13 November 2026 | BLOG
Author: Elliot (FY3 Student)

We caught up with Elliot, a Foundation Year 3 (FY3) student and a Malvern Scholar, whose passion for kindness, creativity and youth mental well-being has grown into a school-wide initiative. Drawing on years of student-led advocacy, Elliot brought together the Malvern community, the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation and the Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association to create the Malvern Smiles Project – turning a simple smile into a powerful message of inclusion and connection. Here, Elliot shares the inspiration behind the project and the people who helped bring it to life.

• Could you please explain what the Malvern Smiles Project is? 

The Malvern Smiles Project is a multi-faceted, whole-school initiative dedicated to the power of kindness, mental well-being, and genuine human connection. At its core, it’s about recognising that kindness doesn’t happen in a vacuum—it flows from person to person, uniting the Prep and Senior schools into one cohesive Malvern family. Crucially, it celebrates the power of expressive arts and creative movement for mental well-being; while many people traditionally view theatre purely as performance on a stage, expressive movement and creative arts tap directly into our inner emotional worlds, helping us release heavy feelings and naturally bringing smiles to our faces. To put this into practice, the project encourages everyone to pause, put down their screens momentarily, and engage in creative reflection by drawing on yellow smile discs and penning words of gratitude. Beyond our school gates, it extends empathy to those who are often misunderstood or stigmatized, particularly individuals with visible and invisible disabilities, embracing the motto ‘No labels, just smiles.’ Ultimately, it’s a living tapestry of values designed to restore shared human warmth and remind us of the simple, transformative power of a spontaneous smile in a digital world.

• What first inspired you to create the Malvern Smiles Project and why is this initiative especially meaningful to you?

My journey with this began back in Prep 4 in 2023, when I championed World Smile Day with a smiley face craft project across Prep classes. That expanded in 2024 when I advocated for mental well-being and gratitude practices for World Kindness Day. Since then, I’ve always believed kindness and mental health are inextricably linked.

In 2026, being part of the cast for the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation’s (HKYAF) flagship production Falling Awake really opened my eyes. I realized how many young people carry raw emotions that are hard to articulate because they feel misunderstood. This deep love for the performing arts led me to discover the power of creative arts for mental well-being. A major milestone of this project was being able to bring forth a collaboration between HKYAF and Malvern College Hong Kong (MCHK), hosting an expressive arts workshop for mental well-being titled ‘Human After All – Are You for Real?’.

This initiative ties directly into my broader advocacy for free play—whether through my PYPx project, my TEDx talk on finding flow away from screens, or my role as Deputy Head of Morgan House where my goal is to unite everyone and give every unique strength a stage to shine. Creating the yellow discs offers a screen-free space to focus on gratitude, while collaborating with the Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association (HKDSA) under their motto ‘No labels, just smiles’ lets us share that joy with the wider community. This project is deeply meaningful because it brings me back to where I started, proving that values and raw human emotions transcend time.

• The project was inspired by the phrase “No labels, just smiles.” What did that message mean to you, and how did you hope people would connect with it?

On October 24, while heading to a rehearsal, I stopped to chat with volunteers at the HKDSA flag day and saw the tagline ‘No labels, just smiles.’ It stayed with me instantly. As teens, it often feels like everyone walks through school holding an invisible clipboard—judging your phone, how you talk, or who you sit with. People print out a label and stick it on your back, which can be scary because surface judgments miss everything underneath.

We all have days that feel like a heavy, quiet battle behind closed doors. Yet people often make up their minds about someone who looks or behaves differently without knowing the storms they’re facing at home. Relying on first impressions is unfair. When you label someone—the loud one, the quiet kid, the odd one who loves theatre so much he misses hangouts with friends—you build a wall. But a real smile doesn’t ask for your backstory or care if you had a terrible morning.

A smile is a quiet way of saying, ‘I see you, you belong here.’ Malvern Smiles isn’t about fake positivity or grand speeches; it’s about resetting the room. When we drop the labels and lead with a genuine smile, we give each other permission to just be human and breathe a little easier, because we never really know who is secretly holding their breath to get through the day.

• Why did you choose to support the Hong Kong Down Syndrome Association, and what did you hope the fundraiser would help people understand about the experiences of individuals with Down syndrome?

Through our fundraising initiative, I wanted to raise awareness and support for both visible and invisible disabilities. While able-bodied youth can often articulate their feelings easily, individuals with Down syndrome frequently face social stigma, mischaracterization on social media, and struggle to express themselves, which can lead to hidden mental health challenges like depression.

However, with proper care, inclusion, and support, individuals with Down syndrome live joyful, fulfilling lives just like anyone else. Their flag day tagline, ‘No labels, just smiles,’ aligned perfectly with our campaign. By sharing our smiles at Malvern, we wanted to extend that joy outward and help our wider community look past stereotypes and embrace true inclusion.

