The Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak on Saturday said she hopes the awards ceremony that commends good deeds can pass on the spirit of caring for the community to more people.

She was speaking at the “Good Neighbours Award” ceremony in Tsim Sha Tsui, an event that's been held by the Neighbourhood Advice-Action Council every five years since 1983.

Mak noted that this year’s voting had a special focus on commending good deeds during the pandemic, including neighbourly care and support.

The ten winners this year included youth, retirees, caregivers, and visually impaired people - one of them is a retired elementary school teacher who consistently visited the elderly, while another winner was dedicated to volunteer work.

The voting for the awards was held in August last year - after a two-month nomination period, social workers and volunteers from universities conducted interviews with the nominees and eventually selected the finalists.

The council’s vice president, Tony Yen said the response to this year’s voting was enthusiastic.