Crisis looms for outdoor education provider Outward Bound in Hong Kong if cash crunch caused by protests, coronavirus persists

Kayaking, climbing, camping out – Outward Bound has been challenging Hongkongers to prove themselves through outdoor activities for 50 years

Its mission is to instil the ‘confidence to tackle the sort of situation that they would not face normally’. Now it faces a cash crunch amid protests, Covid-19

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Students jump from a jetty with Outward Bound in Sai Kung. The group faces an uncertain future thanks to protests and lockdowns drying up funding. Photo: May Tse

Published: 1:15pm, 19 Jul 2020Updated: 1:15pm, 19 Jul 2020

Just before lunchtime on a Friday in Hong Kong’s rural Sai Kung district, seven teenagers – wearing life jackets and chanting in unison to boost their spirits – are ready to launch themselves from a pier into the water three metres (nearly 10 feet) below.

This is the Jetty Jump, a rite of passage on almost every course at the Outward Bound (OBHK) centre, which has been throwing Hongkongers gently but firmly into the deep end for the past 50 years.

One by one, the girls edge forward, guided by the patient words and the tender hands of their instructor, Kaycee Chu Yan-lok, who stands just behind them. With a loud squeak followed by a noisier splash, the first to take the plunge is met with uproarious applause. She’s followed in moderately quick succession by five others. Then there’s a pause. Tears are rolling down number seven’s face. Crying turns to wailing.

Can she? Will she?

One by one, the girls edge forward, guided by their instructor. Photo: May Tse

In the water below, six voices burst out singing in Cantonese “one more step and you can fly”, but the lyrics have little effect. After long minutes of comfort and attempts at persuasion, she shifts to a lower platform, swallows hard, and leaps. Everyone cheers.

“I’d have been tempted to give her a short, sharp shove,” one spectator comments.