Community approach to youth work: working experience in Kowloon Walled City. by lobotomy

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Community approach to youth work: working experience in Kowloon Walled City.

Tsang, Shu-ming, Erich;

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1979

http://hdl.handle.net/10722/35397

The author retains all proprietary rights, (such as patent rights) and the right to use in future works.

COimiilTi

Working E x p e r i e n c e i n Kov/loon W a l l e d C i t y

A D i s s e r t a t i o n Submitted to The S o c i a l V/ork Department I n P a r t i a l F u l f i l l m e n t f o r The Degree o f M a s t e r o f S o c i a l Work At U n i v e r s i t y o f Hong Kong

Tsang Shu-mingi E r i c h A p r i l 1979

Supervisors :

M i s s Lee H e i Man P r o f e s s o r P e t e r Hodge

D e d i c a t e d t o a l l those who care about and a c t u a l l y work i n the u n d e r p r i v i l e g e d Ivalled C i t y Community

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT.

,一

工 am very g r a t e f u l t o M i s s H.M. Lee and P r o f e s s o r P . Hodge f o r t h e i r r e s p e c t i v e support and guidance i r i my^ w r i t i n g o f t h i s dissertation.

Without them., my work c o u l d not have been completed.

工a l s o wish t o thank the headquarters s t a f f o f Hong Kong F e d e r a t i o n o f Youth. Groups and the f r o n t - l i n e workers o f the Kowloon V/alled C i t y Youth C e ntr e i n p e r m i t t i n g and a s s i s t i n g me t o - u t i l i z e the i n f o r m a t i o n and m a t e r i a l s r e q u i r e d f o r the w r i t i n g . F i n a l l y s p e c i a l mention must be made o f t h r e e p e r s o n s : Windy, R i t a and Henry whose s p i r i t u a l encouragement and a c t u a l h e l p , i n one way o r the o t h e r , liave made t h i s p i e c e o f work a r e a l i t y . .

CONTENTS Page ACKMOWLEKEHENT INTHODUCTION mpfER The ： .eed for Coimnunity Approach to Youth l/ork 1. 2. 3.

k* 5* 工工

Youth Work in V/alled City Youth Centre

3 k

i n

5* 6-

Community Week Summer Programmes & Follow-up Schemes Youth in V/alled City - a case illustration

Gomnmnity Assessment ^• 2« 3二 4* 56.

H i s t o r i c a l Survey Geographical and Demographical A s p e c t s P h y s i c a l and S o c i a l Environment P r o f i l e o f Youth Community P l a n n i n g Setting Objectives

Community I n t e r v e n t i o n 1• 2» 3.

About the Agency The Set Up o f the Centre E x i s t i n g S e r v i c e and Pi^ogrammes i n the Centre D i f f i c u l t i e s encountered ‘ L i m i t a t i o n s o f T r a d i t i o n a l Approach i n s o l v i n g problems encountered Use o f Community Approach

Community A n a l y s i s and P l a n n i n g 1. 2# 3.

Concept of Youth V/ork Limitations of Traditional Approach to Youth l/ork i,eed for Community'Approach to Youth Work a* Theoretical Foundations b. Historical Development c. Objective of the Approacii d. nationale for the Approach e* Community Approach - Hov/? Description of the Dissertation Limitations of the Dissertation

Evaluation on Objectives Evaluation on Methods E v a l u a t i o n on Woricer * O v e r a l l Achievement P e r s o n a l Impressions L i m i t a t i o n s o f Community Approach

Conclusion

1 . C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f Canmrunity Approach 2 . Pros and Cons o f Community Approach 3 . A p p l i c a b i l i t y o f Community Approach t o o t h er settings Value o f Coniniunity Approach t o Youth P o l i c y i n general SELECTED BIBLIOGRAPHY

INTRODUCTION Youth comprise a v i t a l p o r t i o n o f the whole p o p u l a t i o n i n Hong Kong a s i n many o t h e r c o u n t r i e s •

Youth are the barometer or the

expression of the mood and character of the general frustrationj the aspirations or sense of resignation of the adults about them«,f^ Youth are also nirnpetuous fire" and can serve as an impetus for social changes•

Anyv/ay to enable them to make a positive contribution to

societyj young pepole have to be carefully nourished and well supported* 工 have s e l f - e x p e r i e n c e o f a do l es cence and the young a d u l t stage i n t h e e x i s t i n g i . o n g ICong s o c i e t y

a m i x t u r e o f j o y and sadness, i d e a l i s m

and f r u s t r a t i o n , f u n and boredom#•...•

Success in desirable development

in youth greatly depends on appropriate guidance and encouragement as well as opportunities provided for them to grow.

Youth work in the

Walled Cityi to a degree, helps to illustrate this point• 工 h a d been w o r k in g a s a y o u t h worker i n a . y o u t h c e n t r e o f t h e Hong Kong f e d e r a t i o n o f You 七l i Groups ( H . K . P . Y . G . ) i n s i d e t h e V/alled C i t y which i s a much n e g l e c t e d and u n d e r p r i v i l e g e d community.

The p l a c e ,

s h o c k i n g t h e p u b l i c o c c a s s i o n a l l y by p r e s s r e p o r t s , h a s been d e s c r i b e d a s n

a unique refuge f o r a l l types o f

c r i m i n a l s 1 1 and

a c r a w l i n g den o f

2 a l m o s t e v e r y v i c e known t o m a n k i n d . T h e e x p e r i e n c e v/as r e a l l y a c h a l l e n g i n g one f u l l o f

u p s n and " d o i m s " .

ilovj v/ork i n the community

was p l a n n e d , implemented, b l o c k e d , workers f r u s t r a t e d , p l a n s rearranged, e f f o r t d e f e a t e d i perseverance kept $ handicaps overcome were r e c o r d e d i n my d i a r y i I s t i l l remember some p a r t i c u l a r i n d i v i d u a l s and happenings.

I r v i n g A» Spergel，<TFlanning for Youth Development: The Hong Kqiir Experience.n 1972, p.3

Sunday Post ileraldj 28th Oct., 1973-

The words and a c t s o f

my c o l l e a g u e s , r e s i d e n t s j youth members» devoted

workers (of other agencies)3 triad-membersj drug-addicts

always are

fresh in ray mind. Under very unfavourable conditions，the v/orkers in the youth centre, after discussion and analysis} agreed to try out some new ways to do youth v/ork in the Walled City.

Loosely5 and with limitations, it

can be labelled as a new approach

a community approaches contrasting

to the mainly Centre-focused method in previous time.

Certain achievements

as well as the limitations in using the community approach, (no matter how little in scope and range) may give insight and stimulations and provoke our deeper thought for future youth v/ork in other community settings with certain similar problems. For all these, even though m j experience v/as some time ago (from Februaxys 1976

Junej 1977)s 工f i n d i t s t i l l meaningful and worthwhile

t o g a t h e r m a t e r i a l a and p r e s e n t i n d e t a i l what 工 had encountered d u r i n g my y o u t h work experience i n t h e V/alled C i t y .

I s t r o n g l y f e e l that youth 1

even i n a d e p r i v e d community, w i t h t h e major p o s i t i v e y o u t h f u l characteristics

e n e r g e t i c , c u r i o u s , w i t h an u r g e t o l e a r n , r e l a t i v e l y

f r e e from b i a s and p r e j u d i c e , does pose a s t r o n g f o r c e i n a c h i e v i n g p r o g r e s s and b e t t e r l i f e f o r t h e i r community, p r o v i d e d they a r e g i v e n p r o p e r chance and g u i d a n c e .

I r e c a l l my memories, and, v/itb. t h e

a s s i s t a n c e o f some persons a s w e l l a s personal/agency documents, I v / r i t e t h e d i s s e r t a t i o n and hope t o a c h i e v e t h e f o l l o v / i n g o b j e c t i v e s : (1) and

'jjo d i s c u s s t h e new approach t o youth v/ork ( i * e • the concept

objective of a community approach) (2)

To describe and evaluate the community approach to youth

work in the Walled City-

(3)

To d i s c u s s i t s i m p l i c a t i o n s and make r e c o Hm i en da t i ons f o r more

a p p r o p r i a t e ways t o d e a l w i t h j o u t h v/ork i n Hong Kong a t l a r g e -

CHAPTER I THE NEED FOR COMMUNITY APPROACH TO YOUTH WORK (1)

Concept o f Y o u t h Work n

Y o u t i i v/ork may be r e g a r d e d a s p a r t o f the s o c i a l w e l f a r e f i e l d ,

and a s a s e t t i n g f o r s o c i a l work p r a c t i s e . 1 1

The work i s m u l t i - d i m e n s i o n a l

v/ith young p e p o l e a s i t s t a r g e t f o c u s • Youth is a sector of our population which is generally regarded as those in the transition period betv/een childhood and adulthood.

Various

criteria are employed to delineate the youth in different cultures. According to the n 0 n g Kong Federation of Youth Groupsj the Youth clientele 2 it serves are those from Ik to 21.

. Anywayj as the youth centre in the

V/alled City also offers programmes to child members below lA (from 8-1^-)» as well as an understanding among all agency workers that service for youth can be extended to those beyond 21 to are those approximately from lA to 24.

, I would regard

Yoiith"

Without specifically mentioning

in the follov/ing? I would take our youth v/ork had included older children (these from 10 or above) and yoxmger adults(up to 2^-)• The importance of youth in society is beyond deoubt•

They are

getting bigger and bigger in proportion to other age-groups in most countries.

Y 0 uth are also "masters of the future*' and frequantly regarded

as a strong potential force in making social changes*

That much hope and

progress of the society depends on t?ie proper and desirable grov/tk and development) need nourishment and support in order to mature and become

Irving k. Spergelj op* cit. p‘2

Kong Kong Pederatiori ox Y^utu Groups t Annual report,

6-77, p.1-

t h e r e s p o n s i b l e and c o n t r i b u t i v e members o f the s o c i e t y . To f a c i l i t a t e and a c h i e v e d e s i r a b l e youth growth and development, y o u t h v/ork p r a c t i c e p l a y s a s i ^ n i f i c e n t r o l e i n h e l p i n g t o meet, and s a t i s f y youth1s needs.

Many p s y c h o l o g i s t s and b e h a v o u r i s t s have d i s c u s s e d

a l o t on t h e needs a person has t o f u l f i l i n p a r t i c u l a r developmental stages.

F o r y o u t h , f u l f i l m e n t o f t h e i r needs means t o master s u c c e s s f u l l y

a number o f c r i t i c a l l y important and i n t e r r e l a t e d developmental t a s k s . A b r i e f surmnany o f these major n e e d s / t a s k s a r e a s follov/s："^ (a)

The establishment of an appropriate dependence-independence pattern In adolescent stage, young people increase their tendency to

establish close relationships v/ith others and develop increased independence from parents.

Nevertheless! establishing true independence from parents is

seldom a simple matter because of the frustrations and rewards of independence and for continued dependence are both likely to be strong, thus leading to conflicts and vacillating behaviour-

It is a desired goal

of adolescents to retain affection for parents without continued dependence upon ttiem. (b)

Taking of appopriate sex role and adjusting to sexual maturation The task of learning the appropriate sex role involves the

acceptance and learning of socially approved adult male and female roles. Also, as the sexual drive increases during maturation, youth need to have the correct attitude and behavio,ur in adjustment•

A v/ide variety of

There is a great deal of discussion on this aspect. In my parti I mainly consult three books for reference: (1) Lugo, J• k I G» Hershey, f1 Huinan Development, a Multi-disciplinary Approach to the Psychology of Individual Growth’丨，Mew Y o r k f MacMillany 197^ 1 Ch» 18; (2) Garrisont Karl 1 "Psychology of A d o l e s c e n c e 1 1 ， H , Prentice鄉Hall, 1958，pp#21-255 (3) Lowe, Gordont f!frhe Growth of Personality; From Infancy to Old Age", Penguin Book, 1972» Preface and Ch. 5*

psychol o g i c a l and c u l t u r a l f o r c e s may i n f l u e n c e t l i e decree and form o f t l i e sex d r i v e • (c)

Establishing： co-operative and “orkable relationship uith peers, without being dominated by them Peers play a vital role in the psychological and social develop-

ment of most adoleGcents.

delations uith peers of both sexes are important

to deteriiiine later adult relationships (in social relations, in work and in marriage

etc).

Youth need friends1 emotional support and share of

opinion in coping v/ith things outside the family.

Peer group also helps

the individual to define liis ov/n identity in their interaction•

The urge

to be accepted socially by groups makes the youth to be conforming to the styles, behaviours and attitudes of their peers.

Anyway, the intensity

of conformity v/ould diminish as the person matures. A s a v/holei the desirable relationship is not dominating or authoritarian but reciprocal and co-operative. (d)

Preparing for or Seeking a meaningful vocation The problem of deciding on a vocation, is important for young

boys and girls (increasingly so) to attain economic independence. As in modern societies, a person's occupation is of prime importance, preemployment guidance becomes very necessary in selceting and preparing for the suitable job (e)

Stablilizing of Ego Identity Tlie quest for iadentity is vital in that the youth need a

frame of reference v/ithin which he can view with some perspective the varied, sometimes seemingly random3 influences and events of a rapidly changing, often chaotic world*

Identity implies a simultaneous need for

separateness and for self-consistency ™ time.

a feeling of ”yholerLGSiSri o v e r

A number o f f a c t o r s d e t e r m i n i n g t h e ease w i t h which y o u t h a r e

a b l e t o achieve a c l e a r sense o f i d e n t i t y a r e : k i n d s o f p r e v i o u s i d e n t i f i c a t i o n , i n t e l l e c t u a l power t o i n t e g r a t e experience! degree o f sexual m a t u r i t y , the a p t i t u d e o f s k i l l s , o p p o r t u n i t i e s p r o v i d e d by changing s o c i a l r o l e s a s v / e l l aa the k i n d o f r e l a t i o n s h i p w i t h p a r e n t s (f)

Conscious Development and establishment o f a workable s e t o f personal values Youth a r e concerned w i t h e t h i c a l and moral problems and are

c o n s t a n t l y t r y i n g t o f i t i n t o t h e i r l i v e s the moral and e t h i c a l values a c q u i r e d from e a r l i e r experience.

A s they grow, f a c i l i t a t e d by enhancing

c o g n i t i v e development and s o c i a l encounters$ they come t o q u e s t i o n and reason t h e "imposed" i d e a s from v/ithout and a c q u i r e a b e t t e r understanding o f the meaning o f l i f e i n s o c i e t y . U n l e s s the youth develop some standard o r system o f v a l u e s o f t h e i r own, they v / i l l be without a s t a b l e guide t o h e l p them i n making the d e c i s i o n s they v / i l l be r e q u i r e d t o make l a t e r .

The k i n d s o f c h o i c e s they

make ( e . g . t o accept e x i s t i n g mode o f s o c i a l i z a t i o n o r t o r e j e c t o r change i t ) a r e extremely Important i n r e l a t i o n t o t h e i r f u t u r e adjustment and happinessÂŤ These are the major needs/tasks young people are supposed to fulfil.

And it is the objective of youth v/ork to meet and to fulfil the

needs and/or developmental tasks of the young people.

Youth work can

then be considered as a set of social v/ork knowledge and sicills in meeting youth needs.

Surely v/e know it takes much concerned effort of many people

to make them be achieved desirably.

Also the nature and influence of

different institutious like tbe. family, school, workplacei and the community as a whole, are determining factors in shaping our youths1 characters and grov/th.

Hence, youth work, does require a special set

of v/orking approaches in fulfilling its objective.

(2)

L i m i t a t i o n s o f T r a d i t i o n a l Approach t o Youtli V/ork 1 丨丄n e need t o f i n d a new approach i n youth v/ork had been accentuated

i n r e c e n t t i m e s i n an aosessment o f the e x i s t i n g s e r v i c e a g a i n s t a s e t o f v a l u e s and b e l i e f i n present development.

Youth work must be e v e r -

s e n s i t i v e t o t h e changing needs and problems i n a d e v e l o p i n g comRiunity which i s f a c e d w i t h r a p i d s o c i a l change•

The effectiveness of the

traditional approach to youth work has been the subject of intensive II evaluation in many countries in "the search for new direction11. The traditional approach to youth work, v/liich has been practised long in Jong Kong and elsewhere, though not organized in a monolithic v/ay, does possess certain characteristics, as follov/s : (a) All along, vital policies concerning youth work are being planned and decided by people (most probably no七 y o u t h themselves) not l i v i n g i n t l i e s p e c i f i c t a r g e t community.

I n o t h e r words，local people

(including the youth consumers of the services) usually do not have any say (or even expression of opinion) in decision-making concerning the form and content: of yoirfcli v/ork•

They have rarely been consulted

by official or volmitary agencies during the time of policy formulationMost of the time» the youth are passive service-consumers/ recipients but not active planners and implementera (especially in policy level) • As a result the service may not meet the

real’1 needs

of youth.

Lee, T.S•，TTAn Experiment i n Detached V/ork : A Heport on F i e l d Uork P- E v a l u a t i o n : Draft"，Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, 1969， P-2

(b)

S e c o n d l y , a g r e a t d e a l o f y o u t h s e r v i c e i s commonly

p r a c t i s e d i n ceirbre"*based s i t u a t i o n / c o n d i t i o n s .

Young people

p a r t i c i p a t e i n the a c t i v i t i e s o r g a n i z e d by a g e n c i e s which operate youth centres.

F r e q u e n t l y the p r o g r e s s o f a c t i v i t i e s conducted

w i t h i n t h e p r e m i s e s o f the c e n t r e have a l l p a r t i c i p a n t s b e i n g the c e n t r e ' s most a c t i v e and r e g u l a r .aernbers.

I n U . K . C y r i l Smith and

o t h e r s c r i t i c i z e d t h e youth s e r v i c e i n t‘ i 二 f a i l u r e to offer help to t h o s e most i n need.

The writers^ concerned about t h e case f o r

u n d e r p r i v i l e g e d y o u n g s t e r s , complained o f t h e n e g l i g e n c e o f t h e o f f i c i a l and v o l u n t a r y ；youth o r g a n i s a t i o n s tov/ard y o u t h : n

. * • The YI'ICA and the Boy Scouts generally serve a section of the population that is relatively law-abiding and prosperous, and only the Boys1 Club, mixed youth clubs and the Boys1 Brigade have really reached into the poorest areas of our city^ yet even within these organizations, the methods are more geared to work inside buildings, into which young people are expected to come on the understanding that they will observe the already established rules and structure of the organization. They seldom reach out to the street corners, commercial caf1es, and public liouserwhere a great many youngsters congregate"• the centre-based services are not basically prepared for or have attracted a great proportion of young people at risk who do not know or do not v/ish to participate in a centred activities* (c)

Contents of the programmes are mainly geared to be preventive

or remedial.

