Goodwin Mok Chi-fung, a 17-year-old student from King George V School, showed how teenagers can make a difference by holding an exhibition and auction of jeans at the Conrad Hotel. He and a friend, Arnold Wong, raised HK$60,000 on Saturday in a project they call Beehive, and the money will go to renovating a school on the mainland.
The idea was born last year when the two young men visited Guizhou and were struck by the situation of poor students there.
'Kids there are studying in very poor conditions,' said Goodwin. 'The schools are falling apart, there are cracks on the wall and dirt on the ground. They don't have enough money to buy books, not to mention useable desks and chairs.'
He and Arnold, also 17, spent the entire summer in Guizhou teaching students and helping them repair their desks and chairs. After they returned from Guizhou, they had the idea of raising funds to renovate a school.
The timing was perfect, because the two had already been talking about how to raise awareness about global issues through a common interest - fashion. Originally they had wanted to help victims of the Sichuan earthquake, but after the trip to Guizhou, they realised students there needed even more help.
'We picked jeans as everyone wears them everywhere,' Goodwin said about the Beehive project.
'Beehive is the home of bees, and we'd like to be a beehive for the poor - we want to give them homes and support.'
