It was quite difficult to ignore an email with subject line “Join us for Breakfast at Tiffany.” It sounded sort of cliché yet something irresistible! So what exact was it all about? Breakfast at Tiffany & Co. at 1881 Heritage to be exact! I am very honoured indeed to be invited by Tiffany & Co. (and PR IME) for this special event in celebration of Christmas and its upcoming seasonal events as well as its charity partnership with Mother’s Choice (Hong Kong) who will benefits from the Circle of Giving, A Legacy of Light. It was not the usual type of event I would attend but for such good cause and the “Breakfast at Tiffany,” I just cannot resist at all!
I am quite sure Tiffany & Co. requires no further introduction but I would like to take this opportunity to talk about Mother’s Choice, a charitable organization in Hong Kong that “provides and promotes loving, nurturing care for babies and children needing permanent homes, and for single girls and their families facing crisis pregnancies.” I first heard about this charity from a dear friend who volunteers every Saturday morning (early morning that is!) for several months. More on this a bit later but now let’s get to the breakfast part!
Actually, it wasn’t the sort of breakfast I was expecting (ie: English Full Breakfast); then again, I was not here for the food but wanted to know more about this charity and how the corporation works. I did have some light items such as croissants, canapes and these adorable cookies!!! I wanted to take them all home and make a collection of it!
Actually, it wasn’t the sort of breakfast I was expecting (ie: English Full Breakfast); then again, I was not here for the food but wanted to know more about this charity and how the corporation works. I did have some light items such as croissants, canapes and these adorable cookies!!! I wanted to take them all home and make a collection of it!
Soon after the speech, we moved outside to the lovely Tiffany Tree right in the middle of the Grand Piazza at 1881 Heritage.
I love that blue and I love that logo for this campaign!
We were given a card of which we write our wishes and place into the an ornament then one by one drop into a wish box under the Tiffany Tree. After this date, it is open to the public and you will get to place your wishes in exchange for a donation which will go to Mother’s Choice. So what is your wishes for this Christmas!
And by the way, I love that box shaped booth! :)
Now that you have seen the Tiffany Tree under the sun, want to know how it would look during the night? An official tree lighting ceremony was held on that evening and it was quite an event indeed! Celebrities were invited and choir was doing Christmas carol, never too early for Christmas songs right?
One of my favourite teenage idols / actresses was there as well! Charlie Yueng! She looked as if she never aged over the years! I should have taken the opportunity and go with to her for a picture with me!
Oh right! It was quite chilly that night and Tiffany was quite thoughtful to provide us with hot chocolate poured from a Chinese Tea pot, lovely idea indeed!
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20 comments:
this is awesome!!! wish i was invited!!!
the decor and cookies are fantastic!!! must be a memorable xmas lighting event!
great write-up Jason!!
I love the Christmas theme. Blue is the colour to go. Which gives me the inspiration to do Christmas trees round up in Hong Kong in the 12 days leading up to Christmas!
Lovely write up, by the way :)
love it :) great write-up j!
Looks like a good event. Well done.
Have you looked into Mother's Choice in detail? It is really a very conservative organisation. For example, on its website FAQ it says "Basically, sex is for reproduction, to continue the family, or a married couple express mutual love by means of the sex act." A few years ago they even condemned masturbation; that bit got changed after a bit of public ridicule, but I think that "sex is dirty, sex outside marriage is bad" is still basically their underlying philosophy. They are also clearly very anti-abortion - the fact that they are called "Mother's Choice" not "Women's Choice" tells you a lot. They are a long way from my view on these matters, and they're not an organisation I would support.
Oh, and some of the stuff on their website is just plain wrong. For example: "However, research shows that in Hong Kong, the success rate of using condom for contraception is just 86% due to misuse, bad quality of product and product expiration. This means every 10 incidents of intercourse results in one pregnancy." That's just ridiculous. Even without any condoms at all there isn't one pregnancy for every 10 incidents of intercourse (the real number without condoms is about 2.5%). Whoever wrote that clearly has no clue whatsoever.
@smogsblog: Thanks for dropping by once again. I reckon that the information on their website might require a bit of an update and perhaps certain assumption should be stated regarding the the numbers being used. Which page did you get the information above by the way? Under the Sex Education > Contraception ( http://www.motherschoice.org/pages/index.asp?pg=sex_edu_sex_contraception ), it now states the use of condom in a more general sense:
"Condoms are 97% reliable if you use them properly - as reliable as the contraceptive pill. They are NOT 100% reliable in preventing crisis pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases (STDs)."
I do agree that they should make the information more consistence if they can. Since we are on this topic, I might as well mentioned that I sort of disagree with one of its statement as follows shown in its website:
"Abstinence ... Couples choose to avoid all sexual activity. Their relationship focuses on getting to know each other and expressing affection in non-sexual ways ... This only works if you do not set yourself up in being alone with your boyfriend or girlfriend at home or some other quiet place. Also, don't take your clothes off. It works best through learning RESPECT and SELF-CONTROL."
The above statement is just ... sort of silly yet I respect what they believe it. Obviously it shows that the organization has its own belief or agenda which I respect 100% but not necessary agree with (yet I can still support because of the end result).