They are (for example, judging from the report on summer

programmes of the youth v/ork agencies) mainly recreational in nature• The scope and range of activities are still rather narrow• Eecently? the survey conducted "by H.K- Federation of Students

Cyril Smitii et1al "The Wincroft Youth Project; a social-work programme in a slum area"， London Tavistock Publication， 1972•

Oil y o u t h c e n t r e s had i n d i c a t e d the p r e s e n t youth c e n t r e s c h i e f l y o f f e r r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e a w i t h o u t g i v i n g care and a t t e n t i o n t o develop t h e youngGtersďź&#x152;coci^-l consciouoiiess and responsiuilitiec tov/ard the community.

j:he report suggested that the government chould evaluate

its present youth policy and correct the heavy emphasis on a recreational approach to youth v/ork. (d)

0\;in^ to linited support from official sources and competition

among voluntary agencies in offering services, together with relatively passive involvement of local residents and leaders in the community, there ia i-v-ck of (real) co-ordination and co-operation beä¸&#x192;ween v a r i o u s s e r v i c e b o d i e s f o r youth v/ork.

This results i n inefficiency or

s t a g n a t i o n i n promoting y o u t h v/ork*

Community r e s o u r c e s xiave not been

f u l l y e x p l o r e d and u t i l i z e d . (3)

Heed f o r Cornmuiiity Approacii t o Youth ivork (a)

T h e o r e t i c a l f o u n d a t i o n f o r Community Approach t o youth work I f one c a r e s t o t a k e up a n a n a l y s i s o f y o u t h p a r t i c i p a t i n g

i n t h e i r l i v i n g environmenti one would e a s i l y understand t h a t a young a d u l t i s i n e v i t a b l y i n c l o s e l i n k a g e w i t h o t h e r s o c i a l systems such a s t h e f a m i l y , t h e s c h o o l , the working p l a c e and t h e wider s o c i e t y . I t i s owing t o t h e f a c t t h a t a young p e r s o n i s j u s t growing up i n h i s f a m i l y and i s g o i n g t o r e a c h out t o the l a r g e r s o c i e t y where he would liave l i v e l y e x p e r i e n c e i n s c h o o l a n d / o r i n h i s working p l a c e and i n c l o s e contact u i t h the wider s o c i e t y . An a d o l e s c e n t i s j u s t emerging from h i s c h i l d h o o d . n o t e n t i r e l y independent o f h i s f a m i l y . parents and s i b l i n g s â&#x20AC;˘

He i s

He i s s t i l l l i v i n g w i t h h i s

His living expenses still depend on his parents1

incomes, even when lie leaves his family members.. Hence, one could say that a young person receives great influence from his family> especially v/hen under parental care.

1 1

工土、the a d o l e s c e n t had n o t completed h i s e d u c a t i o n , he v / i l l be a t s c h o o l .

Then he i s I n e v i t a b l y under g r e a t i n f l u e n c e from h i s

s c h o o l t e a c h e r s and c l a s s m a t e s ,

lie i s l e a r n i n g and a c q u i r i n g knowledge

o f t h e v/ider s o c i e t y through the v;ords o f h i s t e a c h e r s and t h e words o f h i s reading resources.

Though trie s c h o o l i n g system i s r a t h e r s i m p l e i n

s t r u c t u r e the f o r m a t i o n o f h i s v a l u e s and knov/ledge and behaviour depends t o a v e r y l a r g e extent on t h e s c h o o l system.

This i s especially

t r u e when he h a s a c l o s e group o f c l a s s m a t e s . I f t h e a d o l e s c e n t had f i n i s h e d h i s e d u c a t i o n , he v / i l l end up i n a v;orIdLng p l a c e . and l i i s s u p e r i o r s .

There he w i l l be i n t e r a c t i n g v/ith h i s co-workers

There he w i l l b e g i n t o l e a r n o f t h e o u t s i d e

i n f l u e n c e s a s a c o u n t e r p a r t t o h i s f a m i l y and s c h o o l t e a c h i n g s • learns from his superiors how to fulfill job requirements. v/ith his co-workers for leisure hours•

He goes out

He enters into the working

system of the whole society, be it in the commercial firms or in an industrial factory. If the adolescent is inside the school, or joins the working system, or is neither in school nor at uork, he is still in contact with the larger society.

He is under great influence of the society from the

mass media such as television, newspapers, radio, and movies.

There are

other aocial systems in v/hich the youth may be involved sucii as the church, the transport system, uelfare system, police control and the enforcement of The fact that the youth is in constant linkage with the different social systems, his needs and problems will inevitably arise from the interaction process of these systems*

Hence, to understand the

living situations of the youth, to understand the actual needs of the youth, requdires a holistic analysis of the social systems in interaction., or a dynamic community analysis of the youth situation.

o i u i 丄 a r l y j i f one i c t o meet tne needs o f t h e y o u t h and/or t o s o l v e t h e problem o f t h e youth, one a l s o needs t o i n t e r v e n e v;ith the f o u r s o c i a l systems though not n e c e s s a r i l y s i m u l t a n e o u s l y •

It is

in fact very important to make note of such a cornmuiiity approach.

is only v;hen sorneone takes care of the interlikage and interdependence of the four social systems, v/ould one be able to initiate changes in youth grov;tli and development.

V/e need a community intervention on the

four systems in order to meet finally the needs of the youth. Obviously, if v/e want to maize an assessment of the results of intervention \/e also need to mane a community assessment, in particular, and the evaluation of the effectiveness of mobilizing the different social systems in assisting and supporting the changes in the youth.

If one goes further, one v/ould also understand that it is

not enough to liave the you七h needs f u l l y s a t i s f i e d . I t i s important t o see t h a t t h e y o u t h v/ould p r o v i d e s e r v i c e and s u p p o r t s a s w e l l a s m o d i f i c a t i o n s t o t h e s o c i a l systems they a r e i n t e r a c t i n g v / i t h . I n s h o r t , the f a c t t h a t the youth i s i n c l o s e l i n k a g e w i t h t h e major s o c i a l systems, namely t h e f a m i l y , t h e s c h o o l , t h e working p l a c e and t h e v/ider s o c i e t y » requires a communitj approach which begins with community analysis and planning;! community intervention and cominuni七;y assessment. (b)

'The Emergence o f Community Approach i n S o c i a l V/ork Intervention A f t e r World War 11, i n v/estern c o u n t r i e s (Europe and U*S*

e s p e c i a l l y ) v/ith t h e r e l a t i v e d e c l i n e o f p G y c h o a n a l y t i c , i n f l u e n c e and t l i e I n t a k e o f oore s o c i a l v a r i a b l e s i n t o v a r i o u s human s c i e n c e d i s c i p l i n e o , a community approacii ( o r Community development approach o r

conirnunlxy u o r k approach) i n t a c k l i n g huiiian problems has been proposed and t e s t e d .

i n i t i a t e d by the G u l b e n k i a n Heports- ( i n

response t o a growing i n t e r e s t i n comiiiunity development) and upsurge o f i n t e r e s t i n community work sprang u p .

A s observed by T a y l o r ,

Community v/ork i s f a s t becoming v e r y f a s h i o n a b l e . I t has been recommended by a v a r i e t y o f o f f i c i a l and s e m i - o f f i c i a l r e p o r t s such a s Seeboiim, Skeffington, the 2 Gulbenkian r e p o r t s (chaired by Dame E i l e e n Younghusband and L o r d B o y l e , r e s p e c t i v e l y ) . So any l o c a l a u t h o r i t y w i t h p r e t e n t i o n s o f b e i n g p r o g r e s s i v e , i s now employing community v/orkers. A l l too o f t e n they a r e expected t o r e s o l v e problems \;hicli have b a f f l e d v/ider and more e x p e r i e n c e d people f o r many y e a r s 6 T h i s approach has d e r i v e d many o f i t s i d e a s from d i f f e r e n t disciplines

sociology, anthropology, p o l i t i c a l science, s o c i a l

psychology

etc*

P r o f e s s o r A r t h u r Dunham viev/ed i t a s

the

o r g a n i s e d e f f o r t s o f people t o improve t h e c o n d i t i o n s o f community l i f e and t h e ccapaci七y o f people f o r p a r t i c i p a t i o n , s e l f - d i r e c t i o n and n

i n t e g r a t e d e f f o r t i n community a f f a i r s . C o n c l u s i v e l y , a community work approacii upswing i n t h e l a s t decades aims a t s e e i n g t h i n g s i n a broader a n g l e and s t r e s s e s t h e essence o f u s i n g c o l l e c t i v e e f f o r t i n s o l v i n g problems. (c)

C l a r i f i c a t i o n arid O b j e c t i v e iNevertheless, i t s h o u l d be s t r e s s e d t h a t a community

approach base t o s o c i a l v/ork i n t e r v e n t i o n i s n o t y e t a v e r y d e f i n i t e and v / e I I - e s t a b l i s h e d frame-work. I t i s s t i l l i n i t s i n f a n c y i n r e g a r d t o s h a p i n g v i a b l e c o n c e p t u a l models, p r i n c i p l e s and p r a c t i c e s .

V/.E.K. T a y l o r , u The N a t u r e o f Community W o r k . " i n Community Development Journal，Vol* 9 No. 2 April 197与 p* 107

I b i d ， p . 10^

The

1 知

ex act h a n d l i n g about i t ( t h e u s i n g ox nocescary t o o l s , techniques and s k i l l s ) i s rather controversial.

I n the youth v/ork f i e l d , a s mentioned

by F . H i l s o n , ,f

p r e s s u r e s f o r a community-related y o u t h s e r v i c e come from d i f f e r e n t q u a r t e r s . Some approach i t from the a n g l e s 01 the needs o f young people they cannot be s e r v e d o r understood a s i s o l a t e d i n d i v i d u a l s but a s people i n v o l v e d v/ith the community• Others approach it from the standpoint of the needs of the community v/hich requires responsible and caring citiaens» Some support the view because, in an old-fasliioned v/ay, they think it is the duty of youth organisation to teach yoimg people to conform to tlie existing values of the social order. They receive support from all these, including some government officials v/ho see youth service as having mainly a socializing function- Others see possibilities for a more critical and active involvement of young people in their communityThe young have a sight to change society as v/ell as accept it 8 The fact tliat there is a lack of clear understanding of the nature of the community approach, surely, makes the picture vague, and often 七he v a l u e and meaningfulness o f o r g a n i s i n g community work i s subjected to d i f f e r e n t interpretations.

Anyway, H i l s o n , v/hile c a l l i n g

f o r h a r d e f f o r t by 七lie t r a i n i n g a g e n c i e s f o r community work i n a s c e r t a i n i n g common elements i n ends and means, has suggested t h a t u

one v/ciy f o r w a r d might be t o e n q u i r e about the m o t i v a t i o n s and

i d e o l o g i e s o f those who a r e a t t r a c t e d by coimnunitj v/ork (approach) i ' r e q u e n t l Y , what and hoy a community v/orker pursues d u r i n g h i s v/oiic depends g r e a t l y on h i s p e r s o n a l i d e o l o g y ( o r h i s organiz¾tion , s)

F.W. Milsoa, ^outh V/ork in 70s.ff?. Routledge and, r:e芬n P a u l , 19V0, p . 71 ^ " —

j'red Milson, nWill the Ileal Community Uorker please^ stand up?" in Community Development Journal Vol* 11 T!o. 1..:(1976).

and n i s own view o f the s i t u a t i o r u

。iiat is vjiiy a diccussion about

community v;ork is always part of the generai debate that srioulci be Going on about the kind of society we uant to have* .nus every sincere worker employing a coumunity approach should have his view of a desirable society as target goal. would like to put forth mine•

Here I

As for the kind of desirable society,

工 envisage one i n v/hich a l l people l i v e h a p p i l y under domocratic systems•

::ere every one enjoys equal social opportunity for physical

and spiritual developments• exploitation•

Everyone is free from domination and

The people have a "say" in every major decision-iiiaking

concerning their living and participate in actions to change for goodOf course, this is an ideal state. effort and hard work^

To materialise it requires much

工"believe a conmiunity v/ork approach, among

o t h e r t h i n g s , i s one v/ay t o h e l p . A s f o r t h e o b j e c t i v e s , I f i n d the statements o f t h e working p a r t y on P r i o r i t i e s o f Community Development r a t h e r comprehensive. 工七 sees n cornimnity work11 o r "v/ork v j i t h a community approach H a s ” a p r o c e s s which embraces a f i e l d o f a c t i v i t i e s a i m i n g t o improve the q u a l i t y o f community l i f e through t h e p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f p e o p l e i n d e f i n i n g , e x p r e s s i n g and s o l v i n g t h e i r p e r c e i v e d needs and problems. The v/ork i n c l u d e s the h e l p i n g o f the community members ( a d u l t s aiid y o u t h ) a s v / e l l a s t o i n c r e a s e t h e i r m o t i v a t i o n s and c a p a c i t y t o v/ork together^ t o d e v e l o p l o c a l l e a d e r s h i p t o make maximum use o f t h e i r i n t e r n a l and e x t e r n a l resource总 i n s o l v i n g t h e i r problem(s) and t o f i n d f r u i t f u l r e l a t i o n s h i p through wo rking t o g e t h e r f o r the creation o f a b e t t e r s o c i e t y 1 0

10.

” P o s i t i o n papers on P r i o r i t i e s o f Community Development i n a r e a s o f i d e n t i f i e d s p e c i a l need r e q u i r i n g more i n t e n s i v e s e r v i c e ^ , prepared by V/orldLng P a r t y on P r i o r i t i e s o f C o 腿 u n i t y Development on Hov. 11, 197钵

(d)

R a t i o n a l e o f u s i n g Community Approacii t o Youth Work The workers o f V/alled C i t y Centre u s i n g t h e approach i n

g u i d i n g t h e i r work v / i l l expect t h e f o l l o w i n g j u s t i f i c a t i o n s t o be made* O )

People l i v i n g i n t h e s p e c i f i c community s h o u l d have

the r i g h t and freedom i n d e t e r m i n i n g matters concerning t h e i r s p i r i t u a l and m a t e r i a l i s t i c l i v i n g . I t i s t o

upkeep the prime p r i n c i p l e o f

r e s p e c t t o human d i g n i t y and s e l f - d e t e r m i n a t i o n .

People i n a community

may be h e l p e d by o u t s i d e o r g a n i z e r s t o r e a l i z e and change u n d e s i r a b l e c o n d i t i o n s but the f i n a l g o a l and s u c c e s s r e s t s on the a c q u i s i t i o n o f l o c a l i n i t i a t i v e and e f f o r t i n s o l v i n g problems 5 and r e s p e c t i n g d i f f e r e n t groups o f people i n t h e community(including the y o u t h themselves) i n p l a n n i n g y o u t h programmes; the work i s conducted i n a democratic way. T h i s g i v e s t h e people ( t h e younger g e n e r a t i o n a s w e l l ) a good i l l u s t r a t i o n o f the importance o f p r a c t i s i n g democracy and promotes i n them 七he sense o f human r i g h t , s e l f - w o r t h and mutual respect*

Admitted

by the Y o u t h S e r v i c e Development C o u n c i l , i n t l i e whole w o r l d trend， “ . . . t h e r e i s a growing demand f o r t h e people t o * be i n v o l v e d i n t h e d e c i s i o n s which a f f e c t t h e i r l i v e s . " P a r t i c i p a t i o n 1 1 i s t h e " i n t r word. The young have n o t remained u n a f f e c t e d f a s h i o n . The most p u b l i c i s e d form o f t h i s r e a c t i o n i s the 1 students* r e v o l t I Young people today a r e l e s s l i k e l y t o be happy t o be t o l d uliat t o do i n homes, s c h o o l s , c l u b s ” and many o t h e r p o i n t s o f community encounter. 1 * (2)

People l i v i n g i n t h e l o c a l community a r e t h e ones who

a r e most f a m i l a r about the p r o s and cons o f the l i v e s . A s the community approach i n v o l v e s major l o c a l a g e n c i e s i n d i v i d u a l s i n p l a n n i n g and o r g a n i z i n g programmes, i t i s e a s i e r t o get more i n s i g h t and t h e i r

1 1 . V o u t h and Community V/ork i n t h e 70，s, by the Youth Service Development Council, HIlSOi 1969* P* 22-3

1 7

f a m i l i a r i t y v/i。h the coi.iinunity can help to focus upon relevant and down-to-earth issues i/iiich are most pressing and in need of immediate concern and action. (J)

Hie utilizing of cormiiunity resources is fnore richer

and/effective than relying on individual capability and effort in taciclin^ human problems in a group setting.

The Seeboinn Report ( 1 9 6 8 )

advocatec community approach in social v/ork "because social work v/ith individuals alone is bound to be of limited effort in an area where the coinmuHity environment itself is a major impediment to healthy individual development.n

Today v/e witness many coniniiinities are

suffering from rapid population turnover, high delinquency, child deprivation, mental illness and other indices of social pathology. Collectivistic effort ic required#

Once jointly co-operated aid co-

ordinated on commonly accepted issues, the different stratas/groups of the community can be concerted and mobilize great strength toward tiie colving or remedying of tlie grievance or problems. ( 坏） H o s t o f t l i e y o u t h problenis $ e . g . s c h o o l i n g , emotion, employment, e t c . a r e r e l a t e d and i n f l u e n c e d by c\ l a r g e r vmoie ( t h e s o c i a l s t r u c t u r e ) . 上 o r example, a ；youngster's bad academic i n f l u e n c e wliicli cannot be tac3、:led by his own effort; a noisy and congested living environraent in his home estate. An effective solution cannot be expected if ue simply press the boy to work harder without helping him (through higher-level action) to change his undesirable environments I'or more complete and long-term improvement, a community approach is more recommendable as it sees things in a total (holistic) context and v/ill not confine things in a narrov/ or isolated condition.

(5)

A s s o c i e t y envolves and changes occur i n c e s s a n t l y »

issuer in human living become more complex and complicated, mutual help and reliance become more important.

It is vital to enlarge the

youngster'g scope of view and state of mind to bigger social issues# The mobiligation and involvement of community effort in youth v / o r k can help to enhance more desirable social grov/tli and developraent of our youriij people. (e)

CQiiimunity Approach to Youth Uork 二 Hov/? B o t h t h e form and content o f o r g a n i s i n g y o u t h woric i s

c o nurau i i t j - o r i ent e d and coinmunity-emphasized v/ith a viev; t o a c h i e v e t h e g o a l o f d e s i r a b l e grov/th and development o f y o u t h . U s u a l l y t h e form o r means o f promoting y o u t h v/ork i n u s i n g t h e community approach would be : (1) services*

Hot merely r e s t r i c t e d t o T r a d i t i o n a l Centre-based

A p a r t from a c e n t r e 1 s r e g u l a r f u n c t i o n s , community approach

emphasises o u t r e a c h i n g y o u t h work

^outh v;ork i n s e t t i n g s o t h e r

t h a n c e n t r e p r e m i s e s . ) e . g . detaclied v/ork, p l a y - l e a d e r s h i p , y o u t h guidance schcnies

e t c . v/hich a r e u s u a l l y conducted i n s e t t i n g s

o t h e r t h a n a c e n t r e ; i n playground, s t r e e t - c o r n e r and c a f e * . (2)

I n v o l v i n g cofflmunity r e s i d e n t s ( a d u l t and yo ut h) i n

t h e p l a n n i n g and implementation o f y o u t h work ( i n p o l i c y l e v e l a s w e l l ) j u s i n g l o c a l r e s o u r c e s (man-power, i n t e l l i g e n c e » facilities^ equipment

) as much as possible.

