters of Uncle Fei and Uncle Bao. Taking a light-hearted approach, the animation explores the "Five Important Messages" - love, gratitude, apology, forgiveness and farewell - inspiring those approaching the final stage of life to express love to their loved ones, seeking to depart this world with family blessings and without regrets.

Professor Amy Chow, Project Director of JCECC and Head of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration of the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Hong Kong, said at the premiere, “We are delighted to launch the ‘The Final Wish．The Finest Gift’ animation, delivering end-of-life education messages to the public in a unique format. The JCECC project aims to help the public understand the concept of end-of-life care and support services through various formats and media such as animations. At the same time, we also hope to encourage patients suffering from terminal illness to seize the opportunity to express the ‘Five Important Messages’ to their families and friends, striving to leave the most beautiful blessings and memories for each other at the final stage of life, and depart from this world with gratitude and without regrets."

Veteran broadcaster Kam Kong, who turned 90 last year, mused, "Life inevitably involves birth, ageing, sickness and death. As a 90-year-old, seeing friends and relatives pass away, I have gradually come to terms with it. I am very grateful and cherish every day when I can record at the radio station, spend leisure time with friends and spread positivity." Kong also expressed his desire not to leave regrets behind, unlike his character Uncle Fei. While he is still mentally competent, he hopes to plan his end-of-life care and funeral arrangements. He encourages seniors not to shy away from discussing end-of-life matters with their families, because having open conversations on the subject is more important.

Artist and radio host Sammy Leung offered his reflections at the premiere. "Life has given me multiple roles - I’m a son, a husband and, at the same time, a father. When I first read the script, I couldn't help but wonder if, like Uncle Bao, I could face death bravely and calmly while still expressing my true feelings to loved ones. I don't usually find it easy to put my feelings into words, but Uncle Bao reminds us that something as simple as a text message or emoji can convey our care and affection to family and friends."

About "The Final Wish．The Finest Gift" animation
Have you ever contemplated the gift you would most like to leave for your family and friends when you approach the final stage of life? Would it be your remaining assets? Or perhaps a valuable possession? In fact, while words like “I love you” or “I'm sorry” may not have intrinsic value, a sincere expression of these sentiments could be the most precious gift for your family and friends. Uncle Bao (voiced by artist and radio host Sammy Leung), although diagnosed with terminal lung cancer and aware his days were numbered, still hoped to uniquely express love, gratitude and forgiveness, and bid farewell to his family through "The Final Blessing". Uncle Bao made prudent preparations as his life neared its end and passed away peacefully. In the heavenly park, he encountered his good friend Uncle Fei (voiced by veteran broadcaster Kam Kong), who had failed to prepare for the final stage of his life and passed away depressed. How did they ultimately deliver "The Finest Gift" to their families?

Watch the animation at: https://foss.hku.hk/jcecc/zh/fwfg/

About Jockey Club End-of-Life Community Care Project
Hong Kong is facing a rapidly ageing population, and the number of elderly suffering from terminal illnesses has also escalated correspondingly. In view of the growing demand for end-of-life care services in the community, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust approved around HK$520 million to initiate the “Jockey Club End-of-Life Community Care Project” (JCECC). Launched in 2016, the ten-year project aims to improve the quality of end-of-life care, enhancing the capacity of service providers, as well as raising public awareness.

JCECC is a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional and cross-sectoral collaboration to help enhance end-of-life care in Hong Kong with special emphasis on the interface between social and medical systems. Service models are being developed and shaped to provide holistic support to terminally-ill elders in the community and elderly homes. The goal is to enable the city’s older people to have informed choices of care and have an improved quality of life. The Trust’s partners in JCECC are The University of Hong Kong Faculty of Social Sciences, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Jockey Club Institute of Ageing, Hong Kong Association of Gerontology, Haven of Hope Christian Service, The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, St James’ Settlement, S.K.H. Holy Carpenter Church District Elderly Community Centre, Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui Welfare Council Limited, Tung Wah Group of Hospitals and The Salvation Army. For more information, please visit http://www.JCECC.hk/.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Mr. Alan Tang, Faculty of Social Sciences, HKU (Tel: 3917 1260 / 6023 6711; email: alantsl@hku.hk)
Ms. Cara Ng, Mega Plan (MGP) Co. Ltd. (Mobile: 6222 5837 / Email: cara@mgp.com.hk)
Mr. Steven Tang, Mega Plan (MGP) Co. Ltd. (Mobile: 9830 3070 / Email: steven@mgp.com.hk)