This 13-year-old learned to play piano in a subdivided flat. Now he’s going on stage

Yang Qi, a 13-year-old pupil who lives in a subdivided flat in Hong Kong with his parents, has spent years studying and playing on a piano that blocks part of the entrances to the kitchen and bathroom.He is among the pupils preparing for a charity concert in October at the Cultural Centre in Tsim Sha Tsui, which aims to raise funds to fight poverty, including by supporting children who lack the resources to develop their interests.Sze Lai-shan, deputy director of the Society for Community Organisation (SoCO), said the concert also aimed to give children from low-income households the opportunity to showcase their talent on a formal stage.Citing past concerts, she said: “Facing a huge crowd, [the pupils] became more confident, more open and learned a lot … [The coming event] can also help others as well.”SoCO, one of the city’s largest concern groups for the underprivileged and the event’s organiser, said that more than 200,000 children in Hong Kong were potentially living in poverty, with their families’ incomes falling below half of the median household level.It also estimated that about 50,000 Hongkongers under the age of 18 lived in subdivided flats.