In the Wake of A Tragedy, Use Your Network for Good
- Jessica Wat
- 12 minutes ago
- 5 min read
The news of the fire in Tai Po arrived first as a notification on Wednesday afternoon, then as a cold, heavy weight in my chest. By 8:30 a.m. on Thursday, as I logged into my work chat and other social apps, I could tell that the sentiment was shared. Across Women of Hong Kong’s digital spaces, usually abuzz with event plans and resource sharing, a heavy, helpless silence had also fallen. The shared, aching question was palpable: Is there anything we can do?
The proximity of the tragedy hit unnervingly close to home for me. Not just geographically, but viscerally. My own apartment building had only recently shed its shell of scaffolding and safety netting after months of renovations. Across Hong Kong’s vertical landscape, the same sight is not unfamiliar – bamboo lattices and construction-works cling to facades like second skins, symbols of perpetual renewal in an ever-evolving city. On Thursday, they became a chilling reminder of shared vulnerability. This, we all understood, could have been any of those buildings, could have happened to any of us.
A desperate need to act collided with the knowledge that many in the Women of Hong Kong community, a network of thousands connected across the city, would likely also have the will to help. But where were our efforts needed? Where could willing hands be of use?
So, we decided to build a bridge. The concept, born by 11:30 a.m., was simple: create a dedicated volunteer chat not just for our Women of Hong Kong network, but open to anyone in Hong Kong stirred by a shared sense of purpose to contribute to disaster relief assistance. I envisioned a modest operation that a few of our members might join; perhaps a hundred dedicated souls organising a few supplies runs or volunteer efforts out at Tai Po. I was profoundly mistaken.
A Gathering of Souls Wanting to Help, Willing to Mobilise
The chat hit its maximum capacity of 1,000 users in a matter of hours, with many more wanting to join. By 12:30 p.m., we were receiving direct requests from on the ground in Tai Po: calls for energy gels, protein bars, electrolyte drinks and wet wipes needed in large quantities for firefighters. The abstract desire to help had crystallised into a concrete list. And our community answered.
Less than 15 minutes after we received the resource request, we found a venue partner to help house donated goods and coordinate. The Hive stepped in and we opened a drop-off point at their co-working space in Causeway Bay. Thus began the wave of donations coming in.
What I anticipated as a trickle of items became a flood. A tide of care materialised, measured in crates of Pocari Sweat, towers of electrolyte drinks and water bottles, and bulging bags stuffed with protein bars and energy gels. We pushed back our original drop off time by 2 hours to account for additional large donations arriving from local businesses and good Samaritans. By early evening, our storage room was a labyrinth of generosity: an estimated 30 boxes of electrolyte drinks, over 15 tote bags brimming with sports gels and chews, mountains of other boxed nutrition bars, bags of cleaning supplies and face masks, all donated by countless individuals.
The logistics were humble, human. Transport companies offered up their services: taxis, delivery drivers, and Hong Kong residents with private cars. More than twenty volunteers materialised as neighbours granting us their time between meetings or after-work. They formed a chain, passing boxes from our storage room on the 18th floor down to waiting taxis destined for Tai Po. There were no banners, no speeches, just the quiet, efficient work of a community in motion. And thus, our first major request was complete and sent off without fanfare. I left The Hive that night with a quiet, grateful feeling that we had at least made a small difference.
The Work Continues in a Grieving City
The effort is ongoing. After Thursday’s donation drive and the vast amount of interest we received from the public to pitch in, we upgraded our initial WhatsApp chat into a larger community platform to accommodate up to 2,000 users. It has evolved into a dedicated medium to cut through the noise, disseminate clear information, and ensure our efforts are targeted and practical. We have streamlined discussions, creating different channels for logistics, medical support, announcements, sourcing, translation and volunteering. Since that first relief effort, we’ve coordinated multiple furniture and clothing donation drives for re-homed Tai Po residents and Migrant Domestic Workers, and become a connective node for other fundraising and community appeals.
A collection of some of the donations drives we have coordinated (Photos: Jessica Wat)
It is crucial to note ours is not the only story. This tragedy has sparked a galaxy of grassroots responses across Hong Kong. Citizens have coded volunteer coordination websites overnight. Countless other chats hum with activity on different platforms. In the face of profound loss, people have rallied with the tools they have - whether it be organising, coding, driving, donating - to weave a net of support beneath their city.
A Network For Good
In the rare, contemplative moments I have had to reflect in the past few days, the true magnitude of these actions has settled upon me and the Women of Hong Kong team. We have always believed that we were more than a professional network or hub for life hacks and hobby-sharing. Women of Hong Kong is, at its core, a community forged for good. Last Thursday, I witnessed the true character of this network in full force. It reinforced why this platform exists: to uplift and empower, and showed us just how powerful our network really is.
This has been my first experience in disaster relief coordination - a profound, humbling education. I stand in awe of how people from all walks of life have come together, trying to navigate and make an impact with the best information we have. I have seen firsthand the immense, unseen machinery behind the scenes: the countless volunteers, the logistical chains, the quiet conversations trying to align efforts and information that is often piecemeal, sometimes incorrect, or delayed. It has taught me that in the weeks to come, as we continue to rally for the affected families, our most vital supplies will not just be the ones in boxes, but the kindness, grace, and boundless patience we extend to one another. In the midst of this tragedy, I feel a deep gratitude to be part of such a generous community and to be in a position to help, however small my part may seem.
Hope in a City Redefined
Hong Kong, to the outside observer, may be a parable of hyper-efficiency: a vertical, fast-paced metropolis where bluntness, guardedness and detachment are stereotyped characteristic traits of its residents. But the tragedy in Tai Po has revealed to me a different side to this city; one that has quietly subverted this narrative.
In the past week, I have witnessed a collective spirit emerge, where compassion forms the bedrock and generosity of time, resources and simple human effort flows without fanfare. This is a Hong Kong where people from every stratum of society have stepped out of their private orbits to weave a network of support, comfort, and unwavering solidarity. It is this version of the city that now stands in stark relief - a truer portrait I will carry forward.
Our city’s fractured heart is finding its rhythm again, beat by beat, through the collective, determined will of its people. The weight in our chests hasn’t vanished, but now, we carry it together.