Various groups (parenti cliurch,

schools) are stimulated and aroused to iiave concern for (3)

youthlt issue•

Mobilizing and co-operating as many community agencies

(official/voluntary/religious) as possible in working for youth goal. Joint efforts are stressed.

1 9

n e v e r t h e l e s s , v a r i o u s s t r a t e g i e s and t a c t i c s rnay be employed i n d i f f e r e n t stages o f community development f o r youth v/ork. I t depends on p r a c t i c a l assessment and c o n s i d e r a t i o n . The content o f the programmes v/ould be mainly geared t o comraun i t y - c one erne d i s s u e s . S e c r e a t i o n and e d u c a t i o n a l programmes w i l l s t i l l occupy a p o r t i o n i n the planning• development purpose.

Zut more emphasis is also for

Youth are encouraged and promoted to look at

the problems and difficulties in tlieir own corarnunity and helped in improving the condition•

Programmes designed and implemented are

basically of community concern, v/hich are iaore or less related to 'youth1 issues or which v/ould arouse youth1 s interests or awareness in community living.

In a later stage} expansion of community, consciousness

of the voutli should be made to include the entire society, bearing in mind that a commmiity is only a sub-system of the larger society. (^)

Description of the Dissertation ! l

.!he whole dissertation will focus on the exposition of 'Community

Approach to Youth Work1 using my working experiences in the VJalled City春 A f t e r t h e f i r s t chapter v/as made o;i the need f o r a new approach t o y o u t h work, t h e second chapter i s t o d e s c r i b e the e x i s t i n g youth work i n the W a l l e d C i t y Youth Centre•

This chapter is to show the limitations

of the traditional approaches in solving those problems found in the VJalled City*

The following chapters are to describe the use of

community approach to youth, work in the Walled City, beginning v/ith community analysis and planning#

Based on the results of community

analysis and planning, the fourth chapter is to describe the actual coimnunity intervention to meet the youth needs in. 'the Walled City•

A f t e r cormiiunity i n t e r v e n t i o n , a coiuuiunity ciasessment must be made which formed t h e content o f the f i f t h chapter•

The final chapter

summarizes the pros and cons as v/ell as the nature of the community approach, and assesses the extent to which such an approach could be of use to other settings and serve the youth policy in general. (5)

Limitations of the Dissertation :,ecause of the limits of time (lag betv/een the period of

service and

present moment) and effort (the ability of the writer in

presenting a rather complicated issue of the V/alled City), the dissertation makes no claim as an authoritative and comprehensive v/ork* It is just preliminary but sincere attempt approach t o y o u t h v/ork.

七o l o o k i n t o t h e community

The concept o f the s o - c a l l e d "Community

Approach 1 ' which has been c o n t r o v e r s i a l l y and d i f f e r e n t l y d e f i n e d ( a s d i s c u s s e d • previously) was loosely perceived and used by me (at that time I was still an untrained worker).

工 had d e l i n e a t e d i t r a t h e r

a r b i t r a r i l y v/ithout much a u t h o r i t a t i v e r e f e r e n c e .

Even though I am

aware o f t h i s and would t r y my b e s t t o a v o i d p r e j u d i c e and exaggeration i n e l a b o r a t i n g t h e i d e a s and f a c t s , I s t i l l have t o b e a r t h e r e s p o n s i b i l i t y o f making e r r o r s i n p r e s e n t i n g them.

Anyway, througiiout t h e whole, the

c o n t e n t s o f t h e paper a r e e x p o s i t i v e and d e s c r i p t i v e r a t h e r t h a n t h e o r e t i c a l and a n a l y t i c a l . Ov/ing t o t h e s p e c i f i c n a t u r e ( c l o s e ) o f t h e community, a c c e s s t o r e l e v a n t w r i t t e n m a t e r i a l s on d i f f e r e n t a s p e c t s i s v e r y d i f f i c u l t . O f f i c i a l records are rare, i f not t o t a l l y non-existent.

The c e n t r e ' s

r e c o r d s , newspaper c u t t i n g s , and c e r t a i n p r i v a t e s t u d i e s ( e . g . a few s u r v e y s by 七lie c e n t r e o r I n d i v i d u a l s ) though h e l p f u l , .are u s u a l l y i n c o m p l e t e and may be regarded a s s t r i c t academic s t a n d a r d s .

not s e r i o u s enough" a c c o r d i n g t o

2 1

t h i r d l y , the experience o f tlie \/orker i n the V/alled C i t y Youth Centre had been unique.

My i n t e r p r e t a t i o n o f the s i t u a t i o n and

d e s c r i p t i o n o f tlie events, i n a h i n d - s i g h t manner, i s bound t o be subjective*

Anyhov/5 v;ith v/hatever d e f e c t s i t lias^ i t represents my

p e r s o n a l r e a s oning on and urgent quest f o r a nev/ approach t o youth programsâ&#x20AC;˘

It is hoped that the writing of this dissertation v/ould

serve as a pioneering and stimulating attempt in searching for the right direction in handling jouth v;oriâ&#x20AC;&#x153;

CHAP'rEH

工

YQUm'K VJQRK IN THE VJALLED CITY YOUTH CENTIJC (1)

About t h e Agency Let

me f i r s t b r i e f l y d e s c r i b e t h e Hong; Kong F e d e r a t i o n o f Youth

Groups, t h e agency t o v;hicli t h e Kov/loon V/alled C i t y Youth Centre belonged.

'I'he F e d e r a t i o n was f i r s t e s t a b l i s h e d i n 1962 and incorporated,

under t l i e Company Ordinance i n 19?0 a s a v o l u n t a r y w e l f a r e o r g a n i z a t i o n * I t s aims a n d o b j e c t i v e s a r e : (a)

To p r o v i d e o p p o r t u n i t i e s a n d f a c i l i t i e s f o r t h e p h y s i c a l i

i n t e l l e c t u a l , c u l t u r a l and s o c i a l development o f young men and women be七ween

and 21 y e a r s o f a g e . (b)

To encourage, f o s t e r and develop independent y o u t h groups

t o a c h i e v e t h e f o r e g o i n g development• (c)

To provide for affiliation of independent youth groups to

七he F e d e r a t i o n and t o p r o v i d e a d v i c e » assistance and facilities for group activities for affiliated youth groups• (d)

To encourage and develop the training of youth leadersj

professional and voluntary. (e)

To foster public recognition and support for youth group

works designed to help young people in their relationship with youth groups•

In the initial and early history of its existencet the work of the Federation was mainly supportive, in co-ordinating different independent youth groups, offering advice and assistance in

Kong Kong Federation of Youth Groups.

Axmual Report, 1976-77•

P* 1

t h e i r o r g a n i z i n g o f v a r i o u s p h y s i c a l and s o c i a l a c t i v i t i e s ^

Entering

t h e new decade o f 70s, the agency, s e e i n g the t r e n d o f meeting needs o f y o u t h i n a changing s o c i e t y 5 t o o k up some a c t i v e r o l e s i n r u n n i n g y o u t h work i n y o u t h c e n t r e s . I t a l s o i n i t i a t e d and implemented a number o f new and adventurous schemes l i k e the detached v/ork, the p i l o t y o u t h guidance p r o j e c t s and t h e extended y o u t h programme e t c . Today, w i t h a t o t a l number o f 25 y o u t h c e n t r e s , more t h a n 10 a f f i l i a t e d y o u t h groups and 七he o p e r a t i o n o f q u i t e a number o f e x p e r i m e n t a l schemesi t h e F e d e r a t i o n i s r e g a r d e d a s t h e b i g g e s t y o u t h work agency i n Hong Kong. The major p o r t i o n o f y o u t h v/ork o f t h e F e d e r a t i o n i s done through y o u t h c e n t r e s .

Whereas, p r e v i o u s l y , most programmes and

a c t i v i t i e s v/ere ^Centre-based 11 and o r i e n t e d , i n r e c e n t y e a r s more i n s i g h t s v/ere a c q u i r e d and a c c o r d i n g t o t h e working d i r e c t i o n s t a t e d i n t h e A n n u a l Heport : “ A d i v e r s i t y o f approaches t o y o u t h work from t h e c e n t r e base was adopted, based on t h e needs o f d i f f e r e n t l o c a l i t i e s and t h e e x p e r t i s e o f t h e y o u t h w o r k e r s . S o c i a l and r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i 七 i e s c o n s t i t u t e d t h e major p o r t i o n o f t h e d a i l y c e n t r e programmes, through which s o c i a l v/ork g o a l s a r e t o be a c h i e v e d . V/hile group v/ork was r e g a r d e d a s t h e b a s i c method o f c e n t r e o p e r a t i o n , 七 i i e s t a f f employ o t h e r methods i n w o r k i n g w i t h our y o u t h members, through i n d i v i d u a l c a r e and a t t e n t i o n and community* c o l l a b o r a t i o n . I t i s becoming more and more o b v i o u s t h a t y o u t h c e n t r e s cannot be i s o l a t e d from t h e community and y o u t h s a r e p a r t o f t h e s o c i e t y . Under t h i s p h i l o s o p h y , t h e o b j e c t i v e o f t h e c e n t r e s e r v i c e was geared t o i n v o l v i n g youths t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n the u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f community and s o c i a l a f f a i r s . We b e l i e v e t h i s would enable them t o develop a s a c o n t r i b u t i n g member o f t h e community r a t h e r t han a member o f o u r c e n t r e s a l o n e . T h i s had been s t r o n g l y emphasized w i t h t h e support o f programmes a s v / e l l a s constant d i s c u s s i o n among s t a f f • Social studies, seminars and service programmes were organized for members in the development of social consciousness and concern for society• lie believe this would be the direction^our centre would follow within the next few years.11 2.

Hong

Kong

Federation of Youth Group.

Annual BepoZt, 1976-77, p. 10-11

2k Vhe e v o l u t i o n o f such a u o r k i n g d i r e c t i o n v/as a f f i r m e d i n response t o t h e demands o f nev/ s i t u a t i o n s o f s o c i a l change•

The V/alled

City Youth V/ork experience in adopting new ways after experiencing hardship and challenge, m y serve as an illustration. (2)

'.vhe Setting up of the Walled City Youth Centre and the Assumed Holes and Functions of the Centre Invited by the Social V/e Ifare Department, the Kov/loon City Youth

Centre (actually a children and youth centre) of the ILK«F.Y»G,» sited inside the Walled City, v/as established in late 197、on a trial period for a number of unspecified years•

A foilow-up evaluation would be

conducted after 3 years to determine its relevance and feasibility of providing services to the youth. The premises of the centre v/as acquired from a ChriBtian church, the Christian nationals1 Evangelism Commission (v/hich owned and operated previously a Home for the Aged but closed down before 197^ as the institute moved to Tsz V/an Shan) . a total area of over 6,000 sq. ft.

It consisted of 2 flats fedth

There were a common hall, table-

tennis room, stage-platform, a library and 3 rooms for group work etc. A s a whole the centre might be regarded as spacious and full of equipment• Actually the establishment of the centre v/as due to the recognition that there was an absence of decent and v/ell organized children and ；youths e r v i c e s i n t h e W a l l e d C i t y j v/hich v/as packed v/ith o l d and new b u i l d i n g s ,

ilany o f t h e new ones were h i g h - r i s e b u i l d i n g s

v/ithout t h e a p p r o v a l o f t h e B u i l d i n g Ordinance O f f i c e • of the Called City was growing witli

The population

the increase of buildings.

Children and youths in the V/alled City did not have much to do therein

and v/ere v e r y s u s c e p t i b l e t o e v i l temptations and a c t i v i t i e s -

The

agency o f t h e J o n g Kong F e d e r a t i o n o f Youth Groups, even thougii i t s o b j e c t i v e was t o p r o v i d e y o u t h s e r v i c e s , agreed t o t a k e up the p r o v i G i o n o f a c h i l d r e nl s s e r v i c e i n t h i s p e c u l i a r a r e a a s an exception. S i n c e t h e s i t u a t i o n i n t h e W a l l e d C i t y v/as p e c u l i a r , ( C o n s i d e r i n g i t s m y s i c a l and s o c i a l environment), t h e o r i g i n a l aim o f e s t a b l i s h i n g a c h i l d r e n and y o u t h c e n t r e t h e r e i n 197^- had been modest and r e s t r i c t i v e i n scope and depth.

B a s i c a l l y , i t v/as supposed t o o r g a n i z e

h e a l t h y and l e i s u r e - t i m e a c t i v i t i e s f o r the youngsters ( c h i l d r e n : 8 t o 14; y o u t h : from

t o 21) l i v i n g i n t h e much n e g l e c t e d community,

j t was hoped t h a t a f t e r the people had got a c q u a i n t e d w i t h t h e c e n t r e arid t o o k r e c o g n i z a n c e o f the c e n t r e t h a t i t c o u l d t n e n venture t o acliieve higher aims, I n t h i s l i g h t , t h e f u n c t i o n o f t h e c e n t r e a t t h e i n i t i a l stage was t o o f f e r a base f o r y o u n gst ers t o drop i n , meet f r i e n d s and workers, p a r t i c i p a t e i n s o c i a l , r e c r e a t i o n a l and l e a r n i n g a c t i v i t i e s (through groups o r mass programmes).

The r o l e s o f the workers were t o manage

t h e d a i l y a d m i n i s t r a t i o n o f the c e n t r e , s u p e r v i s e t h e group p r o c e s s e s and members, upkeep d i s c i p l i n e , ďź naintain t h e p a r t i c i p a n t s ' i n t e r e s t s toward t h e c e n t r e and, t o a degree, c u l t i v a t e b e t t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p s v/ith t h e r e s i d e n t s and young peopleâ&#x20AC;˘ (3) Existing Services and Programmes in the Centre r,he centre had a double-service, mostly serving bo-th children and youth-

The opening hours were from 2.00 p.m. to 10.00 p.nu . â&#x20AC;&#x2DC; Though

t h e number o f r e g i s t e r e d c h i l d members was n o t bad, t h e s t a t e o f y o u t h p a r t i c i p a t i o n v;as v e r y p o o r . F o r t h i s s t u d y , I would, d i s c u s s mainly , on y o u t h work v/hile c i i i l d r e n ' s work v/ould n o t be d e a l t w i t h h e r e .

Group v o r k was supposed t o be t l i e c o r e o f the c e n t r e 1 s f u n c t i o n . .i.ut t h e programmes h e r e v/ere few a n d s h a l l o v ; .

The number o f y o u t h

g r o u p s o r g a n i z e d d i d n e v e r exceed 5 a t a t i m e .

A c t u a l l y y o u t h group

a c t i v i t i e c i n t h e e v e n i n g s v/ere m a i n l y o f a n l e a r n i n g type 11 ; g u i t a r , c o o k i n g arid sev/ing; and t h e number o f members i n each group was v e r y small•

::o social or friendship groups had been formed.

Members came

to the centre mainly in the hope of acquiring certain skills.

They

did not liave a strong urge to remain in the centre and usually left immediately after the classes ended# Inside the centre, day-tirae activities v/ere mainly to be organized for the small children v/ho were allowed to come by parents (v/ho thought the small id_ds were too young to be led astray) * Extremely few youth entered the cen七re i n t h e a f t e r n o o n s e s s i o n • Tlie workers in the pre-1976 period, limited by the undesirable factors, had rarely taken any initiative in implementing new projects or programmes to meet the hardship•

Most of the time they simplly kept

to the conventional practice of a centre based approach, and spent the main effort in publicizing ineffectively group work and recreational activities to attract youth participants. Individual care to problem youth by the workers v/as rarely given due to a lack of skills in this aspect, as well as only a few of the "gangsters", or problem youth came near the centre.

Conmiunity

programiiies» whicli were so difficult and vague to be organized at the beginning, had not been thought of*

The workers and members

relationships was not carefully cultivated as the former frequently quitted.

The members1 impression of the centre and the workers was

not good be cause they thought the centre was ifflpotant problems j and exerting discipline and obedience.

in handling the

They could not,

f u r t h e r m o r e , a n c h o r t h e i r f e e l i n g s and l o y a l t y t o ^steady" and " d e v o t e d " v/orkers.

The f a s t t u r n - o v e r o f t h e w o rk e rs d i d r e a l l y

a f f e c t t h e p r o p e r a n d r e g u l a r r u n n i n g o f t h e c e n t r e programmes. (4)

D i f f i c u l t i e s Encountered t h e t i m e I came t o t h e U a l l e d C i t y i n e a r l y 19?6，the centre

v/as really in a stage of stagnation and underdevelopment (with regards to youtii v/ork).

At the end of 1975 and early in 1976, the centre was

severely plagued by the frequent invasion of triad gangsters. 工 assumed d u t y i n F e b . , 1976,

Before

my 2 p r e d e c e s s o r s (centre謹in導charge)

worked f o r a v e r y s h o r t t i m e , one s t a y e d f o r 1 month a n d t h e o t h e r only

days.

The d i f f i c u l t i e s appeared t o be f o r m i d a b l e a n d f r i g h t e n i n g s

I n the f i r s t v / o r k e r , 工 d i d a l a o f e e l a n x i o u s and u n e a s y N e v e r t h e l e s s , 工 had p s y c h o l o g i c a l p r e p a r a t i o n and s t r o n g w i l l t o f a c e h a r d s h i p a n d challenge•

After a period of observation and intense discussion with

supervisors and colleagues, some residents in the neighbouring areas and a few devoted workers of other agencies in the community, we concluded that the hindrance to youth v/ork in the V/alled City, though immense v/as not insurmountable. Hence,工 s t a r t e d t o make keen o b s e r v a t i o n s on t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s t h a t v/e m i g h t meet i n p u t t i n g f o r w a r d t h e g i v e n p o l i c y o f t h e y o u t h centre.

A f t e r a p e r i o d o f t i m e , 工 noted the f o l l o w i n g d i f f i c u l t i e s : (a)

U n d e s i r a b l e p h y s i c a l environment : I t posed a g r e a t h i n d r a n c e t o d e v e l o p y o u t h w o r k .

The

n a s t y s u r r o u n d i n g , narrov/ a n d d a r k a l l e y s and c o n f u s i n g l o c a t i o n o f b u i l d i n g s made t h e c o n t a c t w i t h a d u l t s and y o u t h v e r y d i f f i c u l t t o t h e v/orkers.

Members a l s o c o m p l a i n e d about t h e i n c o n v e n i e n c e and

danger i n coming t o t h e c e n t r e a t n i g h t .

