"Love and patience are vital to gardening, same as taking care of our patients." – horticultural group participant

The Staff Welfare Committee and Human Resources Department recently set up a horticultural group. Interested staff can apply to join and the coordinators would teach them gardening basics and share hacks like hand-pollination. They visit the gardening space on 4/F of Tower A twice a day to tend to their plants, just like doing ward rounds.

Committee member Dr Dennis Ku said the activity has strengthened the bond among colleagues, "They help each other out in fertilizing and watering, and even gift one another seedlings." Mara Lo, one of the coordinators, added, "Some staff come back for the plants on their days off. On the eve of typhoons, some rushed to the garden after work to keep the plants safe."

"Horticulture is not difficult. We hope colleagues could achieve a sense of accomplishment and get a kick out of it," said Sanne Fong, another coordinator. Participants averaged 9.2 out of 10 points in happiness in a survey. One of the participants Man-wai shared, "Watering the plants after lunch is a good way to destress and achieve work-life balance."

▲Seedlings of seasonal fruits and veggies are distributed to participants to grow.