Media OutReach
“Cardboard Grannies Art” Exhibition: Transforming Trash into Treasure to Support Hong Kong’s Unsung Heroes
An empowering art and social change initiative supported by The Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Services – Hong Kong and YWAM Tuen Mun, featuring artist Go Hung, to raise awareness and funding for Hong Kong’s hardworking elderly recyclers
HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach Newswire – 3 April 2025 – Despite Hong Kong’s prosperity, nearly one million of the city’s residents live in poverty, and elderly women are among the most vulnerable. Many toil as “Cardboard Grannies,” collecting recyclables for as little as HK$700 a month—without insurance, labor protection, or societal recognition.
Based on NGOs’ statistics, Hong Kong has 4,000 to 7,000 cardboard collectors, and most are elderly women. These “Cardboard Grannies” collectively recycle approximately 138 to 159 metric tons of materials daily.
They are spending more hours and more days each week collecting cardboard, and more elderly individuals are entering the field, as they have few other options, according to NGOs’ survey.
To spotlight their plight and provide tangible support, The Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service – Hong Kong (ELCSS – HK) and YWAM Tuen Mun present “Cardboard Grannies Art,” a special one-day exhibition featuring meaningful and symbolic artworks by acclaimed Hong Kong artist Go Hung, who transforms cardboard collected by these women into thought-provoking pieces critiquing inequality and waste.
Details of the Exhibition:
Date: 7 April 2025 (Mon)
Time: 12 PM – 9 PM
Venue: M4 Atrium, The Mills, 45 Pak Tin Par St, Tsuen Wan
Featured Artist: Go Hung
How It Works:
This initiative is built on a sustainable three-part model designed to create immediate and lasting change. First, Fair Pay for Labor: Cardboards used in the artworks were collected directly through the cardboard grannies —ensuring that they are compensated well for their tireless work. Next, Art with Purpose: The collected cardboard is handed over to artist Go Hung, whose socially conscious practice breathes new life into discarded materials. Through his creative vision, the grannies’ cardboard is transformed into 25 powerful artworks that challenge perceptions about value, waste, and inequality. Finally, Impact Through Purchase: Every artwork sold at the exhibition will directly benefit the Cardboard Grannies, with the proceeds funding essential support for them, such as food and insurance, to provide them with long-overdue security. By bridging art and activism, this project doesn’t just raise awareness—it creates a tangible and environmentally-friendly cycle of empowerment for the elderly recyclers.
Appendix – About the Artwork
| Name & Description | Price (HKD) |
| “I’m a Collector” “I’m a Collector” was created in response to the hype surrounding “Art Month,” where the spotlight often highlights the exclusivity and glamour of art collecting at fairs. In contrast, this work turns attention to the city’s elderly “cardboard grannies,” who collect cardboard and tin cans to resell, just to make ends meet. Often well past retirement age, these individuals work outdoors year-round, exposed to harsh weather as they push heavy metal carts loaded with their “collections” through back alleys, steep streets, and traffic-heavy roads. The works shine a light on their quiet resilience, documenting a raw, overlooked reality while questioning societal values around labor, dignity, and what it truly means to “collect.” |
HKD30,000 |
| The Coin Series: “1kgdp” “1kgdp” highlights the challenges faced by cardboard grannies during periods of economic instability. Inspired by the drop in street-recycled cardboard prices to HK$0.5 per kilogram in previous years, the design captures the impact of external factors such as China’s ban on importing certain types of waste and disruptions in Hong Kong’s wastepaper export industry. Each 50-cent coin weighs 1 kilogram and features a large-scale design with a diameter of 62 centimetres. Like its predecessor, it is crafted using three types of paper—cardboard, A4 paper, and newspaper. It symbolizes the ongoing struggles of the cardboard grannies and the precarious nature of their livelihoods. |
HKD26,000 |
| The Coin Series: “Spare Charge” “Spare Change” reflects the struggles of Hong Kong’s cardboard grannies, who collect and sell cardboard as a means of survival. The design draws inspiration from the average price of cardboard in earlier years, when it was sold for HK$0.7 per kilogram. To symbolize this, each edition consists of seven 10-cent coins with a total weight of 1 kilogram. Crafted from materials commonly collected and resold by the grannies—cardboard, A4 paper, and newspaper—the coin serves as both a tribute to their daily efforts and a reflection of how seemingly insignificant contributions play a vital role in sustaining livelihoods. |