(b)

D i f f i c u l t i e s i n p u b l i c i z i n g c e n t r e 1 s programmes : The bad environment and l a c k o f s u f f i c i e n t f a c i l i t i e s e . g .

p r o p e r m a i l i n g boxes system, meant t h e u s u a l and i n d i r e c t means o f p u b l i c i t y i p o s t e r s , pamphlets, banners were i n e f f e c t i v e • fev/ people v/ould pay attention to these•

Very

Instead, direct means like

home-visits and telephone contacts were more appropriate but they v;ere more time/energy consuming# (c)

Lack of sufficient and stable manpower : The centre, in its dealing v/itli both children and youth

v/ork, had insufficient manpower.

In its spacious premises there were

only 2 full-time v/orkers，3 part-time workers，1 caretaker and 1 parttime cleaner•

A s mentioned above, publicity work here had to rely on

direct methods v/hich would increase the workload of the workers*

the other hand, the mobility of the workers v/as very great due to undesirable v/orking conditions and psychological burden (fear of the gangsters and lack of job satisfaction) •

Without a stable supply of

worker force, no long-term plan could be made. (d)

Disturbance of unruly youth : Ever since its establishment, the centre had difficulty in

meeting the gangsters living or gathering in the vicinity.

They

frequently entered the centre and occupied the room and facilities. nost of them being triad members, v/ere impolite, aggressive and paid no respect to tiie v/orkers and the regulations of the centre•

They

always made trouble by abusing the use of facilities and equipment of the centre.

Hieir existence and rude behaviour v/ould increase the

vjorker* s burden as v/ell as frighten sMay the

xiornial,f members.

The

worker had personal encounter with the gangsters and was threatened by some.

(e)

The p a s s i v e a t t i t u d e o f the l o c a l p e o p l e ： Local people looked at the centre v/ith suspicion*

did not i:nov/ exactly the nature of the centre.

They

Due to lack of

publicity, the centre v/as frequently misinterpreted as semi-official, semi-religions, or otherwise.

Also, in the preliminary stage, the

social recognition of the centre had not been acquired*

Residents were

not acquainted v/ith the centre j thus they rarely iiiade use of the services. A s most of the people here v/ere manual v/orkers v/ho returned home from work late in tlie evening, they would prefer staying at home, rather than showing interest in the centre，s programmes* (f)

Lack of Community and Concern : There was no formal representation of government "bodies in

the Walled City.

Inside 七he community t h e r e v/ere o n l y a few v/elfare

a g e n c i e s o p e r a t i n g on a s m a l l s c a l e o f work.

There had n o t been any

r e a l c o n c e r t e d e f f o r t i n p r o m o t i n g s o c i a l v / e l f a r e / s e r v i c e i n t h e V/alled City.

A n n u a l l y , o n l y a f u n f a i r f o r t l i e c h i l d r e n i n d i c a t e d a degree o f

c a r e and c o n c e r n . I t v/as d e f i n i t e l y inadequate* (3) ‘

L i m i t a t i o n s o f T r a d i t i o n a l Approach i n s o l v i n g problems encountered Jncier such u n f a v o u r a b l e c o n d i t i o n s , the liowloon U a l l e d C i t y 1

Y o u t h C e n t r e , u i t h i n i t s f i r s t 1芝 y e a r s by a t t a c h i n g i t s e l f t o t h e conventional l i n e of p r a c t i c e , could organize very l i m i t e d a c t i v i t i e s and a c h i e v e v e r y l i t t l e i n promoting y o u t h v/ork i n t h e community. Ov./ing t o t h e u n d e s i r a b l e and n a s t y environment, and u n f a f f l i l i a r i t y o f t h e cen七re, v/hich i n t u r n d i s c o u r a g e d r e s i d e n t s from p a r t i c i p a t i n g t h e m s e l v e s o r a l l o w i n g t h e i r young sons and daughters t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n i t s a c t i v i t i e s ， the sticking to a centre-based method in publicizing programmes, recruiting members and organizing programmes was very

ineffective^

The image o f t h e c e n t r e a n d i t s v/orkers h a d n o t been

p o s i t i v e l y e s t a b l i s h e d and a c c e p t e d by t h e r e s i d e n t s i n t h e community. P e o p l e l o o k e d a t t h e c e n t r e w i t h s t r a n g e n e s s and s u s p i c i o n . no c o n f i d e n c e i n i t .

They had

A s f r o m t i m e t o t i m e some u n r u l y y o u t h e n t e r e d

the c e n t r e and disturbed the proper functioning, t h i s f u r t h e r frightened the parents. C o n c e r n i n g t h e d i s t u r b a n c e o f t h e g a n g s t e r s , a t r a d i t i o n a l way o f h a n d l i n g ( i * e . p a s s i v e a v o i d a n c e o f them o r compel tliera t o observe c e n t r e * s r u l e a n d r e g u l a t i o n s when t h e y came) v/as f u t i l e a n d would, i n some c a s e , r a t h e r v/orsen t h e s i t u a t i o n ^

They^ u n l i k e "common" y o u t h ,

d i s l i k e r e g u l a r g r o u p v/ork a c t i v i t i e s .

S p e c i a l measures l i k e r e a c h i n g

them a n d ^ n e g o t i a t i n g 1 1 w i t h t h e i r "big 1 * b r o t h e r s i n p l a c e s o u t s i d e t h e c e n t r e , a s v / e l l a s d e s i g n i n g a n a d v e n t u r o u s t y p e o f programme by d e t a c h e d w o r k e r s t o s u i t t h e i r t a s t e s were more a p p r o p r i a t e . More s i g n i f i c a n t l y , t h e whole corrmiunity showed a l a c k o f c o n c e r n a n d empathy f r o m w i t h i n and w i t h o u t 窶｢

Adults and young people lived

here without caring for the public affairs.

People seldom took

initiative in visiting the welfare agencies or voicing out opinion窶｢ The majority of youth had hidden from being reached.

On the other hand,

because of lack of concern, they had never been "touclied11 or "consulted" with matters on possible ways to improve felt problems.

Usually, pre-

designed programmes, disregarding people 1 s real interest or needs were just publicised by pos荳テrs p a s t e d a t t h e e n t r a n c e o f t h e c e n t r e * was no i n v o l v e m e n t a n d p a r t i c i p a t i o n o f y o u n g s t e r s i n d e c i d i n g a n d i m p l e m e n t i n g y o u t h programmes. A t t h e s t a r t , t h e c e n t r e , t h i n k i n g t o be modest i n t e n d e d t o

There

3 1

o r o n i z e r e - c r e a t i o n pro^rarnines uhicr:. \isre assumed t o oe criore e a s i l y accepted.

3 u t s i n c e t i i e r e s i d e n t s had no a c q u a i n t a n c e v/ith t h e c e n t r e ,

i t s e n p h a s i s on r e c r e a t i o n a l programmes enhanced t h e i r ( p a r e n t s 1 e s p e c i a l ! ^ ' ) uruavourab-le p e r c e p t i o n o f t h e c e n t r e a s a n o n - e d u c a t i o i i a l a n d c o m p l i c a t e d p l a c e u h e r e t e d d y ooys o r g a n g s t e r s i n d u l g e d i n p l a y i n g and t e a s i n g . L a s t l y 5 because o f t h e etc customed i s o l a t i o n a n d r a r e i n t e r a c t i o n o f t l i e r e a i d e n t s arnon.^ t h e m s e l v e s , t h e l o n e l y e f f o r t s o f a n i n d i v i d u a l agency i n ' ' b r c a k i n g t h e i c e ” v/as bound to be inadequate and could do very little.

±n the past, there was a lack of joiirt effort irom various

official and voluntar;/ agencies as v/ell as other institutions (school, church, etc) in promoting social v/onc practice in the community.

Co-

operation among agencies and co-ordination of services were very necessary. (6)

Use of Gornmunit?r Approacii In order to change tixe existing stagnant stage of tiie v/ork in

the centre, the nev/ly-employed workers (two part-time workers and I ) and tiie original ones，discussed thoroughly and finally agreed to i n s tigate

a new way of promoting youth work, the Community approach".

Ue took the development of a more desirable community environment through the effort of all persons concerned (adults, youth, elderly, worleers, missionaries, volunteers) a s the prime factor to achieve successful youth \/ork* The ticomwuxiity approach" consisted ox three stages of work : (a)

Community analysis and planning

set out the

preparation work and gave the'workers, baBic； ideas about the comrmmity.

(b)

Community i n t e r v e n t i o n v/hich i n c l u d e d a s e r i e s o f

programmes aimed a t a c h i e v i n g some p r e - d e s i g n e d o b j e c t i v e s . (c)

Community assessment v/hich e v a l u a t e d t h e e f f e c t o f the

pro^raimueG and gave a judgement on t h e d e s i r a b i l i t y o f employing such an approach. E a d : o f 荳ネiese s t e p s w i l l be d e a l t v/ith i n d e t a i l i n t h e f o l l o w i n g chapters.

CIIAPIEk工工工

COMMUNITY ANALYSIS AHD PLANNILIG The f i r s t s t e p o f a community approach t o y o u t h work i s t o s t a r t a conmiunity a n a l y s i s o f t h e l i v i n g environment o f t h e y o u t h . I t i s i m p o r t a n t t o have a deep u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f t h e i r l i v w i n g s i t u a t i o n b e f o r e one c o u l d s e t o b j e c t i v e s a n d r e a l l y p l a n s u i t a b l e aiid a p p r o p r i a t e programmes f o r t h e y o u t h . H e n c e , 工 spent a l m o s t t h r e e months t o c o l l e c t d a t a about t l i e h i s t o r y o f t h e communityi i t s geographic and demographic s i t u a t i o n s , i t s p h y s i c a l a n d s o c i a l c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t h e l i v i n g environment•

course, the most important part is to get basic information to develop a profile of youth characteristics in the Walled City, so that one knov/s hov/ to deal v/ith tlieir needs and problems. To achieve the above purpose,工 t o o k t h e f o l l o w i n g s t e p s : (i)

Agency V i s i t s - Even though t h e w e l f a r e s e r v i c e a g e n c i e s were

o n l y a f e w , v/e h a d p a i d c o r d i a l v i s i t s t o t h e e x i s t i n g S a l v a t i o n W a l l e d C i t y U n i t ( o p e r a t i n g a c l i n i c and a n u r s e r y ) r t h e C h r i s t i a n N a t i o n a l s ' E v a n g e l i s m Commission! t h e W a l l e d C i t y R e s i d e n t s 1 W e l f a r e P r o m o t i o n Committee, and a n outspoken character， Miss Jacky Pullinger (a missionary who did conversion of the drug-addicts through religious activities for over 10 years in the Walled City). organizing activities were exchanged#

Opinions on

Official bodies like the City

District Office and the Commtmity & Youth Office of Kowloon City District were also visited by the workers to ascertain their attitude toward Walled City issues. (il)

Information Collection - ¥e collected as much material concerning

t h e d i f f e r e n t a s p e c t s o f t h e community a s p o s s i b l e f r o m a c c e s s i b l e s o u r c e s s u c h a s a r t i c l e s i n j o u r n a l s ? newspaper c u t t i n g s , p r e v i o u s s u r v e y r e p o r t s ， etc.

The workers also arranged several community tours

of the area, making on-the-spot observation of the daily life of the people. The following analysis v/as the result of my hard v/ork : (1)

A Brief Historical Survey Looking back on past Chinese History, we find the Walled City

has become a "unique" place ever since 1898#

In the 19th century

foreign countries gradually exerted interest in China 1 s rich potentialities as the rule of the Manciiu Empire began to decline. first to take action in the iS^fOs.

The British were the

Over the issue of opium, China

fought v/ars with Britain and had been defeated twice. in 184-2 made China cede the island of Hong Kong.

The first defeat

The second one in

1 8 5 6 , v/hen China lost to a combined force of Britain and France, forced her to agree to the cession of Kowloon Peninsula (south of Boundary Street) to Britain.

Following these defeats, a struggle for concessions

in Chinese territories was intense among the V/estern pov/ers. Germany» France and Japan all strived ；for b e n e f i t s •

Russia,

In 1898S the

British Government, for balance~of-pov/er reasons (saying that the I Tench occupation of Kv/ang-chou Bay would threaten the safety of Hong Kong), succeeded in signing v/ith the Chinese government the "Comrentioii for the Extension of Hong Kong”•

By. this, the British acquired the

lease of territory north of Boundary Street in Kowloon up to Sham Chun River (i•e# :lew Kowloon and New Territories today) for 99 years.

Anyhow,

a small area at the Ilorth-eastem tip of Kowloon Peninsula (i.e. Today's

V/alled C i t y ) s h o u l d be r e s e r v e d under C h i n e s e J u r i s d i c t i o n •

Chinese

officials ,;ouId be stationed inside tiie city and exercice their sovereignty. At that time, the Chinese government shoued great deteroination to reserve the Walled City under her rule； t h e B r i t i s h , though r e s e n t i n g suci; an arrangement, d i d n o t make o v e r t disagreement•

i.evertheless, an

item was inserted in the r:.reat:/ stating : “ U i t h i n t h e c i t y o f :::ov.'loon t h e C h i n e s e o f f i c i a l s nov/ s t a t i o n e d t h e r e s h a l l c o n t i n u e t o e x e r c i s e j i i r i s d i c t i o n e x c e p t so f a r a s may be i n c o n s i s t e n t v / i t h t h e m i l i t a r y r e q u d i r e m e n t s f o r t h e defence o f Hong ；{ong# v / i t h i n t h e remainder o f t h e n e u l y l e a s e d t e r r i t o r y G r e a t B r i t a i n s h a l l liave s o l e j u r i s d i c t i o n . Chinese o f f i c i a l s and people s h a l l be a l l o v / e d a s h e r e t o f o r e t o use t h e r o a d s f r o m K‘owl〇on to Fsinan. “ I t i s f u r t h e r agreed t h a t the e x i s t i n g l a n d i n g p l a c e n e a r !Cov/loon C i t y s h a l l be r e s e r v e d f o r t h e c o n v e n i e n c e o f C h i n e s e men-of-v/ar, merchants arid p a s s e n g e r v e s s e l s v/hich mcj come a n d go a n d l i e t h e r e a t t h e i r p l e a s u r e ; a n d f o r t h e co n v en i en ce o f movement o f t h e o f f i c i a l s and p e o p l e v / i t h i n t h e city." 1 「lliis is really a curious and rather .vague statement and disputes arose thereafter due to different subjective interpretations of it as uell as tiie fact that no Chinese officials were stationed in the city after 1899.

Successive Chinese aoveriiuents - whether ^anchu, nationalist

or Communist - had always claimed control over it.

i:ritain, making "the

same claim, initially by Order in Council of D e c ” 2?，1o99 stating "the exercise of jurisdiction by the Chinese officials in the city of Kowloon having been found to be inconsistent v/ith the military requirement for the defences of Hong Kong" declared the VJalled City to be

the Colony•"乙

T r e a t y S e r i e s , ,0• 1 bi C*0» 129/^9^ 1 Quoted in Peter his article, . ^'he ailed City of Kov/loon : .listorical published in llong ong Lav/ Journal. (1975)» P- 79•« 2.

Peter Uesley-Smith, op、 cit•，p-

siey—Sfflitn in Legal Aspects"

; ă&#x20AC;? :.he ambiguous status of the V/alled City remained thereafter.

Disputec and confrontation then occurred from time to time betv/een the residents in the Ualled City and the Kong Kong Government over the to rule. I'Tom 1919 to 19^-71 nine skirmishes happened as the Kong Kong Government intended to demolish houses in the city.

The conflicts had

been temporarily settled down as the Nationalist Chinese Government intervened to negotiate.

In 19^8j a severe confrontation broke out in

January as the government insisted in demolishing JO houses.

People

were greatly agitated and soon the trouble turned into a riot. police had fired and wounded several residents. feelings in Chinaâ&#x20AC;˘

The

This aroused the ill-

Students in Canton, in supporting the Walled City

people, had held a demonstration and set fire to the British Embassy. After the protest, the Hong Kong Government stopped its demolition action. In 19^9'and 1952, fires broke out frequently, the Government tried to demolish those burnt houses and v/ere opposed by the residentsIn 1939 the Supreme Court heard an application for habeas corpus made on belialf of a Chinese accused of murder in the Walled City,

^he Attorney

General submitted tliat Chinese jurisdiction in

Kowloon under the Convention v/as temporary, limited and not exclusive and v/as terminated on Dec. j 271 1o99*

Thereafter the colonial

government would use this as a precedent in claiming judicial powers in the V/alled City: Starting from 1961, the Hong Kong Government increased its intervention and involvement in the communityâ&#x20AC;˘

Police-patrolling of

the street was scheduled and residents living in old and broken homes

were o f f e r e d t h e r i g h t o f r e s e t t l e m e n t i n o u t s i d e d i s t r i c t s .

Hot many

r e s i d e n t s a c c e p t e d t h e o f f e r ; r a t h e r , t h e y had formed a n a n t i - d e m o l i t i o n committee a n d f r e q u e n t l y sought t i i e s u p p o r t o f t h e Coramuiiist aoverninent i n China.

Jrie

C h i n e s e f o r e i g n m i n i s t r y , b a c k i n 19^3i demanded a h a l t

t o s l u m c l e a r a n c e programmes i n t h e a r e a a n d d e c l a r e d , UalledC i t j

Tiie Kov/loon

i s p a r t o f t h e C h i n e s e t e r r i t o r i t y o f Hong Kong

. . . . . 5 a n d Kowloon a n d h a d alv/ays been u n d e r C h i n e s e j u r i s d i c t i o n - 1 1 Contradiction lasted to a point. t h e s i t u a t i o n changed*

A f t e r t h e 196? R i o t , anyhow,

H i e i n f l u e n c e o l t h e l e f t i s t s diminislied# I t

v/as u n d e r s t o o d t h e C h i n e s e government v/ould n o t a c t i v e l y i n t e r v e n e m a f f a i r si n

t h e p l a c e a n d t h a t t h e Kong Kong government would a v o i d

a g i t a t i n g t i i e f e e l i n g s o f t h e C h i n e s e government.

B o t h would p r e f e r

m a i n t a i n i n g t h e s t a t u s quo a n d a v o i d i n g d i s p u t e s i n t h e a r e a • In recent years, the Sino-Eritish relationship has been mich improved in considering mutual interests and benefits.

Both parties

find it inappropriate and unwise to involve themselves in the ambiguous and controversial issue over sovereignty in the Walled City.

Even if

it is necessary, things and changes would be carried out subtly and implicitly.

Clearly, the exercise of the power of the colonial

government in dealing with affairs in the V/alleci City was more smooth and efficient.

In 1972， despite residents" opposition, the g OT ernment

succeeded in closing two new buildings at the ；junction o f Lrnig S h m g K o a d a n d Tung D l i i n g Hoad, a c o n t r o v e r s i a l m a r g i n o f t h e \ l a l l e d C i t y A l s o i n 1975, t h e government s u c c e s s f u l l y o r d e r e d two o u n e r s d e m o l i s h i n g two uppermost s t o r e y s o f t l i e i r b u i l d i n g a c c o r d i n g t o A i r p o r t Ordinance.

