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Joint contributions by employers and employees provide financial benefits for the workforce after retirement. This is not only the aim of the Mandatory Provident Fund System to be launched at the end of next year, but also the message embodied in a new logo to be conveyed to the community.

The logo, which was adopted recently by the Management Board of the Mandatory Provident Fund Schemes Authority (MPFA), was selected from a total of 50 different designs prepared by the Hongkong Independent Advertising Agencies Association (HiA) free of charge.

Mr Grand So, a founding member of HiA and the chief designer of the logo, felt honoured and was excited to be tasked with the project.

"The logo symbolising a fruit is made up of two partially overlapping ovals. The ovals also resemble two rolling coins accruing benefits based on the joint contributions from employers and employees to MPF schemes," Mr So explained.

The "fruit", decorated with a dark grey leaf, is divided into two halves with the upper part in golden orange and the lower part in warm grey.

"The logo is wholly an original design with the colours and characters carefully chosen to enhance its uniqueness," Mr So said.

"The abbreviation 'MPFA' is embedded at the centre to highlight its identity and make it easier for people to recognise the logo.

"To make it more attractive, I have chosen golden orange, a bright colour which brings to people's mind hope and richness, as the main colour. It is contrasted with warm grey to give an impression of stability and prudence."

Speaking on his inspiration, Mr So pointed out that the concept of using a fruit to represent MPFA came from the similarity between growing a plant and accruing benefits in the schemes in that both needed to be carefully and constantly looked after to yield a rich harvest.

As regards the difficulties encountered during the conceptual stage in designing the logo, the HiA Chairman, Mr Rodney Tam recalled, "Although many people know that they should provide for a rainy day, they may not know what MPF is."

"In times of economic downturn after the Asian financial turmoil, bosses and workers alike are uneasy about possible additional burden brought about by the compulsory contribution," Mr Tam said.

"In formulating the communication strategy and positioning of MPF, we want to convey a message that a retirement system under prudential regulation and supervision is beneficial to all and caters for the needs of the workforce.

"The logo also has to promote the idea that the MPF System is an effective way to enable us to lead a life style of our own choice on retirement.

"Retirement does not mean a complete retreat. It is the beginning of another golden stage of life in realising the discarded dreams of our young and busy days."

Mr Tam expected the MPF System, to be launched at the end of next year on a large scale, will have repercussions in the society and will give rise to a new social culture.

As a locally-based association, he said, HiA took this opportunity to serve the community by volunteering to design the MPF logo.

When MPFA invited open tenders for the design job last year, he approached its management at once, offering to undertake the project free of charge.

With 20 years' experience in advertising and graphic design, and over 300 awards won in China, Hong Kong, Japan, Europe and USA for his works, Mr So frankly admitted that he felt the pressure when he worked on the logo, which took him two weeks to complete.

"It was a very challenging job. As the logo is a corporate identity for MPFA, it must stand the test of time, and be implicative and creative," Mr So stressed.

"On the other hand, the logo should be able to attract public attention at first glance. It is not easy to achieve this result, particularly in a busy city like Hong Kong."

- Ends -

April 18, 1999