About the Event


Developing economies are entering a new demographic era with aging population, which threatens to cripple the traditional health care model, a system that simply cannot afford the way elderly get sick. Just how are we are to care for the elderly in the future, is not a question for governments alone, but rather the community as a whole.

Join us as we listen to thought leader Timothy Ma, former Executive Director of the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association, Hong Kong’s first and largest 100% self-financing social enterprise that works to enhance the quality of life for the elderly through the use of technology and people-oriented social services.

In response to a prolonged cold spell in 1996 during which more than 150 senior citizens living alone in Hong Kong were found dead, Timothy led the development of a 24-hour Personal Emergency Link Service for elderly and chronically-ill patients which was successfully replicated in five cities in the Mainland. Today it serves more than 80,000 senior citizens in Hong Kong with an annual turnaround of HK$100 million.

Timothy’s story and his 40 years of experience in the development, promotion and operation of various social entrepreneurship projects, will shed insight on the future of health care for elderly care, e-care, and social innovation.

About the Speaker

Timothy Ma
(RSW, FCRP, JP, Teaching Professor-- ICRM)

Timothy served as the Executive Director of the Senior Citizen Home Safety Association (SCHSA) since its inception in 1996 to 2012 and currently sits as a member on SCHSA’s Board of Directors. The SCHSA is a self-financing social enterprise and charitable organization in Hong Kong that offers 24-hour personal care and emergency assistance services to the elderly and others in need through a core service, the Personal Emergency Link Service. Timothy was responsible for the development, promotion and operation of the 24-hour Personal Emergency Link Service for which he was awarded The Outstanding Social Entrepreneur Award in 2009 by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship, a sister organization of the World Economic Forum. In recent years, SCHSA has developed a series of services including the award-winning Mobile Link Service, Safety Phone Service, e-Care Link Service, eSmart Health Service, among others as part of a continuous effort to enhance the quality of life for the elderly.

Timothy currently serves as the Project Consultant of Project Flame at the City University of Hong Kong which fosters social innovation and transformation through academic and professional education, student service leadership, social innovation incubation and research and knowledge transfer. He is a registered social worker with more than 40 years of experience in the field. Timothy is also a fellow of Certified Risk Planning and a teaching professor at the University of Hong Kong. He serves as a management consultant for a number of local and overseas NGOs and social enterprises.

He is a founding member of the Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Forum and Vice-Chairman of the General Chamber of Social Enterprises. Timothy has been appointed by the Hong Kong Government to serve on several public committees concerned with elderly and social welfare issues. Currently, Timothy serves as a Non-Executive Director of the Urban Renewal Authority, Executive Council member of the Hong Kong Housing Society, member of the Elderly Academy Development Fund, Social Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Fund, Technology Coupon Fund, as well as a consultant of the Funders’ Network for Ageing Well. He was recently appointed as the only overseas board member of the Centre for Enabled Living, a functioning arm of Singapore MCYS, to render elderly related services. He was also appointed as an expert on ageing at the Global Agenda Council of the World Economic Forum. Timothy was appointed as a Justice of Peace by the Hong Kong Government on June 30, 2012.

About the Social Entrepreneurship Sub-Committee

Canada has been recognized as a top ten ‘Best Countries to be a Social Entrepreneur’ by the Thomson Reuters Foundation, and continues to emerge as a leading destination for innovation and social responsibility. The Social Entrepreneurship Sub-Committee was formed to foster the growth of social entrepreneurship, impact investing, philanthropy and other social impact driven activities within the Canadian Chamber and community at large. The sub-committee engages thought leaders and showcases social enterprises in order to exchange ideas and experiences to address shared social problems faced in Hong Kong and Canada. The aim of the Social Entrepreneurship Series is to raise awareness and support of the social entrepreneurship movement, and to influence social impact in our community.