Hong K o n g S t a n d a r d , S e p t . , 1975, a n a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d - W a l l e d C i t y : 沾 i o ovms t h i s p i e c e o f b j uames ¥ong.

P r e s e n t l y , because o f d e l i c a t e p o l i t i c a l a n d d i p l o m a t i c c o n s i d e r a t i o n s , b o t h t h e Hong Kong Government ( B r i t i s h Government r a t h e r ) a n d t h e C h i n e s e Government w i l l n o t g i v e a c l e a r s t a n d on t h e V/alled C i t y issue*

They p r e f e r m a i n t a i n i n g t h e s t a t u s q u o / t h e r e .

Thus

s e v e r a l t h o u s a n d s o f p e o p l e , l o c a t e d i n t l i e m i d s t o f t h i s p e c u l i a r gap o f p o l i t i c s , a r e l i v i n g a n d w i l l be l i v i n g i n a " s p e c i a l 1 1 f o r m o f l i f e a n d e x p e r i e n c i n g c e r t a i n u n i q u e p r o b l e m s . I t i s i m p o s s i b l e t o know v/hen t h e V / a l l e d C i t y i s s u e w i l l be r e s o l v e d .

Perhaps, i f the l e a s e o f

t h e ilev; T e r r i t o r i e s i s a l l o w e d t o r u n i t s c o u r s e f t h e V/alled C i t y w i l l % r e m a i n a l e g a l anomaly u n t i l 1997• (2)

Geographic and Demographic Aspects of the Ualled City boundary and Area

It v/as impossible to give a definite and correct boundary of the V/alled City due to demolition of the walls several years ago during the Japanese occupation of Hong Kong-

Even the claims on the boundary

given by different officials of the government varied^

It was quite

evident that the original area of the Ualled City was aruch bigger.

extended to Kai Tak Airport in the north-eaatern end and Man Tau Horn District in the north.

The total area should be over 70 acres.

But

a s time went on, the space had been contracted and redefined again and again by tlie govermnent.

Also fire broke out frequently in "Sai Tau

Village11, ail area v/hich was included as part of the l/alled City previously.

^Croim Land11 labels had been inserted in manj spots as

the residents had been resettled outside the Walled Citj * At present, aa generally admitted by the residents, the confines of the V/alled City would be restricted to the area with Tung Chlng load in the east j Carpenter Road in the south $ June tion Soad in the west 紐 d Tung T a u Chuen Hoad i n t h e n o r t h .

Wlien 工 d i s c u s s e d v / i t h

t h e Kowloon

C i t y D i s t r i c t o f f i c e i n 1976, i t gave t h e newest d e f i n i t i o n o f t h e Walled Cxty Proper a s only

acres of land.

Tiie a r e a on t h e s o u t h

s i d e o f Lun[:; Chun L o a d ( t h e l a r g e s t r o a d and the d i v i d i n g l i n e i n t h e m i d d l e ) knoi/n a s S a i Tau V i l l a g e

i s excluded a s p a r t o f the

V / a l l e d city..」.丨I.lug, a c c o r d i n g t o t h i s d e f i n i t i o n , t h e p r e s e n t s o c a l l e d V a i l e d C i t y , e x c e p t f o r h a v i n g a 2 - s t o r e y y o u t h c e n t r e and a p r i m a r y c c h o o l a t t h e h e a r t r e g i o n , v/as crowded v;ith t a l l a n d packed b u i l d i n g s a l l around• Population : Regarding the ambiguous status of the place, the Census £: Statistics Department did not carry out a proper census inside the V/alled City• Therefore tlie mxmber of residents can only be guessed at or roughly estimated.

Quoting from a government spokesman (City District Office of

Kowloon City) in Dr. N. Gliov/1 s report around 20,000 - 30,000»

, the population was said to be

but an officer of the Salvation Army who had

worked in the \.ralled City for several years gave a much higher figure and estimated it to be around 60,000.

Perhaps this figure had already

included those living in the Sai Tau Village• The findings in Chow1s report also revealed that the average household size of the respondents was 6.^7 as compared

七o

o f the

197*1 c e n s u s f o r t h e whole c o l o n y , w h i l e t h e a v e r a g e number o f c h i l d r e n f o r a l l h o u s e h o l d s v/as ^>37 *

A c c o r d i n g t o t h e f i r s t R e p o r t t o S t a f f Heview Committee on community development by t h e "Committee on Heighbourhood L e v e l , Community Development P r o j e c t " p u l o l i s i i e d i n J u l y 12，1977 : Sai Tau Village, with a population of 15,191 belongs to one of the Squatters Areas having priority for community development projects. See Appendix A in the Report. Nelson \J.S. Chov/, "Social Environment of Inhabitants of Kowloon V/allod City" in the Hong： Kqiik Journal oi Social Work, Vol. Xj Summeri 1973， “。• 1•

与0

(;))

P h y s i c a l a n d S o c i a l Environment ( a s seen i n mi¢1-1976) Piivgica 1 characteristics : i!mm mum -_ Alter a tour around the place, one would agree that the physical

and environmental conditions in the ；/ailed C i t y v/as more u n d e s i r a b l e than those i n Resettlement E s t a t e s o r Licensed a r e a s .

‘iMs is mainly

due to 七he n e g l i g e n c e and improper management o f d a i l y f a c i l i t i e s i n trie community # I n s i d e t h e c i t y , b l o c k s o f t i g h t l y packed and v/eather marked b u i l d i n g s c r i s s c r o s s e d by d a r k and narrow a l l e y s appeared t o be most outstanding,

^ u i l d i n g s , v/hich v/ere c o n s t r u c t e d v/ithout p r o p e r d e s i g n

and f u n d a u e n t a l p i l i n g ; p r o c e s s e s , c o u l d be f o u n d everywhere.

Landlords

c a n b u i l d v i r t u a l l y anywhere t h e y l i k e w i t h o u t a p p l y i n g f o r p e r m i s s i o n f r o m t h e F i r e S e r v i c e s o r P u b l i c Works Department. 'L'he s t r e e t s j c o m p l i c a t e d and c o n f u s e d by t l i e i r s i m i l a r names, v/ere n a r r o w a n d d a r k v/ i t h e l e c t r i c v / i r e s m i n g l e d t o g e t h e r w i t h w a t e r p i p e s s w i n g i n g i n c h e s above t h e heads o f p e d e s t r i a n s and w a t e r d r o p p i n g dov/ri a l m o s t e v e r y pipe# T h e r e was no v/ater s u p p l y f o r t l i e r e s i d e n t s a n d they had t o t a p o r s t e a l i t f r o m houses o u t s i d e t h e I./ailed C i t y o r use t h e few p u b l i c taps i n s t a l l e d i n s i d e the p l a c e .

F l a t - O v m e r s u s u a l l y had t o pay a sum

o f s e v e r a l h u n d r e d t o a thousand d o l l a r s t o some " f i x e r s 1 ' f o r v/ater s u p p l y i n s t a l l a t i o n a n d monthly f e e o f about

A representative f o r

t h e U a t e r A u t h o r i t y e x p l a i n e d t h a t t h e r e s i d e n t s had no d i r e c t v/ater s u p p l y because t h e e x i s t i n g subniain system i n t h e a r e a was ‘not adequate for the provision of metered connections#

Such metered connections

could only be provided when the area was being properly re-developed

r ] -

i e r l

a l l a e c e s G a r y s e r v i c e s could, be i n s t a l l e d . b E v e r y w h e r e was f i l l e d v / i t h t h e p u n r e n t s m e l l o f sev/age and

garbage.

I n a d e q u a t e garbage c l e a r a n c e and a number o f f o o d s t u f f and

t e x t i l e f a c t o r i e s d i s p o s i n g o f t h e i r v/aste m a t e r i a l s t h r o u g h open d r a i n s have c o n t r i b u t e d t o t h e f i l t h • Gystem.

There v/as no underground sev/age

Altliough cleaning operations were carried out regularly by

七he government^ t h e narrov/ s t r e e t s h a d p o s e d p h y s i c a l o b s t a c l e s t o l o r r i e s and water-tankers. D e s p i t e t h e seemingly " i n t o l e r a b l e 1 1 c o n d i t i o n s , t h e p o p u l a t i o n o f t h e V J a l l e d C i t y i n c r e a s e d r e c e n t l y a s more t a l l b u i l d i n g s h a d been c o n s t r u c t e d ^

A s u r v e y by t h e y o u t h c e n t r e r e p o r t e d t l i a t p e o p l e

p r e f e r r e d t o l i v e i n t h i s crowded a n d f i l t h y environment because o f t h e low r e n t and the proximity t o workplace. S o c i a l Environment : Tiie s o c i a l environment i n V / a l l e d C i t y was a l l t h e same notorious.

"Walled C i t y ~ s t i l l a S i n Cityn s a i d a headline i n the

C h i n a H a i l i n 1973•卩 F o r most l o n g - t i r a e Hong Kong r e s i d e n t s , t h e W a l l e d Qity divans. P o l i c e r a i d s had increased i n recent y e a r s , r e s u l t i n g i n s i z e a b l e drug h a u l s .

C r i m e r t h o u g h waning, was s t i l l a f a c t o± life and some

rough estimate indicated there were still more than fifty vice dens, With regards to welfare provisions, the Ualled City, v/ith a population of several thousands, was much deprived and ignored.

6參

V / a l l e d C i t y n e w s l e t t e r , I s s u e H o . 2 , May, 1977^ ^ b l x s h e d by Kowloon C i t y Y o u t h C e n t r e , H . K . F . Y . G . • of the Water Authority to a resident's application fo supply.

7 .

Peter Wesley-Smith, op* cit.， p* o?

There

hz v/as n o t even a s i n g l e u n i t o r branch o f o f f i c i a l departments i n s i d e t h e community.

O n l y a few v o l u n t a r y a g e n c i e s and some e n t h u s i a s t i c

i n d i v i d u a l s (mostly missionaries) g i v i n g l i m i t e d s e r v i c e s t o the people. The most i n f l u e n t i a l body i n t h e community, t h e o r e t i c a l l y , s h o u l d be t h e V / a l l e d C i t y R e s i d e n t s * V/elfare P ro m o t io n Committee, a l e f t i s t K a i F o n g o r g a n i z a t i o n e s t a b l i s h e d i n A u g u s t , 1963*

According

t o i n f o r m a t i o n g i v e n by some o l d r e s i d e n t s , t h e committee h a d p l a y e d a n a c t i v e r o l e i n o r g a n i s i n g and l e a d i n g t h e p e o p l e t o f i g h t f o r t h e i r i n t e r e s t s i n t h e p a s t , e s p e c i a l l y b e f o r e 196?*

But i n r e c e n t y e a r s ,

"because o f p o l i t i c a l f a c t o r s , and t h e d i f f i c u l t i e s o f g e t t i n g work done i n the a r e a packed

m u i t i - s t o r e y b u i l d i n g s , i t r a r e l y t o o k any

i n i t i a t i v e i n o r g a n i s i n g people t o f i g h t i n c o n t r o v e r s i a l i s s u e s ( e . g . water-supply).

A s u r v e y o f t h e o f f i c i a l p u b l i c a t i o n o f t l i e Committee,

p u b l i s h e d on 5-11-1976，found that nearly | of the pages were given for political propanganda and news in iiainland China. on local matters•

1 Less than ^ was

Even this

o n r e c r e a t i o n a l a c t i v i t i e s ， e.g. outings and learning classes， etc* L:othing had been mentioned about the living problems in the community# ；;:.esides t h e K a i Fong, t h e Hong Kong F e d e r a t i o n o f Y o u t h Groups h a d o p e r a t e d a l a r g e y o u t h a n d c l i i l d r e n c e n t r e s i n c e 197^ i n t h e h e a r t a r e a . I t v/as s p a c i o u s and equipped v / e l l .

But t h e work had not been

widely publicised# Other agencies o f f e r i n g s e r v i c e s included a c l i n i c and a k i n d e r g a r t e n o f t h e S a l v a t i o n Army, a n d a p r i m a r y s c h o o l o p e r a t e d by t h e C h r i s t i a n n a t i o n a l s 1 E v a n g e l i s m Commission. O i Y o u t h C l u b formed under t h e s p o n s o r s h i p o f

There was a l s o

a rnissionax;/ \/lio v/ishes t o c o n v e r t d e i i q u e n t s i n t h e a r e a b y p r o v i d i n g them w i t l i l o v e a n d f r i e n d s h i p .

The c l u b , hov/ever, h a s no o r g a n i s e d

s c h e d u l e o f a c t i v i t i e s and v/as c h i e f l y u s e d a s a p l a c e o f g a t h e r i n g . A s a w h o l e , t h e i r s e r v i c e s v/ere l i m i t e d i n scope and depth• Concerning in七eraction ajiiong t h e r e s i d e n t s , a s mentioned by Dr* Chov;, " t h e i n h a b i t a n t s o f t h e V / a l l e d C i t y a r e n o t i n any manner c o ordinated".0

'Jhey had r a r e i n t e r a c t i o n among t h e m s e l v e s -

usually

t h e y were f a m i l i a r w i t h one o r two s t r e e t s a r o u n d i n v/hich t h e i r homes are located,

v e r y i n f r e q u e n t l y t h e y w o u l d r e s o r t t o use s e r v i c e s o f f e r e d

i n t h e community.

I n g e n e r a l t r e s i d e n t s i n t h e I , a i l e d C i t y would c a s t

a s u s p i c i o u s eye a t the o u t s i d e r s . A s f o r t h e c o n t r o l system i n t l i e community, t h e r e was u n c e r t a i n t y . Even though t h e m a j o r i t y o f t h e people d i d observe the e x i s t i n g laws a n d r e g u l a t i o n s o f t h e Hong Kong Government i n o r d e r t o a v o i d t r o u b l e , a number o f p e o p l e d i d pay a l l e g i a n c e ( l o y a l t y ) t o t h e m a i n l a n d government* (The l e f t i s t K a i Fong Committee h a d o p e r a t e d two s c h o o l s i n t h e a r e a ) • AlSof

some remained unattached to any government's rule and v/ere their

own "bossesJt 喻

i s t o decide a n a f f a i r i n the Walled C i t y ?

Hong

K o n c (s-overnment, C h i n e s e government i n t h e M a i n l a n d o r Taiwan, o r t h e h e a d o f g a n g s t e r s , i s u n c e r t a i n and i t depends on t h e n a t u r e o f t h e issue,丨丨 s a i d a r e s i d e n t .

" H o s t o f t h e t i m e r e s i d e n t s w o u l d use t h e i r

ov;n r e s o u r c e s - r e l a t i v e / f r i e n d s o r o t h e r means r a t h e r t h a n t h e goYernment p r o v i s i o n s t o solve t h e i r problems.n

r e l s o n V/.G. Chow, o p . c i t ” see the recommendation in the oricinal report #

(杯)

P r o f i l e o f Youth i n t h e V /a l l ed C i t y S a G i c I n f o r m a t i o n on :iumber a n d S t a t u s : 工 • 匕 was 丨iard t o Qet complete and v a l i d f i g u r e s and d a t a about

t l i e y o u t h i n t h e V ' a i l e d C i t y due t o l a c k o f f o r m a l and s c i e n t i f i c investigation.

Tiuis r oug h e s t i m a t e s and i n f e r e n c e had t o be made from

m a t e r i a l s o f l i m i t e d sources• A figure calculated by a City District Officer in 1973 was out of a total population of 2'?, 000, there uere IO3 000 (below 1^); 5,000 (from

and 12,000 (above 25) •

It also shoued that more than 50

per cent of tlie population v/ere local born and that the niajority of the residents (80 per cent) were workings v/ith an average income of ;i^00 to $800. 9 According to ::elson Chow l s report, in 1975, the average household sise of the respondents in liis survey was 6.5? (relatively larger as compared to 4.59 of the 1971 census for the whole colony) i./liile the average number of children for all households v/as 4.57. All the families being interviewed did have children and

'the

portion of children (aged 10 to 2^) who v/ere in trie adolescent or early adult stages and qualified accordingly for youth uork services "

•

1 0

occupied 6 3 * 0 per cent of the children population•

Hie male and female youngsters also quite matched in number in the V/alled City. • 0

10.

Out of 272 youngsters within the range of 10 to 2^»

were male while 13^ i/ere female.

Restricted :veport on Social Survey on.Kalled City - published by City District Office (Kowloon City),.1973-. nelson, Chov/, od. cit.$ p. 10.

E v e n i f ue t a k e t h e whole p o p u l a t i o n 01 t h e V/alled C i t y t o be 3 0 , 0 0 0 ( a v e r y c o n s e r v a t i v e estimate)，excluding parents and those under 10 and those over

a rough estimate of the youth from 10 to

24 (301 000 x 士 : ' 6 3 ^ 6 A c t u a l l y , b e s i d e s t h e i n f e r e n c e dravm from t h e d a t a o f t h e r e p o r t , f r o m t h e f a c t t h a t t h e r e were so rnany m u l t i - s t o r e y b u i l d i n g s i n t h e community a s v / e l l a s t h r o u g h t h e worker«s personal encounters and observation, the youth population in the Ualled City v/as definitely not small•

Even though they scarcely emerged and participated in

centre/comraiinity activities, the existence and rich poten七ial o f a y o u t h f u l f o r c e i n t h e a r e a v/as beyond doubt • Concerning the status of the youth, the only source available came from the membership registration records of the youth centre of trie Federation of Youth Groups.

The number of youth members in the

centre v/as 210 by the time of 51st March 1976*

Their statuses were

simply classified as (a) Students : 12? or 6〇 per cent； ( b ) Workers : 8 3 o r kQ p e r c e n t (most o f them were f a c t o r y w o r k e r s a s m e t a l work, garment-making1 m i s c e l l a n e o u s a n d c a s u a l l a b o u r e r s . A p o i n t t h a t i s w o r t h m e n t i o n i n g v/as t h e p o r t i o n o f " d e l i n q u e n t o r " d e v i a n t " y o u t h i n t h e V/alled C i t y . and notorious place> the number of

A p p a r e n t l y ， i n such a ruleless bad1r youth should not be saiall.

v/as also true that triad gangsters did disturb the proper functioning of the centre from time to time.

Anyway in a deeper observation， (as

far as I can acquire), the severe delinquents or problem youth did not constitute a significant portion as a whole in the total youth population.

The delinquent youth were chiefly associated with triad

s o c i e t i e s i n tv/o w e l l known s t r e e t s ( i . e » the Big Well Street and the Old Men Street).

Also, there v/as a number of "rootless" and "angry"

youth from broken or problem families, showing some sort of dissatisfied attitude•

Their exact figure was unavailable but from personal

estimation 工 w o u l d say t h e r e a l d e l i n q u e n t y o u t h o c c u p i e d o n l y a minor p a r t v / h i l e t h e m a j o r i t y o f y o u t h were normal a n d p e a c e f u l o n e s .

c o u r s e , i n s u c h a c o m p l i c a t e d and n e g l e c t e d community, t h e t h r e a t o f t h o s e d e l i n q u e n t y o u t h t o peace and o r d e r v/as alv/ays p r e s e n t a n d t h e i r i n f l u e n c e s h o u l d n o t be u n d e r e s t i m a t e d , A ；Subjective Assessment on A t t i t u d e a n d Heeds : I t was t o t a l l y i m p o s s i b l e t o g i v e a f u l l and a u t h o r i t a t i v e d e s c r i p t i o n o f the p s y c h o l o g i c a l and s o c i a l manifestations o f youth i n the Walled C i t y .

