FamilyOnline.TV team members attend a training session at the Hong Kong Productivity Council in 2019. Photo: Handout

• FamilyOnline.TV is giving young people with special needs the tools required to become successful writers, animators, producers and artists
• Their work has earned them a nomination for this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards

They may not have a regular workplace, but, armed with laptops, talented young participants in a social enterprise in Hong Kong are able to work from anywhere, creating animations and developing edutainment tools for users worldwide.

These tech-savvy youths, aged between 15 and 25, are groomed in accordance with their aptitude by the FamilyOnline.TV team, who want to help them unleash their creative streak and transcend their own limits.

Tiffany Chan Wai-fun, who founded the social enterprise with her husband, Michael Sze Tak-lee, in 2012, said her team aimed primarily to support young people living with physical disabilities or developmental disorders.

She said her team believed many young people with special education needs were overlooked by the community, and that the mastery of information and communications technology (ICT) and media production skills could help them prove their worth.

Chan, who uses a wheelchair, said she understood the difficulties faced by many families with special needs children.
“We want to do something for the special needs community,” she said.

Through the provision of pre-employment and on-the-job training, FamilyOnline.TV, established under the iCare Foundation, encourages attendees to plan for their own future.

“[Our young colleagues] may soon start thinking about living independently and about paying their own broadband bills,” she said.

Chan said her team found it important to make youths with special needs – and those around them, such as their families – more hopeful.

FamilyOnline.TV team members attend the 2019 HKICT Smart People Grand Award Ceremony. Photo: Handout

Their work has earned the team a nomination for this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards.

The annual event, co-organised by The South China Morning Post and the property developer Sino Group, celebrates the achievements of people whose endeavours may not come to public notice.

Thomas Lau, a friend of Chan’s, recommended the FamilyOnline.TV team for this year’s Spirit of Teamwork award, which recognises unsung groups that embrace their roles as socially responsible corporate citizens.

Chan said she believed her social enterprise had built a sustainable business model, adding that it stayed competitive in this high cost environment by managing without a fixed office.

“Every day I lead a group of young people hopping from community centre to cheap venue-for-hire to do the training,” she said.

A participant in FamilyOnline.TV training sessions may learn to be a writer, animator, producer and artist.

Over the years, the social enterprise has trained 2,000 young people with special education needs. It has created 430 edutainment mobile apps and video games that convey moral values, generating more than 4.5 million downloads from 221 countries and territories.

Sze, Chan’s husband and co-founder, said every download counted to their young colleagues, who often lacked self-confidence.

“Seeing someone download their creations from places as far away as Africa would make them feel successful,” he said.

The couple said their team, which won the Hong Kong ICT “Smart People Grand Award” in 2019, would empower their trained colleagues to keep up their endeavours and pass on their skills.

Vote for us on this year’s Spirit of Hong Kong Awards:
https://spiritofhk.scmp.com/vote/#candidate_54

Source: South China Morning Post
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/society/article/3096302/hong-kong-social-enterprise-empowering-overlooked-one-app

About us:
https://www.familyonline.tv

Our patreon:
https://www.patreon.com/FamilyOnline