Rich kid poor kid
Raising
money-wise kids
Accountants pass on their financial management
skills to students through the Institute’s popular
“Rich Kid, Poor Kid” project
By Madeleine Fitzpatrick
A
n intriguing question has caught
the attention of more than 100
assembled children: Is it really
possible to turn a dollar into a million?
A hush descends as the group of six- to
12-year-olds at Wan Chai’s Ling Lam
Primary School waits to find out how this
amazing feat of magic is performed. CPA
and entrepreneur Suzanne Wong begins
telling the story of a girl called May
Moon – and the answer is at last revealed.
The “magic trick” comes about, of course,
through interest and investment.
Wong is one of more than 200
accountant ambassadors teaching
wealth management concepts to
primary and secondary school students
throughout Hong Kong. The initiative
is part of the Institute’s “Rich Kid, Poor
Kid” programme, which was named
corporate social responsibility campaign
of the year at the 2007 Asia Pacific
Public Relations Awards, a regional
competition rewarding best practices in
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March 2008
the industry. It also won a certificate of
excellence in the non-profit campaign of
the year category.
The project was a follow-up to the
“Healthy Budgeting” programme the
Institute introduced in partnership
with social workers from the Tung
Wah Group of Hospitals in June 2002,
when the Hong Kong economy was still
reeling from the aftermath of the Asian
financial crisis.
Money management matters
The success of “Healthy Budgeting”
highlighted the value of money
management skills to families in crisis.
But the Institute wanted to go one
step further: teaching young children
how to manage their money and so
avoid landing in dire financial straits
in the first place. It began organizing
workshops in secondary schools in
November 2005 and in primary schools
a year later.
“We wanted to get down to Hong
Kong’s youngest people,” says Mindee
Hansen, director of communications
at the Institute. “If we can teach
eight-year-old kids how to keep track
of their money, then we will have
done something remarkable and given
Hong Kong a strength no other place
can match.”
The Institute believes that when it
comes to setting good financial habits,
it’s never too early to start.
“All the little ones think is, ‘If I get
this amount of money, I can go to the
shop and buy that.’ So we just tell them
the three S’s,” says Wong. These are
spending, saving and sharing, as described
in May Moon and the Secrets of the CPAs,
a book written by Nury Vittachi for the
“Rich Kid, Poor Kid” programme.
Wong tries to help the children
understand how much they already own
compared to those in less developed
countries. At the Ling Lam Primary
PHOTOGRAPHY BY MIKE HO
Students at Buddhist Sin Tak College show great enthusiasm at a recent “Rich Kid, Poor Kid” road show.
School, she asks the kids – “How rich
do you think you are?” – and gives
them six options, from “super-rich” to
“really, really poor.” Once they have
chosen, the children find out how
accurate their guess was by answering
“yes” or “no” to a list of questions
including: Does their family own a
telephone? A computer? A television?
Do they have HK$15 that they could
spend today if they wanted? Answering
yes to six of the 10 questions, they
learn, puts them in the “rich” category.
Today, as on many days, all of the kids
have answered yes to eight or more
questions. “Congratulations!” beams
Wong, “That puts you in the top two
percent of the world’s super-rich!”
to secondary students. But instead of
telling the story of May Moon, the
accountant amabssadors bring a road
show to the teens, showing them the
Institute’s pre-taped interviews with
their peers. They also ask the secondary
students about how they handle a range
of financial decisions and present the
results at the end of the workshop.
Suzanne Wong recalls how amazed
she was to discover while speaking at
a secondary school that students as
young as 14 are investing on the stock
market. “‘But you’re not old enough,’
I say. ‘I asked my mum to open a bank
account for me,’ they tell me. ‘Did your
parents advise you on your investment?’
‘No, I read about the stocks in the
newspaper.’ I was very impressed!”
she says.
At the Buddhist Sin Tak College in
Kwai Hing, accountant ambassadors
Curtis Wong, director of a consultancy
firm, and Cherie Mak, a financial
consultant, are equally impressed
to find that many of the 500 14- to
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PHOTOGRAPHS BY MIKE HO
Reaching out to teens
With stories rife in the local papers of
18-year-olds racking up massive credit
card debts, the Institute is equally
keen that the programme reaches out
If we can teach eight-year-old kids how
to keep track of their money, then we
will have done something remarkable
and given Hong Kong a strength no
other place can match.
Rich kid poor kid
May Moon is back
The Hong Kong Institute of CPAs makes
managing money a family affair.
In two books published in Chinese
in January, the Institute teaches
small children and their parents why
managing money is an important skill
in life.
The May Moon Money-Wise Box
Set, which contains May Moon and the
Secrets of CPAs and How to Raise a
Money-Wise Child, shares the core skills
of accountants – money management –
with Hong Kong families.
“At Lunar New Year, lai see gives
families an opportunity to talk about
money and what it means in a family
context,” says Winnie Cheung, chief
executive at the Institute. “Money
never really means money in families.
It often means tradition, respect and
relationships.”
In the book for children, young
people hear the story of May Moon,
who discovers the secrets of CPAs and
soon finds out how rich she really is.
The other book gives parents tips for
teaching important money lessons.
The box set is now available in Hong
Kong bookstores and comes in Chinese
and English versions.
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March 2008
18-year-olds they are speaking to have
already begun saving.
“I’ve deposited all the Lunar New
Year lai see I’ve ever received in my bank
account,” says Form Four student Tse
Yuk-kit. But with interest rates at an
all-time low, the stock market can be a
powerful lure for some. Can they be too
young to invest?
“It all depends on the maturity of
the student,” says Wong Siu-chun, a
student in Form Six. “Some people get
depressed about losing money. But if
you think you can overcome that, then
you can see investing as a challenge and
gain some experience from it.”
The four students interviewed for
this article said they had all been advised
by their parents to set aside some money
for the future. But as Choi Ka-wa, a
Form Six student, points out, “Proper
money management should also include
knowing how to spend wisely.”
Form Four’s Wong Man-ho came
away from the session with another
valuable realization. “Instead of just
planning for the coming weeks or
months, I think now that I should have
a plan for the next 10 years,” he says.
Going overseas
“Rich Kid, Poor Kid” and the May
Moon Box Set (which also includes
the How to Raise a Money-Wise Child
book for parents) have sparked interest
from accounting institutes around the
world. The Netherlands’ accounting
institute NIVRA has translated the
books into Dutch for use in schools,
while Kenya’s and Israel’s institutes
have expressed interest in launching
community outreach programmes
based on “Rich Kid, Poor Kid.”
Provided they can find volunteers
like Hong Kong’s accountant
ambassadors, the success of such
initiatives will be assured.
“It’s rewarding helping others,”
says John Ng, a consultant with a
large financial services company
and ambassador for the programme.
“And that’s exactly what we preach.
To get somewhere in life you need
to keep your finances in order – but
money isn’t everything.” For while
mastering the first two S’s may bring
financial stability, it is in the third –
sharing – that lasting happiness can
be found. A+
MAY MOON ILLUSTRATION BY JEFFERY YEH
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Cherie Mak and Curtis Wong are among 200 accountant ambassadors of the Institute
teaching wealth management concepts to primary and secondary students.