On a sunny morning in Nina Hub, Chinachem CEO Donald Choi met for coffee with Hong Kong Olympic swimmers, Stephanie Au and Camille Cheng, not to talk sports, but to hear about the athletes’ establishment of the mental wellbeing charity, Mind The Waves. The organisation, which has a third Olympian founder, Jamie Yeung, focuses its work on de-stigmatising the topic of mental health amongst the young people of Hong Kong.
“Stephanie, Jamie, and I were getting more and more concerned at how the fear and misunderstanding of mental health issues, particularly in young people, was preventing them from seeking help or simply looking after themselves better,” explained Camille, who has a masters in psychology.
“Together we started building this community, where people are encouraged to share and support, ask questions, and do fun stuff around working mental wellbeing into daily life.”
The NGO blends online content with in-person events, the majority of which are delivered in Cantonese to ensure easy access locally. The charity’s growing series of YouTube podcasts chats to interesting individuals who have personal stories to share on mental health and wellbeing. And their Mind The Waves events typically take the form of social get togethers, where the founders chat about their personal experiences, guests discuss topics raised by the community, ending with an activity session led by one of the athletes. Designed to be fun, casual, relaxed, they’re a safe space to share concerns or questions about life.
Donald observed, “Thankfully there’s been a major shift in attitudes towards the role of mental wellbeing in the workplace. But there’s still lots of room for improvement. Supporting our colleagues’ mental health benefits everyone. Better work life balance, reduced stress, more job satisfaction, there’s real advantages. And the business gains too, through increased productivity, less sick days, and much stronger employee retention.”
Stephanie added, “Most people go to the gym and watch what they eat, but often our mind and mental state is left uncared for. And it shouldn’t be like that. Years training and competing taught us that mind is as important as body. And we wanted to share this, particularly with youth, and in ways that are relatable for them.”
Talk inevitably turned to the 2024 Olympics, Camille’s third; and Stephanie’s fifth, a record for Hong Kong. “Once these Olympics are behind us, we can refocus on Mind The Waves again. We’re determined to give back after all the amazing support we’ve had over the years,” explained Camille.
In response, Donald Choi commented, “From such a young age, being able to maintain these levels of energy and determination will set you up for success with Mind The Waves. We’re very proud to be able to support you and your community.”
The charity the three athletes have created is small but growing. Keeping it authentic and accessible is clearly vital to the founders’ vision, and making sure it reflects the Hong Kong psyche and sensibilities is key to encouraging young people into its fold. But the girls have bigger ambitions for their NGO. “Once we get Hong Kong to a decent size, we’d love to start growing enlightened Mind The Waves communities throughout Asia,” explained Stephanie.
“At the end of the day, what we’re trying to achieve with Mind The Waves is really quite basic, and we want to keep it that way. It’s to get a conversation going,” added Camille. “And the more people we can welcome into our community, the healthier the city will become.”
This year Chinachem engages with the HK Chinese Orchestra again in One Beat, One World: Connecting Through The Drum. “It was apparent to me that the benefits of learning to drum were not just physical, but mental,” noted Donald. “And we’re happy to partner with Mind The Waves in this campaign to focus on the importance of keeping the mind healthy.”
Hopefully, through the work of Mind The Waves, other NGOs, and corporates, we’ll soon see an end to the all too common newspaper headlines of teenage depression and suicide, to be replaced with stories of achievement, and the renaissance of hope for the young people of this unique city.
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