The g r e a t m a j o r i t y o f t h e y o u n g s t e r s v/ere " h i d d e n " ,

r a r e l y r e a c h e d and v o i c e d out* category o f

T h a t v/as n o t t o say they were a d i f f e r e n t

youth 1 J a s compared w i t h t h o s e o u t s i d e •

impressions,

tliey did have a fev/ specialities but as a whole were not distinctive from general youth in Hong Kong (Of course there v/as a minor group of delinquent youth v/lio did have their sub-culture and special manifestations. :L‘ut they v/ere a minority and for the time being5 工 am n o t g o i n g t o d i s c u s s tiiem) • 'i^'hough a representative picture could not be obtained， it was, perhapsi worthwhile to give a rougii summary of the characteristics of the you tlx according to the v/orker1 s seventeen months1 personal experience in vjorking with them.

V/ith limitations in completeness and sharpness,

the following description gives some basic ideas to know about youth in the Walled City.

a； i / reasoning, tiie youtn in the Ualled City v/ho was not

born so, wore generally regarded as "passiTO" and ninhibitedrS due to the peculiarities of the physical and social environment, as well as a lack of opportunities (through contacts and communication) for their personal and social development. The apparent nasty and notorious surroundings compelled young people to stay at Iionie after v/orking or schooling hours. As suggested 11 in the City District Office Eeport, the residents in the Walled City (in 1973) largely consisted of relatively nnev;-cofflers,? to the place, who v/ere attracted to the Walled City by its comparatively loi/ cost of a flat.

The parents of the new-comers, because of fear and unfamiliarity

of tiie unknown and undesirable environment, would prefer their children not to visit the feu service agencies in their leisure-time• ^i'he uorker1 s contacts and work v/ith quite a number of youth (through groups in the centre or through outreaching contacts at home or street corners) convinced me the majority of youth in the VJalled City

I'laci tb.e .same characteristics as other youth in the following

aspects : (a)

Physio-psychQlocical needs to be energetic, inquisitive and expressive v

outh uere full of energy and paid interest to nev/ things•

Even thoush they had to study or go to v/ork for most of the day-time, youtii in the Walled City expressed a great urge to learn a wide range of skills and knowledge.

Also they v/ere in need of recreation/sports

activities to develop bodily fitness.

V/ncn consultiiig with youngsters

v/ho had [;ot familiar v/ith the centre, they were never hesitant or slow in giving opinions in organising various kinds of activities.

11. • Restricted Deport On Social Survey On Walled-City., op^cit.

(•b)

Attitude towards Life Kost of the youth I had made contact v^ith expressed a

positive viev/ tov/ard life.

Even though they could iiardly, v/hen asked，

give a definite meaning of life, what life should embrace, how one could live meaningfully and substantially, most of the youth said they had set goals (though short-term in most cases) in the future.

Actually

all wisiied

七o l e a r n a n d a c q u i r e nev; s k i l l s , p a r t i c u l a r l y p r a c t i c a l

iaiov/ledge.

A l s o some y o u t h would a g r e e t o see t h i n g s a b i t f a r t h e r

t h a n immediate i n d i v i d u a l p e r s o n a l concern• (c)

Social Needs Youngsters, in the main (including the "deviant11 ones)!

s'nov/ed a concern to acquire a sense of belonging. "in" groups, no matter v/hat types they were.

Tliey wished to be

Peer-groups were of prime

significance because they could obtciin a. sense of recognition in "thsni* On the other hand, many youngsters v/ere av/are of the situation in the community•

Most of thern knew the undesirability of

their living place, tliough they were not so sure about the causes• They got mixed feelings*

Sometimes they felt rather disgusted*

embarassed and annoyed by living in the V/alled City,

liuch liindrance

and inconvenience existedj the peculiarity of v/hich could not be found elsewhere • However9 sometimes they v/ere proud of the fact tliat they could tolerate and be so brave to persist under such hardship.

The

yoiuiger people) especially when discussing sociaj. issues, were easily inspired with enthusiasm to help in improving the 皿 d e s i r a b l e commmiity problems•

P e r h a p s t h e younger p o p u l a t i o n , u n l i k e t h e o l d one vvhicli h a d so a d a p t e d t o t h e e x i s t i n g s i t u a t i o n , d i d n o t have so much b i a s and i n d i f f e r e n c e i n viewing the Walled C i t y i s s u e -

They, g i v e n a

c h a n c e , v/ould p r e f e r t o change r a t h e r t h a n remain p a s s i v e .

The v i t a l

t h i n g was n o t t h e y o u t h l i v i n g i n t h e a r e a p a y i n g c h i e f l y b6Ccius6 "they l a c k e d c o n t a c t s a n d conMunica/tion t o g e t siirnuls.16d» inspired and assisted to involve themselves in broader aspects of work. But once the ice had been dissolved, the deep urge to learn, acquire and serve v/as tremendous.

(5)

Comniunity Planning In the light of the above reasoning, together with the

consideration of the peculiar situation in the Walled City, the workers of the centre started to stage a new approach in order to strengthen the youth work practice in the community.

The first few months after

工 assumed d u t i e s a s t h e c e n t r e - i n - c h a r g e ( i n F e b r u a r y , 1976) were s p e n t i n o r i e n t a t i o n , p l a n n i n g and p r e p a r a t i o n -

During t h i s period, the

f o l l o w i n g s t e p s h a d b e e n done : (a)

Internal Consolidation I r o m p r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e , my s u p e r v i s o r a n d I were aware o f

t h e importance o f h a v i n g s t a b l e and devoted workers t o p r a c t i s e e f f e c t i v e y o u t h work.

Thus, i n i t i a t e d by u s , t h e w o r k e r s ( f u l l - t i m e

a s w e l l a s p a r t - t i m e ) h a d s e v e r a l i n f o r m a l and c a s u a l g a t h e r i n g s t o g e t f a m i l i a r w i t h e a c h o t h e r a n d s h a r e a n d exchange i d e a s .

Fortunately,

a s a l l w o r k e r s a t t h a t t i m e were y o u n g , open a n d e n t h u s i a s t i c , w i t h i n a s h o r t p e r i o d we c o u l d e s t a b l i s h r a t h e r c l o s e a n d a m i c a b l e i n t e r p e r s o n a l a n d w o r k i n g r e l a t i o n s h i p s ( E v e n t i l l t o d a y I h a v e k e p t i n t o u c h wxth those previous colleagues)-

由 f f 耐 w o r k 卿卿 r e

l a t e r

oo-

o p e r a t i v e and a f t e r d i s c u s s i o n , we a l l had common understanding t h a t some new t h i n g s s h o u l d be t r i e d i n o r d e r t o break through the stagnant situation.

We were ready t o h e l p i n i n d u c i n g changes through new

programmes i n t h e n e a r f u t u r e . (b)

Re cr u itme n t o f V o l u n t e e r s S u f f i c i e n t manpower had t o be ensured before the s e r i e s

o f a c t i v i t i e s were l a u n c h e d .

L o c a l y o u t h were i d e a l t a r g e t h e l p e r s to

promote d e s i r a b l e changes I n t h e i r own community.

But a t the preliminary

s t a g e , v ; i t h so few i d e n t i f i a b l e l o c a l y o u t h who c o u l d p o s s i b l y o f f e r a s s i s t a n c e , we had t o r e l y m a i n l y on v o l u n t e e r s from e x t e r n a l sources• Perhaps the Walled City did bear a special and mysterious name, it was not difficult to obtain outside voluntary help - e.g. the itoth Kowloon Scout Group (Hg V/ah College), a group of four novices from the Holy Spirit Seminary, and volunteers from Coimnuni ty classes» etc.

All promised to give a hand.

8 c Youth Office training

We v/ere encouraged by

this inflow of help but nevertheless v/e would keep sure in mind that our final goal v;as to succeed in recruiting and involving indigenous youngsters in community-wide work. (c)

Hesources Sought and Confirmed Contacts had been made v/ith different official and

voluntary bodies•

The City District Office, the Community and Youth

Office, Urban Services Office, Police Community Relations Office, Independent Commission Against Corruption r e c r e a t i o n L- S p o r t s O f f i c e , e t c . had been c o n t a c t e d and some o f them a g r e e d t o support t l i e c e n t r e 1 s f u n c t i o n s by g i v i n g f i n a n c i a l a s s i s t a n c e o r technical advice i n organising a c t i v i t i e s .

The lieadquarters o f t h e

F e d e r a t i o n o f Y o u t h Groups had a l s o cDnsented i n a l l o c a t i n g s p e c i a l f u n d s f o r o r g a n i s i n g community a c t i v i t i e s f o r r e s i d e n t s i n

City.

Tlie f e i ; v o l u n t a r y a g e n c i e s i n s i d e t h e coinmnnity a l s o gave h e l p

i n one v;av o r a n o t h e r l i k e p r o v i d i n g venue ( C h r i s t i a n n a t i o n a l s ' F.vangelisui Commission), and s p e a k e r s ( S a l v a t i o n Arr^, C h i n g O i C l u b ) i n organiGin,ďź&#x203A;; forum or other pro grannies(6)

Setting Objectives In mid-April, after the initial stage of gathering materials and

analycio?

tlie i/orkers sat down to formulate a series of programmes.

â&#x20AC;?A COiiLiiunity A p p r o a c h t o Y o u t h l/ork 11 v/as adopted f o r e x p e r i m e n t a l purposeg -

\/e u n d e r s t o o d a t t h a t s i t u a t i o n , not i l i n g v e r y d r a s t i c c o u l d

be done a n d t h a t t h e development o f t h e community approach v/ould be a lon,r; p r o c e s s .

]'.or g u i d i n g t h e d e G i g n i n g and e v a l u a t i n g o f programmes

a n d a c t i v i t i e s i n t h e coming montli.s, we s e t up t h e f o l l o w i n g o p e r a t i o n a ] objectives : (a)

Tlie p r i m e g o a l v/as t o encourage a n d f a c i l i t a t e t h e y o u t h i n

t h e V / a l l e d C i t y t o u n d e r s t a n d and h e l p i n t a c k l i n g community problems. D u r i n g t h e processes o f involvement, t h e i r l e a c i e r s i i i p , p o t e n t i a l i t y a n d c a p a b i l i t y and become mature and r e s p o n s i b l e members o f t l i e community. (b)

To c r e a t e a p o s i t i v e image f o r t h e c e n t r e so t h a t i t w i l l

be a c c e p t e d by r e s i d e n t s a s a h e a l t h y p l a c e o f f e r i n g r e c r e a t i o n a l , s o c i a l a n d community f u n c t i o n s . (c)

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

To encourage community ( s u b - s y s t e m s : d i f f e r e n t a g e n c i e s

a n d p e o p l e a s w e l l ) p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n concerned i s s u e s and make

use o f

a v a i l a b l e ( i n t e r n a l a n d e x t e r n a l ) r e s o u r c e s i n s u p p o r t i n g community and y o u t h development i n t h e V / a l l e d C i t y * (d)

To c u l t i v a t e b e t t e r r e l a t i o n s h i p J^etwaen t h e v/orkers and

t h e r e s i d e n t s a s v / e l l a s anic>ngt t h e r e s i d e n t s .themselves.

A p a r t f r o M t h e f i r s t o b j e c t i v e u-ith i t s d i r e c t f o c u s on y o u t h , t l i e o t h e r t h r e e complementary ones v/ere aimed a t c r e a t i n g o r d e v e l o p i n g a s u i t a b l e corarnunity enviroiiment o r promoting s e r v i c e s t o a l l s e c t o r s o f t h e p o p u l a t i o n a n d f a c i l i t a t i n g i n t e r a c t i o n among thern.

When these

c o u l d be a c h i e v e d , young p e o p l e , i n a community o f b e t t e r environmeiit a n d r e l c i t i o n s h i p c , v/ould have b e t t e r r a p p o r t and a chance t o grow and develop.

CilAP'.!"1!,}： IV C O i l M U i l I T YI N T E R V E K T 工 0 1 , 1

A f t e r a community a n a l y s i s was made a n d o b j e c t i v e s v/ere f o r m u l a t e d , v/e came t o t h e community i n t e r v e n t i o n . I t v/as v e r y i m p o r t a n t t h a t t h e prograniraes were made i n r e f e r e n c e t o t h e whole community•

It was only through comniunity involvement that the social

sub-systems such as family, school, working-place, church or others were mobilised to support and to fulfil the needs of the youth.

And

it v/as only when the needs of the youth v/ere fulfilled that the youth later would go out of their own circle and participate in community service•

And only v/hen they participate in community service would

they really experience real grov/th and societal development • The following are 七he p r o c e s s e s o f o u r community i n t e r v e n t i o n : (1)

Community Week A t t h e o u t s e t , we f o u n d o u r s e l v e s t o be r a t h e r s t r a n g e a n d

a l i e n t o t h e r e s i d e n t s , t h u s a programme w h i c h emphasized o n f a m i l i a r i s a t i o n and e s t a b l i s h m e n t o f p r e l i m i n a r y r e l a t i o n s h i p (between workers

p e o p l e a n d p e o p l e t h e m s e l v e s ) v/as a "must" i n t h i s stage•

The first project was the organising of a large-scale "Walled City Cornmunity V.'eekrr•

It was a joint project with the official City District

Office and the Commiinity

； E. Youth Office (together v/ith the sissistance

of several governmental or voruntary agencies). days from 5th of June, 1976.

It lasted for eight

The venue for holding programmes were in

the youth centre premises and the neighbouring Yan Kwong School•

During

the week, various programmes had been designed to suit the tastes of different age/sex/native groups， e.g. fun-fair for the children^ talent quest and competitions (on chess» table-teniiis * * * etc) for the youth j

C h i u Oli.au Drama f o r t h e n a t i v e s (many o f tlieta i n Lo Yan S t r e e t ) , c o o k i n g d e m o n s t r a t i o n f o r t h e housev/ives, etc«

Some other programmes

like variety shov/G were for all groups. During the v/hole week, the tv/o most significant items of activity were : (a)

An exhibition on community characteristics and welfare

services : it revealed the existing community situation with its problems and made proposals for concerted effort to improve them# Also the available services offered by official and voluntary agencies inside and outside in the vicinity of the community were introduced to the residents.

People were encouraged to pay concern to common

problerus and riiake use of ths service• ( 丨 i a t e r i a l s o n t h e work o f "tiie C i t y D i s t r i c t O f f i c e , Community 丨.:：Youth Office, Police Community Kelations Office, ICAC, Recreation (b)

c E Sports Office, etc*, were presented)

？lie s e c o n d m e a n i n g f u l a c t i v i t y was a s m a l l - s c a l e s u r v e y

v/hich a i m e d a t c o l l e c t i n g r e s i d e n t s * a t t i t u d e s a n d o p i n i o n s towards d i f f e r e n t a s p e c t s o f l i f 6 a s v / e l l a s tov/ard t h e c e n t r e 1 s r o l e • A group of forty volunteers of secondary and post-secondary students and some local youths were recruited to do the job and altogether 97 households were interviewed.

The results of the survey, though of limited

representativenessi were helpful for our future planning• From the results of the survey, as well as through the evaluation of the entire Community Week project, v/e found the direction of outreaching and involving the community was basically correct because most of our respondents in the interviews and the participants xn activities expressed utmost concern on improving the comniunity enviroiiiner.t and service provisions-

They did not care about the centra and would

rarely let their children participate in the centre-s activities before

> i5

t'-iev s d

u p o e i b i v e r o l e o f tlie c e n t r e i n the \:hole cornmuiiity c o n t e x t . A l t e r e v a l u a t i n g the U a l l e d C i t y Coininuiiity ；/eel: experience, v;e

agreed tlicit i;i:e important and r e l e v a n t thin-: cit t h a t ataê was not the orâniGiii；; oi ône-Gpot" or "acaden:icff type of activities.

The

suitable contents auci formats of the programed should be geared to practical deiaa-ids.

In future we should aim at helping the residents

(bot'i old arid ycmnc:) to solve the most doivii-to-eartli concrete problems, the envirorunent

iinprovement like hygiene, sanitation5 and

material assistance of the poor and the elderly (which was of quite a great nuiiiber found in the survey) *

\/e reaffirmed our belief that (i)

Community servicec \/ere of urgent concern in tiie underprivileged V/alled Cit^.

工i: had i t s i n t r i n s i c Lieaniri!： and value•

\iorkers

Any empatiietic social

Iii that context of need sliould feel obliged to help to improve

the undecira..bie environinent for decent living. closely reio.ted v/itli ；youth v/ork.

(ii) Community work v/as

O r g a n i s i n g o f community s e r v i c e s and

i / o l f a r e prorammeG i;ould s o l i c i t r e s i d e u t s 1 ( e s p e c i a l l y p a r e n t s 1 ) t r u s t and good f e e l i n g s i/hicii i n t u r n v/ould f a c i l i t a t e our y o u t h work pro^rairiinec; i n f u t u r e .

A l s o , by m o b i l i s i n g the y o u t h t o i n v o l v e themselves

i n t l i e i r ovn coLraunity a f f a i r s and s e r v i c e G j we c o u l d h e l p t o i n s t i l a progressive

(2)

t o tiiem#

Summer Progranime and ITollow-up Schemes E n t e r i n g /i'uly, summer h o l i d a y s approached n e a r .

The workers o f

t l i e c e n t r e t o o k i t a h i g h time t o r e c r u i t and t r a i n v o l u n t e e r s f o r s u 細 e r a s u e l l a s f o l l o u - u p coimnunit y i n t e r v e n t i o r i programmes.

I n pre-

v a c a t i o n a l t i m e , e n t h u s i a s t i c n o v i c e s from seminary» and volunteers from the Social Welfare Department (who had received training from the ；

Community & xouth O f f i c e ) were recruited^ supply o f manpower,

With r e l a t i v e l y steady

we had organised q u i t e a s u c c e s s f u l summer

programme i n t h a t y e a r .

The most rewarding achievement d u r i n g the

summer programme v/as the formation o f a s o c i a l / f r i e n d s h i p group o f l o c a l y o u t h , t h e "Spark, 1 through the hard e f f o r t o f the worker and the novices-

These y o u t h had been n u r t u r e d v/ith great e f f o r t ( r e f e r to

A h Tong1 s case i n l a s t s e c t i o n o f t h i s chapter)•

After half year*s

time of intensive nourishmeixtj they were to become the core youth members in the centre and take up the vital responsibility in the following community service projects. After the summer vacation, having acquired a relatively stronger position， the centre concentrated its effort in promoting the community approach of youth v/ork•

Division of labor among centre staff was

arranged so that both internal and external aspects (i.e. centre's group as v/ell as community work) could be well managed.

