Fall Issue, 2014

mates in the Old Halls back in the 1980s. We were, by training, serious people. When we wanted to do the right thing, we wanted to do it right. In the end, an impulsive idea turned out to become a government-registered charitable organisation, which marked our commitment to serving the community in a continuous manner. Aiming at promoting resource sharing and the joy of reading, Read-Cycling is a philanthropy project for the community and a learning project for us. We had spent many evenings after work B efore I started Read-Cycling, I had barely any experience of running a charity. Writing cheques in support of the survivors of natural disasters would be the closest I came to offering a helping hand to good causes. Then one day, I suddenly found I could no longer tolerate the chaos in my study, which had thousands of books all over the place. That was when I thought about setting up an organisation to help book lovers find new homes for their good old books. My idea was promptly supported by my two best friends, Lily Ho 何莉英 (LLB 1986; PCLL 1987; PDipL(PRC) 1997) and Ivy Au Yeung 歐陽麗玲 (BSocSc 1986), who were my floor- sorting out operational challenges and arguing hard for the best solutions. It was 16 months after its inception that Read-Cycling hosted its first event, a three-day readers’ carnival, entitled “Bring A Book & Share”, in a high-traffic shopping mall. Unlike most of the used book selling bazaars, “Bring A Book & Share” serves more than to raise funds. Visitors can freely curl up on sofas or beanbags and read as long as they liked. We believe one should be able to enjoy reading anytime, anywhere, even on the way to shopping. The event itself was a means as well as an end. "If you build it, he will come." - Read-Cycling 看書 Read it. 惜書 Love it. 送書 Share it. 38 SERVICE 100