• What did you hope the Malvern Smiles tote bag would represent beyond the fundraising itself?

I wanted this bag to be more than just merchandise. When you carry it, you’re carrying our community’s kindness into the world. Most tote bags show which school you go to, but this one shows how we treat people. Our bag is centered around a simple, honest emotion: a smile .In a world that judges you in seven seconds, that smile is a quiet way of saying, ‘You don’t have to prove anything today.’ That raw, genuine feeling is what makes Malvern different and special. It’s not about trying to look perfect or fitting into a label; it’s about real human connection, kindness, and reminding people—especially anyone having a hard day—that they’re seen and supported.

• How did you bring the initiative to life, and what role did collaboration with Morgan House, the school community and HKDSA play?

This project wouldn’t have been possible without incredible support from key staff members—including Ms. Englart, Ms. Hickman, Mr. Vezier, and Mrs. Gebrial—and the Morgan Senior House Leadership. After sharing my proposal with my teachers and receiving the green light, I was also blessed to collaborate with the Hong Kong Youth Arts Foundation (HKYAF), along with Giselle Liu and Carmen Suen, who organized an amazing expressive arts workshop for our peers called ‘Human After All: Are You For Real?’

The HKDSA was equally wonderful, welcoming the proposal and arranging for their Down Syndrome ambassadors to visit us and host a Human Library session. Looking back, projects like this don’t end up on official rolls of honor or win traditional trophies, but for me, it’s never been about accolades. It’s about sharing what we have to benefit our school and wider community, staying grounded in human values. I am profoundly grateful to everyone who believed in my vision and gave me the trust and space to bring it to life.

• Please tell us about the Malvern Wall of Happiness.

The Malvern Wall of Happiness stands as a vibrant visual representation of our community’s collective kindness and mental health support. It isn’t just an art display; it is a living reminder of what happens when our whole school community slows down together. Putting aside our screens, students picked up paper and colored pens to create, reflect, and share how they were feeling. Every yellow smile on that wall carried something personal—a drawing, a note of gratitude, or a piece of someone’s story—proving that while our individual identities are unique, every piece fits together to create our Malvern family. It reflects true leadership: not standing alone at the front, but celebrating every student’s unique strength—whether on the debate stage, in the pool, on the sports field, or with a guitar—so everyone has room to shine and belong.

• How did the project reflect the Malvern qualities of kindness, collaboration and communication?

Throughout this journey, I experienced profound generosity and connection. From working with my teachers and Senior House leadership, planning Prep assemblies, liaising with HKYAF and Giselle Liu, to coordinating with HKDSA, collaboration was everywhere. Interestingly, aside from using technology to prepare slides and handle email communications, the core of the project was wonderfully screen-free. It required us to put devices aside to listen, talk, laugh, and ask questions.

I was initially nervous about hitting our fundraising targets for HKDSA as a student-led effort, but the response from both Prep and Senior schools was overwhelmingly encouraging. I am especially thankful to Ms. Englart and Mrs. Gebrial for helping coordinate collections across different break times, proving that true community collaboration makes ambitious goals possible. With the Wall of Happiness, I am very thankful to my Housem, Ms. Hickman, for her constant guidance and support, and my House leadership team. 

• What moment or response from the project stayed with you most?

For me, the most memorable part was experiencing the entire cycle of planting a seed years ago, nurturing it, and finally seeing it bloom into action. It felt like watching a seed germinate with sunshine.

What made it especially intense was managing this right in the middle of a packed schedule—rehearsing for HKYAF’s Falling Awake four days a week, running full-day weekend sessions, and getting home late on weekdays while balancing schoolwork. The outcome is wonderful, but the grit, determination, and teamwork required to bring this idea to life is the memory I will cherish most. It showed me how passion drives dreams, and how a single idea can take flight when backed by an incredible community.

• How did the project connect with your wider work through The Mind Stage and your interest in youth mental health?

The Mind Stage is a youth-led non-profit organization dedicated to protecting youth mental well-being by reconnecting young people with their innate creativity, voice, and humanity through theatre, public speaking, and imaginative free play.

Malvern Smiles connects directly with this mission. When HKYAF led the expressive arts workshop, it gave students a platform for authentic emotional expression. The Malvern Smiles Project forms Phase 1 of The Mind Stage’s school and community roadmap—working from within my own school first to show that mental well-being and emotional depth can be actively nurtured when someone steps up to show the way.

• What message did you hope readers would take away from Malvern Smiles?

I hope readers remember the quote by Thich Naht Hanh: ‘Because of your smile, you make life more beautiful.’ Every single person carries their own unique story. Instead of judging, let us strive to rise by lifting others up. Carry a smile wherever we go, and share it with others because genuine human connection is a fundamental need we must never lose sight of. Put away our devices for a brief moment, look up, and smile physically—because emojis on a screen aren’t real. Let us remember we are HUMAN AFTER ALL, WE ARE FOR REAL.