HKD10,400 |
| “So.call Mobility” “So.call Mobility” (a play on “social mobility”) features 180 cardboard pillows suspended in six layers. The number 180 symbolizes the maximum days homeless individuals can stay in temporary shelters in Hong Kong, after which they face immense challenges finding housing due to high rents. The increasing gaps between the layers represent the widening wealth gap and diminishing social mobility. |
HKD500 each pillow |
| “Shelter” “Shelter” draws inspiration from the intricate nests of weaver birds to explore the concept of home. In nature, nests symbolize safety and stability—the desire for which is a universal instinct shared across species. Yet for humans, particularly in Hong Kong, the idea of home is often overshadowed by challenges such as skyrocketing property prices and economic struggles. The nests in this installation are crafted from plastic straps commonly used by cardboard grannies to secure and bundle cardboard. These humble materials, repurposed into intricate forms, highlight the resilience and resourcefulness of those on society’s margins. The installation features 14 “Shelters,” representing the number of government-recognized temporary shelters available for homeless individuals in Hong Kong. It serves as both a reflection on these physical spaces and a call to confront the city’s growing housing crisis. |
HKD24,000 |
| 《同人》 《同人》 is a wordplay based on the Cantonese phrase 同人唔同命. Created for Art Month, this piece mimics paintings sold at auction houses by recreating them directly onto cardboard. Once the painted layer is torn off, it reveals the message “Sold for HK$0.5/kg” to the audience—a powerful commentary on the local and global wealth gap. |
HKD4,550-HKD6,550 |
Hashtag: #CardboardGranniesArt
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About ELCSS – HK:
Evangelical Lutheran Church Social Service – Hong Kong (ELCSS-HK) is one of the largest non-governmental organizations in Hong Kong, established in 1976. With an innovative, caring, and people-oriented approach, ELCSS-HK provides integrated services to grassroots communities and disadvantaged individuals. Currently, the organization operates more than 60 service units and 50 special projects throughout the territory, serving over two million headcounts annually. ELCSS-HK offers a wide range of services spanning small children, the elderly, families, schools, and the employment sector.
About YWAM Tuen Mun:
YWAM Tuen Mun is a charity dedicated to providing holistic care to the marginalized and neglected in Hong Kong. Their diverse team operates a food bank that supplies food assistance to a large network of charities in the city while also going to the ground to serve the elderly-at-risk, cardboard collectors, and street sleepers. Through interactive programs, the organization promotes social integration, fostering connections and support among vulnerable members of society. Additionally, YWAM Tuen Mun engages local community members through poverty awareness programs and volunteering opportunities, fostering understanding and compassion for those in need and empowering them to serve.
About Go Hung:
Go Hung is a Hong Kong-based artist known for his innovative use of cardboard and other materials collected from the streets. With a background in Digital Arts (BA, MA) from the University of West London and Camberwell College of Arts, he creates thought-provoking sculptures and installations that often return to the streets for public viewing. His works critique consumerist waste while addressing pressing social issues in Hong Kong and beyond. Described as “Hong Kong’s most versatile conceptual artist” and “Hong Kong Warhol,” Go Hung’s art has been exhibited globally, including in Brazil, China, Denmark, Iceland, and the UK.
Media OutReach
Skyro Rolls Out Reusable Digital Credit Across the Philippines, Explores Opportunities in Southeast Asian Markets
SkyroCredit is a reusable, revolving digital credit line that provides access to a fixed credit limit without a plastic and without relying on the Visa or Mastercard networks. Once approved, a customer’s credit is available within the Skyro app and can be used instantly by scanning any QR Ph code, the Philippine QR payment standard accepted at more than 90% of merchant outlets nationwide. Leading merchants include SM, Mercury Drug, Watsons, Jollibee, McDonald’s, and DALI Supermarket. Customers can borrow, repay the amount they have used, and reuse the same credit limit without reapplying.
NasimAliev, Skyro co-founder, said:
“Our goal is to provide access to affordable credit for underserved communities across Southeast Asia at a time when everyday expenses continue to rise and consumers’ financial priorities are evolving.
