We are honoured to welcome you to the Grief & Heal Conference 2026, co-organised with the HKU School of Nursing and the CUHK School of Public Health and Primary Care. The Conference forms part of our project funded by the HKEX Foundation, dedicated to strengthening lifelong autonomy for all individuals in Hong Kong. Our collaboration reflects a shared belief that grief, healing, and emotional wellbeing are responsibilities that extend beyond any single discipline.

This year’s conference unfolds at a time of profound sorrow. The tragedy in Tai Po has left deep wounds across the city—lives lost, families shattered, and communities displaced. We hold the primary victims and their loved ones close in our hearts. Their need for intensive, long-term support is unquestionable. Yet this tragedy has also generated a wider shockwave of emotional trauma affecting the general public, including neighbours, “digital witnesses”, first responders, media workers, healthcare professionals and social workers. This collective grief is real, and it deserves recognition.

It is within this context that the Conference has been reframed as Grief & Heal. Rather than examining abstract ideas, we gather today to confront the honest, human experience of loss, and to explore how a city can begin to heal together. Our focus this year centres especially on disenfranchised grief—the forms of sorrow that remain unseen, unnamed, or unsupported, yet weigh heavily on individuals and communities.

Alongside the Conference, we introduce the Journey of Heal: a series of social and cultural experiences designed to provide rest, grounding, and companionship. Through movement practices, films, storytelling, and sensory-based activities, participants are invited into moments of reflection and reconnection. As part of this journey, we also bring forward the Treehole Phone Booth, an immersive and private space where individuals may speak—or simply listen to—the stories and grief they cannot share elsewhere. It is a shelter for the emotions that often go unspoken, a place where personal sorrow becomes part of collective memory. 

In direct response to the emotional needs emerging from society, we are launching Project Grief & Heal, an initiative dedicated to supporting the secondary victims of the tragedy, those who continue to struggle with trauma, fear, insomnia, or intrusive images. In this project, anyone mentally troubled by the tragedy can receive professional mental health support delivered by qualified and vetted clinical psychologists and/or psychiatrists, free of charge. As seed funding, 10% of all ticketing revenue from the Conference—allocated without any deductions—will be dedicated to supporting the initiative.

The strength of this event lies in its cross-sector solidarity. The path through grief is not walked by professionals alone. It requires the insight of healthcare workers, the compassion of social service practitioners, the creativity of artists, the commitment of philanthropists, the reach of commercial partners, and the active participation of the community. Only together can we begin to rebuild a sense of safety, dignity, and connectedness in a city that is hurting.

As we open the Grief & Heal Conference and embark on the Journey of Heal, we reaffirm the mission that grounds our work: to honour every person’s chosen family, identity, and relationships; to respect who we are, who we love, and how we wish to live and die.

Thank you for being here, and thank you for contributing to this important journey.