In my personal opinion, different organization, charity or churches have their own beliefs / objectives / missions. In most cases, the most important think I look at is the ultimate results of that particular charitable organization. What goods have they done to the community in the end or what sort of supports are they providing for the benefits of the society in general. In this case, the organisation is helping single mothers and help children finding a new permanent homes in Hong Kong.
"helping single mothers and help children finding a new permanent homes in Hong Kong"
In support.
Jason, I have you on RSS, so I drop by every time you post something :)
The quotes are from the FAQ Page, the first for the question "Is having sex really risky?", and the ludicrous assertion about pregnancy rates from "How to use a condom correctly?".
I don't disagree with your point about supporting a group on the basis of outcomes rather than beliefs (I have supported <a href="http://www.crossroads.org.hk>Crossroads</a> on that basis in the past, for example, even though I'm not a fan of their underlying religious motivation). However, it seems to me that the outcome of unwanted pregnancy as desired by Mother's Choice always involves a young girl taking a pregnancy to completion. I do not agree with that outcome - I'm sure it may be a good result in some cases, but I believe that there are many other cases where an abortion would be a much better course for the pregnant girl. Forcing someone to go through an unwanted pregnancy at a young age when they are utterly unprepared for it could have a far more long-lasting and deep impact on the rest of that girl's life than a simple termination.
Damn! Put an extra " after .org.hk and that second link will work. I wish I could edit comments here! :)
Eh? Where did my previous comment go?
@Smogsblog: What happened to the comment? I got it in my email. Let me re-post it here, I don't delete comments unless they are spam ... haha
Missing Comments from Smogsblog:
Jason, I have you on RSS, so I drop by every time you post something :)
The quotes are from the FAQ Page, the first for the question "Is having sex really risky?", and the ludicrous assertion about pregnancy rates from "How to use a condom correctly?".
I don't disagree with your point about supporting a group on the basis of outcomes rather than beliefs (I have supported Crossroads on that basis in the past, for example, even though I'm not a fan of their underlying religious motivation). However, it seems to me that the outcome of unwanted pregnancy as desired by Mother's Choice always involves a young girl taking a pregnancy to completion. I do not agree with that outcome - I'm sure it may be a good result in some cases, but I believe that there are many other cases where an abortion would be a much better course for the pregnant girl. Forcing someone to go through an unwanted pregnancy at a young age when they are utterly unprepared for it could have a far more long-lasting and deep impact on the rest of that girl's life than a simple termination.
@Smogblog:
I understand your view point indeed. Just for the sake of discussion (of course), there is always two distinct school of thoughts to any controversial issues, and abortion is definitely a qualified topic. I am personally not sure what is the best way to deal with it or which is the correct way because it all comes down to a matter of choice for the individual young, single mother notwithstanding the different underlying motivation of various organization. It was a choice she made to have sexual relationship with the “special someone,” it was her choice not to have protection (if that was the case), it would be a choice she has to make whether to carry on with the pregnancy or not and which organization she choose to seek for help. It is definitely a topic of great debate.
Agree with volunteering! Brings you back to the earth and you appreciate things from a different perspective. Love the blue tree >__<
Jason,
Yes indeed. This is a topic on which reasonable people can reasonably disagree, and it's not a black and white thing - there are a whole range of possible situations. All I'm saying is that because my view tends to be quite well towards the opposite end of the spectrum from (what I perceive to be) the view of Mother's Choice then it's not a charity I would support.
On the other hand, for what it's worth, charities and volunteer efforts that I have supported this year (either in cash or in time/effort) include: Room to Read, Unison, Oxfam, the Royal British Legion (HK & China branch), and Coastal Cleanup, all of which, obviously, I perceive to be Good Causes.
@Smogsblog: Is it just me or your comments seems to be disappearing??
Smogsblog's missing comment:
Jason,
Yes indeed. This is a topic on which reasonable people can reasonably disagree, and it's not a black and white thing - there are a whole range of possible situations. All I'm saying is that because my view tends to be quite well towards the opposite end of the spectrum from (what I perceive to be) the view of Mother's Choice then it's not a charity I would support.
On the other hand, for what it's worth, charities and volunteer efforts that I have supported this year (either in cash or in time/effort) include: Room to Read, Unison, Oxfam, the Royal British Legion (HK & China branch), and Coastal Cleanup, all of which, obviously, I perceive to be Good Causes.
@Smogsblog: You may want to check out Bring me a Book as well. I have been following this lately. http://www.bringmeabook.org.hk/
Interesting discussion about Mother's Choice. They sound almost like they're Catholic..
People are still dying from AIDS in africa due to certain organisations not giving out condoms to them. May be Bo's Innovation can give them a hand! qÔ.Ôp'
Mother's Choice isn't really Catholic since they accept the use of condoms and other contraception (although, like sex, they basically seem to approve of it only within marriage). They are clearly religiously inspired and have a very religious "fan base". They are fervently anti-abortion (see their Heart Stories) but also woefully ignorant at the same time (see data above on conception rates, for example). They also make statements such as "Healthy sex requires love, respect and commitment." which just go to show to the rest of us how much they are actually missing by not being able to enjoy a simple "no strings attached" shag for its own sake.
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