“Today’s consumers need financial solutions built around real-life spending needs and changing financial priorities. With SkyroCredit, we bring flexible financial solutions to our customers’ fingertips. The credit line offers all the benefits of flexibility, including an interest-free grace period. This provides customers with maximum convenience for everyday use while even allowing them to save money through cashback.
“By expanding our portfolio of point-of-sale loans, cash loans, and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) products to include flexible credit lines, we are building long-term customer relationships based on everyday use, responsible borrowing, and trust.”
Eligible customers receive initial credit limits of PHP 1,000 to PHP 10,000 (approximately USD 17 to USD 170), with the opportunity to increase their limit to as much as PHP 100,000 through regular, responsible use. Purchases carry 0% interest for up to 45 days. Every purchase also earns 1% cashback, which customers can redeem on future purchases through the app.
Skyro’s expansion into reusable digital credit addresses one of Southeast Asia’s largest financial inclusion opportunities by enabling sustained customer engagement. According to the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, the central bank of the Philippines, only half of Filipino adults have a formal financial account. As QR-based payment networks continue to expand across the region, Skyro can leverage this infrastructure to deliver accessible digital credit products that meet growing consumer demand.
Hashtag: #Skyro #SkyroCredit #DigitalCredit
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Skyro
Skyro is a high-growth, digital-first fintech group delivering scalable, responsible access to financial services across high-potential emerging markets. Powered by proprietary data science, AI-driven credit decisioning and alternative data scoring, the company combines a mobile-native experience with modular fintech architecture to serve underserved customer segments at scale.
In just three years, Skyro has grown to serve over one million active customers in the Philippines, underpinned by a robust credit portfolio exceeding $200 million. The company’s strategic ambition is to establish itself as the preeminent full-spectrum financial services group across dozens of emerging markets worldwide.
Media OutReach
Peach Garden Celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival with Singapore Flyer-Inspired Mooncake Keepsake Gift Set
The Singapore Flyer design roots the collection in a recognisably local identity, with the launch timed to the National Day period as the city moves into the traditional Mid-Autumn Festival gifting and reunion season. Pre-orders open from 13 July to 10 August at $61 nett inclusive of GST (usual price: $91.11).
A Keepsake Built Around the Singapore Skyline
Designed around a circular silhouette that echoes the Singapore Flyer’s iconic form, the Graceful Showstopper is crafted to hold its place in a home well beyond the festival.
Rooted in a recognisably Singaporean aesthetic, it functions as a decorative display piece as much as a festive gift, whether set out for a family gathering, presented to a business client, or kept as a personal memento of the season. Logo customisations are available on corporate orders of 50 boxes or more.
Handmade Daily, in a Range Built for Modern Palates
Returning alongside the centrepiece is Peach Garden’s low-sugar mooncake range, available in baked and snowskin varieties. The Deluxe Combination of Four spans four flavours across eight miniature pieces:
- Mini Lemon Yuzu Snowskin
- Mini Pandan Lotus Snowskin with Melon Seed
- Mini Low Sugar White Lotus Snowskin with Macadamia
- Mini Lychee Snowskin with Lychee Martini Truffle
Every mooncake in the range is handmade fresh daily across Peach Garden’s six outlets, a practice the group has maintained amidst an industry where production has shifted increasingly toward automation.
The collection will be available at more than 20 festive kiosks across Singapore for the first time, including Takashimaya from 20 August and VivoCity from 25 August, both through 25 September. Collection is available from 11 August to 25 September at all six Peach Garden outlets, from 11am to 3pm and 6pm to 10pm.
Hashtag: #PeachGarden #GracefulShowstopper #MoonCakeFestival #MidAutumnFestival
https://www.peachgarden.com.sg/
https://www.linkedin.com/company/peach-garden/
https://www.facebook.com/peachgardensg
https://www.instagram.com/Peachgardensghttps://www.instagram.com/peachgardencelebrations/
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
About Peach Garden
Peach Garden is one of Singapore’s leading Chinese restaurant brands, renowned for its contemporary Chinese cuisine, exceptional hospitality, and award-winning festive creations. With six outlets across Singapore, the brand continues to bring families, friends, and businesses together through meaningful dining and gifting experiences.
