Hong Kong’s religious leaders have called for continued support for victims of the devastating Tai Po fire and reflections on hope amid the tragedy in their Christmas messages.

The Archbishop of Hong Kong Sheng Kung Hui, Andrew Chan, urged people not to forget the survivors of the Wang Fuk Court inferno even as the public outpouring of sympathy in the immediate aftermath of the city's worst fire in decades wanes.

The modern world quickly moves on to new worries, he said, but the victims’ pain will linger for a long time.

“Very soon, because our modern world gives us new things to worry about every week, attention on the Tai Po victims will diminish,” Chan said.

“Their worries will remain, and it will take a considerable time for the survivors to recover fully from their loss, but the world will have moved on. What then?

"Should we only bring gifts to others when a big tragedy happens? No, it is especially when the world has moved on, when the world has stopped paying attention, that our love is most needed.”

But Chan said he also saw the brightest side of Hong Kong in the outpouring of help, from volunteering to donations to the ultimate sacrifice made by 37-year-old firefighter Ho wai-ho, who lost his life tackling the blaze.

For Cardinal Stephen Chow, Christmas brings hope at a time when the city is grieving.

“Christmas is here precisely to assure us that the Son of God has become one of us, sharing fully the ‘sweetness, acidity, bitterness and heat’ of our humanity. The Son of God has since been intimately connected with us that we no longer struggle without a future. For Christmas means that we have a clear way out to a radically new and promising life,” he said.

Chow also commented on education in the city, saying it should not serve merely as an instrument to attain prosperity by churning out young graduates for the civil service, professional sectors or labour market.

Conventional paths are not the only ones in education, he said, and the city should encourage young people to take different pathways where they can celebrate their gifts on suitable platforms.