For Immediate Release
October 10, 2026
Hong Kong – To support World Mental Health Day, Manulife Hong Kong and JUST FEEL, a Hong Kong-based NGO dedicated to emotional education, today hosted “My Flag Day” 2026. The event brought together 500 parent-child volunteers from Manulife Hong Kong and nine JUST FEEL partner schools, who distributed more than 10,000 feelings flags across Hong Kong, encouraging members of the public to pause, check in with themselves and express how they feel.
Under the theme “Pause to Feel, Awareness to Embrace”, the campaign invited the public to choose and wear a flag that best reflected their emotions at that moment. Distributed free of charge, the flags featured designs created by winners of the “My Flag Day” Flag Paper Design Competition held earlier this year and represented six emotions: joyful, contented, relaxed, tired, worried and sad. By encouraging people to express feelings that often go unspoken in daily life, the initiative aimed to foster greater understanding, empathy and care for one another.
Volunteers also distributed a Self-Connection Tracker, encouraging participants to spend a week reflecting on their daily emotional experiences and developing simple self-care habits.
“Through ‘My Flag Day’ 2026, we hope to encourage people to slow down amid the demands of everyday life and take a moment to recognize, express and embrace their feelings,” said Alice Ma, Chief Marketing Officer for Manulife Hong Kong and Macau. “Emotional well-being is a vital part of overall health and an important foundation for living longer, healthier and more fulfilling lives. At Manulife Hong Kong, we are committed to advancing holistic well-being through community partnerships and action on longevity. We are proud to partner with JUST FEEL to promote emotional education, foster a more compassionate culture across schools, families and communities, and encourage more open conversations about feelings and mental health. Together, we hope to help build a healthier and more resilient society.”
“‘My Flag Day’ reminds us that caring for our feelings does not require a special occasion. It can become an everyday habit,” said Raymond Yang, Co-founder and Executive Director of JUST FEEL. “We are grateful for the support of Manulife Hong Kong and our partner schools for helping us extend our work in emotional education from schools to more families and the wider community. Through our long-term strategic charity partnership with Manulife Hong Kong, JUST FEEL will continue supporting local schools and working alongside teachers, parents and students to foster communication habits that value feelings and needs, as well as listening and understanding. In doing so, emotional education can go beyond the classroom and become part of school culture.”
The event forms part of Manulife Hong Kong and JUST FEEL’s World Mental Health Day Campaign. Earlier initiatives under the campaign included a Compassionate Communication Parent Seminar and Interactive Workshop, which brought together about 100 parents to explore how empathy can strengthen understanding between parents and children and foster healthier, more trusting relationships.
Since April 2025, Manulife Hong Kong and JUST FEEL have partnered under a long-term strategic charity partnership to advance emotional education and foster a Compassionate School Culture among students, teachers and parents. Through a range of community initiatives, the partnership aims to raise awareness of emotional well-being and encourage compassionate communication across schools, families and communities. The collaboration also aligns with the Manulife Longevity Institute, a research, thought leadership, innovation, advocacy and community investment platform that is advancing action that helps people live longer, healthier, more financially secure lives.
About Manulife Hong Kong and Macau
Manulife Hong Kong has been a trusted name for more than 125 years, while we have served the Macau market for three decades. Since our operations began in Asia in 1897, we have grown into one of the top-tier providers of financial services, offering a diverse range of protection and wealth products and services to over 2.6 million customers in Hong Kong and Macau. We are committed to helping make decisions easier and lives better for our customers.
Manulife Hong Kong and Macau, through Manulife International Holdings Limited, owns Manulife (International) Limited, Manulife Investment Management (Hong Kong) Limited, and Manulife Provident Funds Trust Company Limited. These entities are all subsidiaries of Manulife Financial Corporation.
About Manulife
Manulife Financial Corporation is a leading international financial services provider, headquartered in Toronto, Canada. Anchored in our ambition to be the number one choice for customers, we operate as Manulife across Canada and Asia, and primarily as John Hancock in the United States, providing financial advice, insurance and health solutions for individuals, groups and businesses. Through Manulife Wealth & Asset Management, we offer global investment solutions, financial advice, and retirement plan services to individuals, institutions, and retirement plan members worldwide. At the end of 2025, we had more than 37,000 employees, over 106,000 agents, and thousands of distribution partners, serving over 37 million customers with operations across 25 markets globally. We trade as ‘MFC’ on the Toronto, New York, and Philippine stock exchanges, and under ‘945’ on the Hong Kong stock exchange. Not all offerings are available in all jurisdictions. For additional information, please visit manulife.com.
About Manulife Longevity Institute
The Manulife Longevity Institute is a global research, thought leadership, innovation, advocacy, and community investment platform to drive action that can help people live longer, healthier, and more financially secure lives. Underpinned by a $350 million signature commitment, its focus is on helping people extend their healthy years, promoting greater financial resilience for all. As a global insurer, retirement plan provider, and asset manager, Manulife is uniquely placed to help lead this change. The Institute's work will support Manulife's Impact Agenda strategy by investing in organizations that are growing the longevity economy, convening research collaborations with leading academic institutions and think tanks, and producing thought leadership to advance awareness and action on the issues impacting populations as they age. The Institute will be known as the John Hancock Longevity Institute in the United States. The actions of the Institute will be guided by a Steering Committee of members of Manulife's Executive and Global Leadership Teams and in partnership with a robust ecosystem of partners and experts who champion longevity across Canada, Asia, and the US. For more information, please visit Manulife.com/Longevity.
About JUST FEEL
JUST FEEL is the first charity to systematically promote Compassionate Communication and Social-Emotional Learning in local schools in Hong Kong. With the motto of "Connection before Solution", JUST FEEL is dedicated to transforming the communication culture in schools and families, empowering educators and parents to enhance the emotional well-being of children. Since its establishment in 2018, JUST FEEL has collaborated with over 88 primary schools, supporting over 91,000 students, 11,000 teachers, and 151,000 parents. For additional information, please visit https://www.justfeel.hk/.