For much of the past century, urban development followed a relatively straightforward equation: build housing, expand infrastructure and accommodate population growth. This formula is now showing its limitations. As climate risk intensifies, biodiversity declines and cities compete not only for investment but also for talent, developers around the world are now forced to redefine the very nature and purpose of what they build.
From the Gulf to Singapore, and from Scandinavia to Southeast Asia, large-scale urban projects are evolving into integrated ecosystems where mobility, green infrastructure, education, healthcare, digital services and environmental restoration are planned together. The industry paradigm has shifted from constructing buildings to designing places capable of sustaining both economic growth and quality of life over generations.
Vinhomes has initiated a comprehensive repositioning to navigate this global transition.
Known as Vietnam’s largest residential developer, the company is increasingly recognized not merely as a builder of housing projects, but as a creator of large-scale lifestyle ecosystems, communities where urban planning, technology, ecology and public services are conceived as parts of the same system.
When Nature Becomes Urban Infrastructure
For decades, environmental considerations were often introduced after a city’s masterplan had already been completed.
The emerging model reverses that sequence. Across many of its recent developments, Vinhomes operates on the principle that natural systems should become the starting point of planning. Hydrology, coastal conditions, biodiversity and existing vegetation are treated as design inputs that shape the urban layout from the earliest stages.
This philosophy marks a notable departure from conventional large-scale development, particularly in rapidly urbanising markets where natural landscapes have frequently given way to intensive construction.
With more than 30 developments across Vietnam and a land bank equivalent to roughly two-thirds the size of Singapore, Vinhomes has the unusual opportunity to test this planning approach at a metropolitan scale.
Rather than replicating identical urban formulas, each project is designed around the ecological characteristics of its location.
The company maintains that the long-term success of a city should ultimately be measured not by how much has been built, but by whether natural ecosystems continue to thrive decades after residents have moved in. That perspective aligns with an increasingly influential school of urban planning in which green infrastructure is viewed as essential public infrastructure.
Factors Compelling Cities Toward Regeneration
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) frameworks have become standard across global investment. Urban planners, however, are beginning to question whether sustainability alone is sufficient.
Maintaining today’s environmental conditions may no longer be enough if tomorrow’s cities must also respond to rising temperatures, sea-level change and growing demographic pressures.
Vinhomes’ strategic response is crystallized in its ESG++, a framework that extends beyond conventional ESG principles by introducing two additional objectives: Regeneration and resilience.
The distinction is subtle but important.
Regeneration implies restoring ecological systems rather than simply reducing environmental impact. Resilience focuses on designing cities capable of adapting to changing climatic, technological and social conditions over many decades.
Projects such as Vinhomes Green Paradise Can Gio and Vinhomes Global Gates Ha Long are intended to demonstrate how these concepts can be incorporated into large-scale urban planning, combining renewable energy, smart infrastructure and ecological restoration within a single development model.
This shift highlights a growing global consensus: the success of next-generation cities will ultimately be measured by their ability to adapt to increasingly complex environmental challenges.
Vietnam’s Urban Story Is Becoming Part of a Global Conversation
For many international audiences, Vietnam remains associated primarily with its cultural heritage and natural landscapes. Urban development may become an equally important part of that story.
Rapid urbanisation, expanding infrastructure investment and a national commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 have created conditions in which entirely new urban models can be planned without many of the legacy constraints facing older cities.
This developmental opportunity is capturing increasing global interest.
Commenting on Vinhomes Green Paradise’s participation in the global 7 Wonders of Future Cities initiative, Jean-Paul de la Fuente, Director of the New7Wonders Organisation, described Vietnam as undergoing a “transformative step change” in its national identity and global positioning. He pointed to the country’s progress in reducing the carbon footprint of urban mobility as an example of coordinated action between government and the private sector that offers valuable insights extending beyond Southeast Asia.
For Vinhomes, participation in international platforms such as 7 Wonders of Future Cities is therefore less about showcasing a single project than about contributing to a broader discussion on how rapidly developing economies might approach urban growth differently. The company’s evolution mirrors a wider shift taking place across the global property sector.
Increasingly, the core value proposition for developers is no longer anchored in how many buildings they can deliver. Instead, it centers on whether they can create cities that remain economically competitive, environmentally resilient and socially relevant long after construction has ended.
Hashtag: #Vinhomes
https://vinhomes.vn/enThe issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.
