The Student Residence Office (SRO) organised a Joint Hall Mid-Autumn Festival celebration in the Student Residence Halls on 12 September and invited student residents and staff of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) and exchange students from Lingnan University to enjoy a festive evening.

The theme of the celebration was environmental protection and lights were switched off for 15 minutes to echo the slogan "Light off, Moon on". The students are urged to reduce, reuse and recycle when designing their booths. SRO arranged for students from around the world to enjoy traditional Chinese cultural activities, such as the Lion Dance and martial arts.

Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional time for family reunions. SRO organised the celebration to enable overseas students to learn more about this traditional culture and for all residents to enjoy a festive yet homelike evening.

Miss Anna Chan, an Instructor of the English Language Centre and residence tutor of the Jockey Club Harmony Hall, is a member of the event's organising committee. As an overseas CityU exchange student who lived in the student residence hall last year, she already regards the residence hall as her home. "I know about the needs of the residents so when we organised the celebration, the committee members tried to arrange activities with a cultural uniqueness. I hope this will help the overseas students to familiarise themselves with Chinese culture," Anna said.

The SRO selected student environmental representatives who helped remind participants of the rules in designing their booths so as to match the activity's theme.

Karen Lee Po-yu, a Year 3 student of the Department of Biology and Chemistry, is one of the environmental representatives. She said the students were fully supportive of adopting the idea of environmental protection in their daily lives.

"All students tried their best to design their booths environmentally. They tried to reduce the generation of rubbish and reuse unused items from last year as decorations and presents," Karen said. "After this event, I will continue to promote the idea of environmental protection to other students. I hope that all of us can put it into action and learn to treasure the resources."

Ms Rebecca Chan Po-yu, Director of SRO, said the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration is welcomed by students in the residence halls, which are a microcosm of society. "Since the semester has just begun, many students need to cope with hall life. I hope this event helps students take care of each other, improve communication and develop the residence hall as a harmonious community," Ms Chan said.