My colleaguet

the assistant youth v/orker, was responsible for the centre1 s internal work (group and administration).

I, toeing the adviser of the "Spark*1,

as well as the liaison person to outside agencies/off ices，took up the job of designing and implementing outreaching and community projects• We kept in mind that this delineation was only for convenience in planning; in reality» both of the full-time workers had taken regard of, and assisted in the other* s sphere• In late 1976, the staff, in order to promote our work, had made use of the available resources as much as possible*

lie applied for

different funds from the central office as well as from other official and voluntary financial assistance sources.

After ensuring a financial

grant from "the Opportunities for Youth ScMme1'm d

securing an additional

part辦time worker t o our centre，several sclie肺s were launched•

5 7

The W a l l e d C i t y Environment Improvement Campaign : I t v/as a p r o j e c t planned and implemented by t h e tv/elve young members o f t h e "Sparks under the guidance o f the worker•

The group

successfully secured a f 皿 d from the S o c i a l Welfare Department t o do a community p r o j e c t -

I n November and December, the group had h e l d

s e v e r a l d i s c u s s i o n meetings t o draw up i t s p r o p o s a l s and f o r making c o n t a c t s v/ith t h e R e s i d e n t s 1 W e l f a r e Promotion Committee, t h e Community c, Y o u t h O f f i c e and t h e P o l i c e Community R e l a t i o n s O f f i c e . F i n a l l y the members d e c i d e d t o p u b l i s h tv/o i s s u e s o f a "Community N e w s l e t t e r " i n Jan u ar y a n d May，1977 to serve as a bridge between the centre and the residents, a cliannel for people to voice out and exchange opinions, as well as to increase their consciousness and concern toward their commcm problems.1 a t

Other tasks included 腿 k i n g l a r g e m e t a l m p s and r o a d - p l a t e s

s t r a t e g i c l o c a t i o n s i n t h e W a l l e d C i t y ; p r i n t i n g p o s t e r s and l e a f l e t s

a n d d i s t r i b u t i n g them t o arouse p u b l i c concern on keeping t h e a r e a c l e a n a n d

pay heed t o t h e t h r e a t o f f i r e - b r e a k s -

Members

were

d i f f e r e n t tasks according to t h e i r i n t e r e s t 抑 d a b i l i t y 細

assigned with Tixey bad t o

t i m e i n t h e evenings, weekends and h o l i d a y s t o do t h e j o b .

The

p r o j e c t l a s t e d from D e c . i 1976 t o May, 1977• Service for the Elderly : From

observation and contacts, we fotmd the number of old people

living in the VJalled City was quite sick people without any relative in handicap in movement» most of these

great.

They were mainly old and

Hong Kong.

Owing to ignorance and

aged persons would rarely venture

walled City Newsletter, Kowloon January, 1977» see tlie Forewords on Publishing oi m e

o u t and e n t e r any o f f i c e / c e n t r e t o seek help»

The centre deemed the

old people v/ere also a sector of the coimnunity that deserved others1 concern-

In supporting the Kowloon City District Office and the Lok

Sin Tong, a charity organisation in Kowloon City, it helped to organise in the beginning of 1977 some massive activities for all elderly In Kowloon City.

The workers and the youth members (from Spark and youth

recruited from other centres groups) helped in registering the old people and escorting them to participate in various activities, e.g* a variety show dedicated specially for the aged in February, and an outing in March.

Also during the Lunar Hew Year, volunteers from the

centre were sent to visit old people, giving them regards and gifts. During these visits, the problems of the old people were recorded. Follow-up actions included helping them to apply for Public Assistance or

Disability

£； Infirmity Allowance and referring them to relevant

departments for help. Open Forum on Community Heeds : A programme held in Harcli 1977，as a key programme of the ^Service Month" (in Marcli) of the whole Federation of Youth Groups, was designed to arouse the residents1 concern, toward coramimity problems and needs, to air their grievance and complaints and discuss for possible solutions*

Representatives from various governraent departments were

invited to answer questions raised by the residents.

Public attention

was attracted through mass media (in reports of the press and the fV). The workersi supported by some youth members in preparing work, hoped to stimulate both internal and external concern so that pressure cogld be exerted to quicken the pace for improvement.

F r i e n d l y V i s i t s t o the R e s i d e n t s : F o l i o v / i n g the p u b l i s h i n g o f the f i r s t i s s u e o f the V/alled C i t y I.Jewsle七ter, teams o f v/orkers and v o l u n t e e r s ( i n p a i r s ) were sent t o v i s i t f a m i l i e s , i n i t i a l l y those i n the v i c i n i t y o f the c e n t r e , then t o f a r t h e r a r e a s i n t h e community • The visiting teams publicised the centre's objectives and functions, sought 七heir o p i n i o n s and a s s i s t e d them, i f

n e c e s s a r y , t o secure i n f o r m a t i o n on a p p l y i n g f o r o r d i r e c t l y

h e l p i n g them t o a c q u i r e t a n g i b l e s e r v i c e s .

D u r i n g i n t e r v i e w s , the

young members o f the f a m i l i e s were i n t r o d u c e d and encouraged t o p a r t i c i p a t e i n the centre«s activities.

Starting from January» these

visits v/ere regularly conducted every Friday and Saturday evenings. Contacting the Gangsters - "the Big and Small Brothers": Early in 1976, after the installation of a police-visiting book at the entrance of the centre, the triad gangs looked at the centre with suspicion and anxiety. After the organising of the V/alled City Community V/eek in June, with more members entering hhe premises as well as a creation of an impression that the centre was backed up by several official/external bodies, the appearance of the gangsters in the centre was reduced.

Anyv/ay some difficult and stubborn ones still came and

normal members were occasionally threatened. After summer, when promoting the outreaching community approach» seeing the potential "threat of the gangsters" still remained, and knowing that the situation might worsen if the workers just passively avoided contacting gangsterst we took the initiative in meeting the leaders (so-called Big Brothers) of 七he gangs-

A s t h e group o f u n r u l y y o u t h d i s t u r b i n g the c e n t r e most

was l o c a t e d n e a r b y i i t was n o t d i f f i c u l t t o get i n toucli w i t h t h e i r "bosses".

We made our stand c l e a r l y and f i r m l y , s a y i n g t h a t the centre

v/as designed mainly t o c a t e r f o r the needs o f ^common11 youth. o t h e r hand, t h e gangsters 1 i n t e r e s t s were d i f f e r e n t *

On the

Programnies

designed s p e c i f i c a l l y f o r them c o u l d be a r r a n g e T i i e v/orkers had made r a t h e r i n t e n s i v e d i s c u s s i o n v/ith the " B i g Brothers 11 and got them t o see t h a t t h e i r appearance i n the centre would do no good t o both parties*

A t a l a t e r time, the v/orkers, c o n s u l t i n g and a c q u i r i n g the

a s s i s t a n c e o f a n American m i s s i o n a r y , M i s s J a c k i e P u l l i n g e r , gave some i n d i v i d u a l c o u n s e l l i n g and s m a l l group v/ork a c t i v i t i e s t o some of the t r i a d members i n the O l d P e o p l e ' s S t r e e t * A f t e r t h i s , the gangsters 1 threat t o the centre diminished gradually *

l^hen the i s s u e o f T r i a d

t h r e a t had been s e t t l e d t o a g r e a t e x t e n t , e f f o r t c o u l d be concentrated i n d e v e l o p i n g o t h e r a s p e c t s o f v/orl.“ (5)

Y o u t i i i n V/alled C i t y : a case i l l u s t r a t i o n on Ah Tong Ah Tong ( 1 8 ) , the o l d e s t son o f a f a m i l y o f seven, had moved from

V/ong T a i S i n D i s t r i c t t o l i v e i n one o f t h e most crowded b u i l d i n g s near t h e margin o f the W al l ed C i t y about s i x y e a r s ago•

He enrolled as a

member of the guitar class when the centre was opened in 1974•

After a

few moiiirlis* time, he declined to come because of preparing for the matriculation examination*

His results in the emmination were

unsa七isfactoxy and t h e r e a f t e r lie went t o work i n f a c t o r i e s and r a r e l y v i s i t e d the centre again. That A h Tong came back

. 七0 the centre was due t o the e f f o r t o f a

group o f f o u r n o v i c e s v/ho came t o have placement assigxiemant and p r e p a r e d by t h e i r Holy S p i r i t Seminary d u r i n g tlie summer o f 19?6*

The

n o v i c e s i a f t e r d i s c u s s i n g w i t h c e n t r e s t a f f , agreed t o pay great d e v o t i o n i n s e a r c h i n g and r e c r u i t i n g a p p r o p r i a t e y o u t h t o form c e r t a i n groups which c o u l d "be'developed t o be t h e centre 1 s 魁 i n s t r e n g t h o f

6 1

youth force•

Ah Tong, v/ith his name in the registration list of the

cen七re, was c o n t a c t e d a g a i n by the n o v i c e s . A f t e r s e v e r a l d i r e c t c o n t a c t s ( i n c l u d i n g h o m e - v i s i t s , p e r s o n a l t a l k s , e t c ) t h e young boy 3 h a v i n g a warm and g e n t l e c h a r a c t e r and possessed o f some degree o f l e a d e r s h i p q u a l i t y , was impressed by t h e s i n c e r i t y o f t h e n o v i c e s . p a r t i c i p a t e d i n some group grogrammes :

t h e p r e l i m i n a r y were

r e c r e a t i o n a l ones which aimed a七 a r o u s i n g b a s i c i n t e r e s t s and g e t t i n g 七he p a r t i c i p a n t s t o be f a m i l i a r i s e d w i t h each o t h e r . A f t e r a p e r i o d o f If

warm-up n , i n t h e f o l l o w i n g c o n s o l i d a t i o n and f o r m a t i o n o f a y o u t h

group, t h e " S p a r k " , Ah Tong was e l e c t e d by the members a s chairman o f t h e group•

He worked "Biery hard and did the group affairs quite

efficiently and the number of members had increased from the original six to tv/elve at 七he maximum# A l l except two were youngsters l i v i n g i n t h e community.

Under t h e l e a d e r s h i p o f Ah Tong and t h e guidance o f

t h e w o r k e r s , t h e group grew f a s t and i n l a t e r stage ( e a r l y 1977) became t h e most a c t i v e and v i t a l group o f t h e c e n t r e •

V/hen the members were

v/ell acquainted (e.g. they could call each other by the last name, Imih boys and girls) and were rather satisfied with quite a lot of friendly and recreational activities, they expressed a wish to involve in newer and broader programmes•

With the help of the worker, Ah Tong, who iiad

received relatively higher education and of better intellectf started in drawing up a proposal to apply for funds and siobilis© the group in helping to organise a comnnjuiity environment campaign#

Ah Tong and

other members were active and energetic in taking up jobs like designiBg and posting posters (for publicity)» making of road-plates and sietal maps as well as publishiag a comcmnity newsletter to disseminate news and ideas.

They found interest aixd meaning in perforbing these jobs.

In informal chatting with Ah Tong, the young boy told _

that

he did not hava a mind to do all these previously. He registered as a

member o f t h e g u i t a r c l a s s by pure chance. A c t u a l l y i n o f t e n had a mind t o move out o f the p l a c e which he found n o t o r i o u s and hopelessly bad.

A s f a m i l y f i n a n c e c o u l d n o t warrant another accommodation

he s t a y e d p a s s i v e l y .

When he was r e c r u i t e d by t h e n o v i c e s f i n the

f i r s t few group s e s s i o n s i he remained s c e p t i c a l about the aim and use o f such a g r o u p . A s time went on, t h e members got acquainted g r a d u a l l y through s p e c i a l l y designed programmes, Ah Tong had good f e e l i n g s towards t h e groupâ&#x20AC;˘

Also, after knowing the difficulty of the centre's work and

tlie perseverence and new ideas of the workers in promoting conMuiii*fcy and youth work, Ah Tong found stimulation-

As he achieved a degree of sense

of belonging and leadership in the group, Ah Tong was obliged to do good.

He tried hard and used much time in planning and implementing

group programmes as well as the conuuunity-oriented tasksâ&#x20AC;˘ Actually after I lis.d left thÂŠ centre in June, 197?t

"Uie group

remained and still planned for future services projects in the Walled City.

63 CHAPTER V COMMUNITY ASSESSMENT (1)

Evaluation o f Objectives In June, 1977, a year a f t e r the organising of the Walled C i t y

Community Week, f i r s t o f i t s k i n d t o be organised i n t h i s area, and a time ĺˇĽ had t o leave the centre and return to u n i v e r s i t y f o r studying, the workers of the centre had made an evaluation o f the s o - c a l l e d â&#x20AC;˘"community approach" so far used in practising youth work.

It was

hoped that both pros and cons could be summed up and further plans and prograitunes (whether or not to follow the pre sent line) could be determined. T!he following evaluation was made with regard to the objectives set up in the beginning phase as well as in the light of the reasoning of the theoretical foundation of the approach (a)

(in Chapter I):

Concerning the major goal of involving youths in the

Walled City to work for their own communityďź&#x161; This goal had been achieved satisfactorily to a certain extent. The establishment and operation of the "Spark", a strong and indigenous youth group, indicated that the Walled City youth, no matter how much they appeared to be so passive and alien, could be organised and took part in activities other than recreational ones.

Members of the

group, though of only twelve at a maximum, were enthusiastic after the first few months1 familiarisation and internal consolidation, in taking up more meaningful tasks in helping the community to improve its

undesirable conditions.

At a later stage, they really had a

mission in mind that they should be contributive menders and fight in defence of the interest of their imderprivileged cOTimuiiity.

64 Through the organising of the Community Environment Improvement Campaign, the members, through the steps of writing-up a proposal, i n applying f o r funds, deciding on appropriate tasks i n the project (e.g. map-making, road-plate designs), preparing materials and t o o l s , manufacturing o f the product, e t c , , had learnt a l o t of knowledge and s k i l l s . sense of achievement and s a t i s f a c t i o n . So when the Campaign was completed i n May, the group, by that time, had already been a self-programming one, decided t o remain an a f f i l i a t e d group t o the centre. Apart from the "Spark"# the centre also witnessed the increase of youthâ&#x20AC;&#x2DC;s p a r t i c i p a t i o n i n the centre's group and community functions and the use of l i b r a r y f a c i l i t i e s .

The members of both new and old

groups were kept with more intensive contacts and several o f them had helped give a hand i n the centre" s outreaching programs, e . g . o l d people 1 s services and home-visits.

As f o r the l i b r a r y f a c i l i t i e s ,

a group o f enthusiastic volunteers (sixteen altogether) had formed a

Library & Revision Room Development Unit under the patronage o f a

centre 1 s worker.

Their job was t o promote the use of the l i b r a r y

f a c i l i t i e s i n the centre.

They youngsters , regrettably seeing the

under-use of the spacious l i b r a r y , had an urge t o p u b l i c i s e i t through a Newsletter and l e a f l e t s and encouraged more people t o use it.

The workers supported t h e i r e f f o r t as the image of the centre

would be improved with a sound system o f studying and revision f a c i l i t i e s inside the premises of the centre.

The group had

received f i n a n c i a l a i d from the Rotary Club t o do i t s p r o j e c t . By the time ĺˇĽl e f t the centre, books had been re-coded and re-bomd, a loaning system had been designed and volunteers had been assigned

65 t o be on duty.

The provision of the l i b r a r y f a c i l i t i e s had been

p u b l i c i s e d t o the nearby schoolst o use the f a c i l i t i e s •

Since then, more youth had come

A member told me afterwards whereas previously

his parents would not allow him to enter the centre which seemed to be impure and offered pi ay-games only, now he was permitted to come to the library to study. As a whole, with regards to the objective, though the number of youth recruited and organised was still small, there was a happy start and we found that the organising of "Spark" group a useful model in youth development in future in the community： intensive nourishment at the beginning, allowing initiative and freedom to decide on their own in mid-period, and relating to practical community issues for planning activities in later stage.

(b)

As for creating a healthy image for the centre：

Through the community-related programmes organised in the year, more people 一 e s p e c i a l l y those l i v i n g i n the nearby area - came t o r e a l i s e the existence o f the centre.

As the delinquent gangsters,

being contacted by the workers with outreaching techniques, reduced t h e i r interference i n the cen t r e ' s work, the appearance of the centre was not so notorious and threatening as before.

People using the

centre 1 s p r ov i s i on s and f a c i l i t i e s (especially the children) increased steadily•

Children1 s attendance in the centre rose from a daily

average of 59 in March to 78 in May, 1977 while youth attendance rose from 26^ to 52^ in the same period. participating was encouraging.

The increase of visiting and

Nevertheless, as the physical

undesirability did pose hindrance and inconvenience, the residents living farther away still rarely attended the centre's prograiome•

66 I t would take a long time t o improve the physical environment. i n the middle o f

Anyhow,

19 77, owing t o the practice of home-visits as well as

the d i s t r i b u t i o n o f the Walled C i t y Newsletter, more people i n the f a r t h e r areas knew of the existence of the centre i n the Old Men Street and occasionally made response t o our actions； e.g. a tenant in the Big Well Street came to see the workers and addressed his grievance of failure in obtaining a water-supply to his house.

He gave us the

materials (the rejecting letter from the Water Authorities》and we agreed to publish it in the Newsletter in order to arouse public concern. As such at the end of my stay, I could find that even though no explicit whole-he arted support of the residents was manifested, the centre did acquire at least some degree of social recognition in the Walled City.

(c)

To involve community participation and make use of community

resources： During the organising of the Community Week and the si±*sequent projects like the Environinent Improvement Campaign, nearly all available resources were explored. forms) were acquired.

Official resources (financial and other Inside the Walled City# consultation had been

arranged with the existing welfare or service organisations - the schools, the church and the residents1 committee.

"This served to

instil understanding and reduce wastage of effort on similar jobs. For example, during discussion with the Kai Fong Welfare Promotion Committee, we had agreed that the Committee would take up the task of provi.ding electirxc lamps xn tiie narrow and dairk alleys wliile 替參/ tlie Spark youth, would be responsible f o r s e t t i n g wp metal naps and

67 road-plates. o f s e t t i n g up e l e c t r i c l i g h t s , the overlapping of work had been avoided by t h i s consultation. Also through our linkage from the very beginning, the o f f i c e r i n - charge of the Salvation Army； the prominent f i g u r e . Miss Jackie P u l l i n g e r , were happy and h e l p f u l i n o f f e r i n g t h e i r advice and expertise i n helping th.6 C6ntr01 s work•

Significantly, they too had been invited

to be our speakers in the coinitiunity forum to talk about their experience • Venues and equipment were quickly borrowed from the neighboring Yan Kwong School to be used in organising mass activities. Though community participation

(in agency term) was fully explored

in our programme, the involvement of residents was still quite little at this early stage of development. Anyhow, through this year's programme, the centre had established linkage with the above-mentioned agencies and organisations which understood the intention of the centre1 s cornmimity approach in youth work.

