Helping at the Void Deck Event

In the picture, two primary school students are helping at a community event in the void deck. Folding tables and chairs have been set up, and the students are standing beside one table arranging packets of food, probably preparing them to be given out. Residents are seated in the background, waiting or chatting. What I also noticed is that the students are wearing ordinary clothes rather than uniforms, so they are helping as residents of the block rather than as part of a school activity.

My block held a mid-autumn celebration at the void deck last year and my family helped to set up the lanterns beforehand. My job was to untangle the strings, which took much longer than I expected because they had been packed away carelessly the year before. During the event I helped hand out mooncakes and ended up talking to an elderly neighbour I had only ever nodded to in the lift. She told me she had lived in the block since it was built.

I feel it is good for children because it teaches us that a neighbourhood is something people build rather than something that simply exists. When you help set up an event, you meet neighbours you would otherwise only pass in the lift, and it becomes much harder to be inconsiderate towards people you actually know. It also gives us practice talking to adults and strangers, which school does not always provide. Most importantly, children who help at such events grow up expecting to contribute rather than only to attend.