It was expected that inter-departmental/agency cooperation

would be more conceniently acquired in future.

(d)

Concerning the cultivation of better relationship between

the centre and among the residents themselves： Through our intensive publicity work, together with concrete outreaching and centre-based p r o g r a m m e s — Community Week, Home-visits, Service for the Aged, Summer Progranunes, Environment Campaign, Centre1 s Group Work and Library & Revision Facilities, the staff succeeded in getting to touch with quite a nxmber of residents and they had a favourable understanding of and attitude towards the centre.

Even

though the response to the centre1 s progranroes was still not very active

68 as a whole, some families and individuals who had been advised and a s s i s t e d by the workers, d i d appreciate centre's work. Anyway, a desirable relationship among the residents themselves was not yet achieved.

I t needed much promotion i n t h i s aspect.

They had very l i t t l e interaction among themselves. belonging of many residents was rather slim.

The sense of

I t seemed t h a t quite

a number of residents regarded t h e i r stay i n the Walled C i t y as temporary and would move away i f the s i t u a t i o n allowed.

Throughout

the period, the workers found i t d i f f i c u l t to i d e n t i f y residents who were w i l l i n g and had the po te n t i a l to act as leaders i n dealing with public a f f a i r s .

(2)

Evaluation on Methodsďź&#x203A; In planning the programmes of the community approacht it was

expected more outreaching means could be employed.

At the beginning,

it was necessary to publicise a bit on the centre's image so that the large scale Coiranunity Week activities were mainly organised within the centre1 s premises.

At later stages, however, more and more work

was being conducted through re aching-out methods ~

home-visits,

environinent improvement projects, services for the needy and the elderly, detached work for the gangsters, etc.

Though they were

conducted on a very little and experimental scale, and they did meet with some difficulties (e.g. facing passive and indifferent residents, failure to identify correct addresses, not many suitable places to meet the unruly youth, lack of skills to negotiate, etc.) these schemes, at least, showed that the centre, from then on, would not merely organise internal centre-based prograirmes but design more outreaching projects to explore the

neglected" spheres.

By the tiTO I left: the

69 centre, most of the programmes planned before were s t i l l i n practise and more newer ones l i k e "Knowing your Community1* Project which consisted of e x h i b i t i o n and recreational programmes, as w e l l as a Photo Competition on Community and Youth aspects, were organised.

(3)

Workers' Role i n Community Approach ďź&#x161; It is worthwhile to mention the attitude of the workers in their

work.

As previously there had not been similar community-oriented

programmes carried out from the centre in the Walled City, the workers had to beax the challenging and heavy responsibility in promoting community-wide activities.

During the outreaching programmes, workers

had encountered physical as well as interpersonal hardship and blockage. Psychological pressure had to be overcome. directly confronted with friendly but firm manner.

Take for instance when

the unruly youth the workers had to show a Also delicate techniques had to be used

when negotiating with the leaders of the politically-inclined Kai Fong Welfare Promotion Committee on organising community projects which were acceptable to both parties.

One had to know when you were in

the advantageous or disadvantageous position in order to maximise your influence. Thus the role of the workers were very complicatedďź&#x203A; a facilitator, a grass-root organiser, a teacher, an advocate or else? The tasks were not easy.

It dependedďź

My colleagues and I had experienced much

hardship and f r u s t r a t i o n i n the beginning.

Work load was very heavy

and much extra-time and e f f o r t had t o be spent.

Luckily a l l my

colleagues, being young and energetic, d i d possess f a i t h and conviction i n going through any hardship.

70 p e r s i s t and had. gxreat and sincere d.6t0r111ina.tl.on to caxry out the duties well, Th rough a year 1 s struggle, at l e a s t , us d i d f i n d our task meaningful.

we expected each one of

W e could l e a r n something new and

s ti m ul a t i n g and f i n d the experience unforgettable and rewarding,

(4)

O v e r a l l Achievementďź&#x161; In the seventeen months of my stay in the Walled City, employing

a different approach to handle youth work, a certain degree of improvement had been made when compared with the previous stage.

Of course, less

than one and a half years' time was so short to achieve much significant improvement and development of a so-much plagued community and limitations in our youth work were still many.

As a whole, the

c oiranun it y - or ien te d youth work had given light to those who did youth work in similar settings.

Our job in the 1976-77 period might be

a spot of light in an all-dark situation which was so stagnant and boring â&#x20AC;˘

The approach we used did give us certain insight in doing

youth work practise. Coming to concrete terms, doubtlessly, youth and children participation in the Walled City affairs (whether they were recreational, educational or service) had been increased steadily.

The people in

the community had got more knowledge and trust of the youth centre. Though the actual effect of the coiranunity improvement projects could not be exaggerated, the work done by local youngsters -- the setting up of road-plates# metal-maps -- did symbolise our youth's concern and enthusiasm to make a contribution to the commimity.

71 A l s o , quite a nuitiber of individuals and families had been a s s i s t e d t o obtain deserved assistance.

For some who had been rejected

t o receive assistance on d i f f e r e n t grounds, they, at l e a s t , received the warm and s p i r i t u a l support of the workers and the members of the centre. People i n the community had been agitated by our p u b l i c i t y bombardment from time t o time. time

And the issue of the Walled C i t y at a

1 (in March, 1977) had attracted much public attention.

acquiring more concern to the community had been escalated.

•

Hope of It was

evident that public regard to the difficulty of living in the Walled City had been enhanced.

Funds, donations and spiritual support had

been given to the centre from various external sources for organising projects for the residents-

(5)

Personal Impression on the Work: To recollect from my working experience in youth field in the

Walled City,工 have the following remarks： (i)

工 deeply f e e l the prime significance of having .convicted,

devoted and thoughtful workers i n community settings.

Community

approach t o s o c i a l work goal, being developmental i n nature, i s bound t o be long, slow and dreary.

The hardship and d i f f i c u l t i e s encountered,

e s p e c i a l l y i n under-cared and deprived cominunities, would be a d d i t i o n a l l y immense and formidable • previously

Some of the difficulties mentioned

(in Chapter 工工）were t y p i c a l examples.

We always hear

workers i n the community f i e l d complain about the heavy work-load,

Read, f o r examples, press report i n Hong Kong Standard, 24th Jan. f 1977, an a r t i c l e e n t i t l e d "Youth Group makes Mark i n Walled City*、

72 the vagueness i n prescription of work, long and unstable working hours t inadequate t r a i n i n g , e t c . and quitted.

Many have stayed but f o r a short time

Surely, i f the workers are not well equipped with

adequate patience, perseverence and conviction, they could not stand long t o face the challenges.

So, as suggested by Milson, 2 apart

froxn urging the t r a i n i n g i n s t i t u t e s i n designing" concrete and relevant courses on community intervention, the most important thing f o r insurance of b e t t e r performance f o r the time being i s t o acquire workers o f strong personality with b e l i e f s and committment t o pass through severe t e s t s i n f i e l d work. (ii)

My Experience also t e l l s that i n working i n the community

s e t t i n g , no matter what h i s focus i s

- youth, e l d e r l y , family â&#x20AC;&#x201D;

the worker cannot escape from taking a macro analysis of the entire situation if he has a progressive and responsible mind.

If the worker

had not taken regard of the different aspects of the community but simply isolated one branch of work on his own, he fails to appreciate the problem in a holistic context which is important in planning effective programme.

Clearly, planning for youth development should

be regarded as part of a larger process of planning for social development of all people (in a community) .

For a better society,

the youth focus is only one point of entry and we should not exclude the needs of other population segments.

From the Walled City

experience, I find, without creating a more desirable community environinent and atmosphere for all sectors of the population, youth work could not be effectively promoted.

Milson, F. , "Will the Real Gommmity Workers please stand up?" in Community Development Journalt Vol. 11, No. 1 (1976).

73 Surely i t w i l l be i d e a l i f we can incorporate youth work i n the development of the whole community, using the youth strength whicn i s very powerful as the means t o acquire desirable s o c i a l changes i n the community f o r the benefits of the whole population.

Actually the

••Community Approach to Youth Work" is geared to this thought. (iii)工七 gives

me an idea that c o l l e c t i v i s t e f f o r t i n solving

problems i s p r e f e r r a b l e •

Through compromise in reaching some commonly-

agreed issues, various forces/groups in a community can be mobilised to achieve desirable goals.

During the working period, various community

resources were utilised and the joint effort of different official/ voluntary organisations were taJcen to strive for greater improvement. Individual effort, e.g. workers of the Federation in the Walled City alone, can be little and did not have sufficient strength in promoting greater changes.

Thus in the Walled City situation, it is advisable

to set up some sort of "advisory committee" on social work in the community to encourage the development of local concern and participation r as well as to seek external assistance.

The component

members may consist of all concerned agencies or individuals working in the area.

The objectives of the committee can be to project the

image and to publicise the work of the agencies through community relations to parents and adults, to seek local resources and support for their work, to provide opportunities for yoxing people and adults to establish better relationship and understanding and to develop collaboration and co-operation among the agencies.

(6)

Limitations of the Community Approach： I wish to mention the limitations of tlm work in the Walled City

during my service period.

74 The use o f "Community Approach" was just a loosely-formulated one.

I t was not t i g h t l y defined and used here mainly when compared

with the t r a d i t i o n a l p r a c t i c e of s o c i a l work.

I t was s t i l l on the

way t o concrete f o m u l a t i o n y both i n content and format.

The workers

o f the centre employed the use of such an approach at that time, c h i e f l y because they found the work of the centre would be a dead end i f nothing new and adventurous could be planned.

In reasoning, the

concept o f a "community-oriented" method was put i n t o our discussion and t h i s approach, emphasizing a broader perspective and involvement o f d i f f e r e n t forces/systems i n the community, was supposed t o be experimental. I t was not t o repudiate the value o f centre-based methods as w e l l as the r e c r e a t i o n a l functions f o r developing the youth1 s potentiaiS and c a p a b i l i t i e s .

Rather, i t advocated, i n view o f changing needs

i n the community s e t t i n g , an a d d i t i o n a l emphasis on r e l a t i n g the youth issue t o the e n t i r e coiranunity developmental goal.

What had been

envisaged and implemented i n the Walled C i t y was j u s t an i n d i v i d u a l i l l u s t r a t i o n o f the emerging community approach to youth work.

I t was

bound t o be i n s u f f i c i e n t and immature ďź&#x203A; evidence f o r i t s soundness had t o be f u r t h e r v e r i f i e d . Some concrete d i f f i c u l t i e s were l i s t e d i n the followingďź&#x161; (i) The practice of a community approach to youth work required much more manpower.

Hindered by the insufficient supply of workers

certain tasks like home-vis its and services for the elderly were done in a limited scope.

Surely volunteers could be recruited, but usually

it took time to train and nourish the local youth to implement projects (especially those which were new and had not yet been realised by the commimity) â&#x20AC;˘

75 ( i i ) Even though various community agencies/resources were explored and u t i l i s e d i n implementing our projects, the d i f f e r e n t bodies

we re not w e l l coordinated i n a coherent and long-term b a s i s .

For deepening the e f f e c t of improvement, a centralised advisory coininittee, with the support of a l l major service agencies i n the Walled C i t y , should be established t o plan regular and long-term programmes. ( i i i ) As some issues i n the Walled C i t y were rather delicate and s e n s i t i v e , i t was not advisable (in case t o acquire effectiveness and relevancy i n other more p r a c t i c a l issues) to d i r e c t attention at c e r t a i n p o l i t i c a l issues a t t h i s stage, (e.g. the sovereignty question). •The root issue rested on the decision-making of the British and Chinese Governments,

Normalisation of the area completely to

eliminate all the underprivileged elements in the near future was not very likely. (iv) The skills and techniques in detecting and soliciting community sentiment and support (especially of the older generations) were very important.

We workers in the Walled City were inexperience¢1.

As discussed by Brokensha and Hodget "(in a community) • " there may be several cleavages of opinion, and whatever consensus there is may not be comprehensive to an outsider.

The people may be so burdened by .

poverty, ill-health and deprivation that their thoughts do not extend 3 beyond the problems of survival from day to day. “

. In the coMaunity

o f the Walled C i t y , with so long a h i s t o r y of negligence and deprivation, what was the r e a l mentality of the residents had t o be ascertained.

What the people thought might not be what they would do

David Brokensha and Peter Hodge 9 "Commimity Development： An Interpretation", Chandler Publishing Company, 1969, p.22.

76 in reality.

Up to mid-1977, a general " f e l t need" of improving the

p h y s i c a l environment of the community was quite sure.

But with

regard t o acquiring residents' actual support in action, the results so f a r was not s a t i s f a c t o r y .

77 CHAPTER VI CONCLUSION (1) C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s of Community Approachďź&#x161; The foregoing three chapters are intended to discuss and illustrate, with the Walled City experience as an example, the relatively new practice method field of youth work.

"the Community Appiroaqh" in the

To re-iterate briefly, a community approach

to youth work aims at seeing the issue from a broader perspective, recognising the importance of mobilising the various sub-systems in the community/society in running effective youth work.

The different

units or sub-*systems in the communityf e.g. the family, the school, the work-place9 have more or less a degree of impact on the growth and development of the youth.

It is important to get hold of a

holistic view of the position and needs of the youth in the context of a total community before we can plan and implement programmes which really facilitate the growth of youth. I have mentioned in the previous chapters that to employ a so-called "Community Approach", three sequential steps of work should be taken.

The first one is Community Analysis and Planning, which is

the preparatory stage in acquiring a comprehensive picture of the target community with its advantages as well as hindrances for community and youth work.

After analysing the situation and

understanding the youth condition in the community, objectives are set forth and programmes to achieve them are arranged. step is the Intervention Period.

The second

It carries out a series of

programmes emphasizing the mobilisation and involvement of all the sectors and the institutions in the community in participating in joint

78 functions which aim at enhancing community interaction and promoting b e t t e r understanding.

Throughout the programmes and a c t i v i t i e s ,

youth p a r t i c i p a t i o n i s of p a r t i c u l a r significance. the approach i s an Evaluation Session, outcome so f a r obtained.

The l a s t stage of

This i s t o ascertain the

I t evaluates how f a r the community has been

s t i r r e d up and, t o what extent, community resources have been u t i l i s e d and cooperation has been achieved i n running youth work i n the community.

â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;

Thus we see that a community approach t o youth work would not simply r e s t r i c t i t s e l f t o organising programmes within the narrow premises of the centre.

I t put the things i n the t o t a l context and

d i d attempt t o mobilise a l l possible strength and forces t o serve the growth and development of the community i n which youth i s an integral part.

When the community progresses, the youth i n i t also move forward. In my practice i n the Walled C i t y , owing t o great e x i s t i n g

problems as w e l l as the lack o f manpower and experience of the workers, the employment o f the community approach had limited achievement. The workers had worked out the three stages respectively.

Certain

r e s u l t s , l i k e r e c r u i t i n g some core and enthusiastic youth t o participate i n community-wide services, were encouraging.

The objectives set up

at the beginning had been achieved t o a certain degree.

Nevertheless,

we had t o admit that some stib-systems l i k e schools and work-place had not been s u f f i c i e n t l y contacted and t h e i r support sought.

Other

units l i k e f a m i l i e s , churches, government departments, student volunteers, e t c . , had been contacted and mobilised t o help i n one way or another i n the process o f community and youth development.

79 ⑵

Pros

Cons of Community Approach (Suitmiary)；

I sum up b r i e f l y the merits and disadvantages o f using the community approach. For the p o s i t i v e and advantageous aspect, a community approach i s more e f f e c t i v e i n i t s detecting and understanding the root needs of the youth i n thelx re l ati o ns t o the v i t a l sub-systems of the coimnunity/ society.

The focus would not be narrowly directed； rather, with an

analysis of the total situation in the coinmunity, the workers would get a more comprehensive picture and the planning and programmes designed would be more relevant to help in solving the immediate as well as the long-term problems hindering the growth and development of our youth in the community•

Besides, through the utilisation of

the community approach, different strata of people are to be connected, and their support acquired for the implementation of prograirimes would be greater than other approaches which do not stress massive contact and cornmunication.

Finally, the resources in the community (or in

the vicinity to the community) can be collected and used as much as possible in promoting better development.

On the other hand, the use of a community approach would have certain disadvantages.

First of all, it requires more manpower and

work-hours in making wider scope and range of grass-root work.

Also

the effect is not so quick to realise as it takes time to materialise the objectives which are usually set for a rather long-term development of a community.

In addition, to practise this approach, workers should

have better communication and coordination skills.

They shoxild also

be men of commitment and devotion to face hardship and challenge.

80 (3)

A p p l i c a b i l i t y of Coimnunity Approach t o other Settings： In Hong Kong societies there are quite a number of under-

privileged or deprived coininmities which deserve more care and concern. For example, in several old resettlement est ate 5 (those Mark I &

工工），

liscensed areas and squatter areas, physical conditions are also very notorious.

Housing accommodation is very crowded and the daily

facilities are very poorly provided.

The social environment is also

undesirable, there are very few welfare agencies in the locality which cannot offer sufficient quantity as well as appropriate quality of service to the people. around the streets.

Y o m g people stay free at home or wander

Bad influence to the youth comes from the various

types of vice-dens and divans.

Youth living under such an environment

are susceptible to become gamblers, drug-addicts and criminals. Nevertheless, in these deprived communities# there would still be opportunities for young people to grow and develop provided concerted effort from the sub-systems of the coiranunity can be mobilised. Applying the community approach by devoted and enthusiastic workers is a way to improve•

Like the example of the Walled City, no matter

how undesirable the physical and social environment seems to be, we can still detect and mobilise positive and advnatageous elements in the poor and deprived coMtiunities.

A linkage with different sectors

the parents, the youth, the teachers, the employers, the missionaries, the welfare workers of official/voluntary agencies in a concerted effort to help in developing the coiranunity is still possible / though it may be difficult.

With a comprehensive community analysis, workers can

ascertain the pros and cons of the existing situation and then suitable programmes can be designed to arouse piiblic concern and participation in changing the undesirable situation to a better one.

Youth are a

81 strong force f o r change, i f they can be mobilised i n an appropriate way.

They can help t o improve the undesirable environment which

hinders t h e i r development.

(4) Value o f Community Approach t o Youth Policy i n Generalďź&#x161; Nowadayst young people are being involved more actively not only in programmes and activities merely concerning themselves but also in community services in their neighbourhoods.

As society evolves and

things keep changing, in the youth work field refreshing models are incessantly proposed and tried out.

In the modern era, holistic and

integrated approaches are more preferrable.

Presently, a conscious

and significant effort is being made by youth workers to assist, advise and provide access to resources for young people to initiate, plan and undertake a variety of community projects and services in their own communities.

They are attempting to polish an "conmiunity

approach" and direct the effort of young people to meaningful tasks. Through these efforts young people will be able to work towards the goal of self-determination and to develop social responsibility. Ihis trend of community commitment in the direction of youth work is healthy and should be explored in depth and viability. In my view, a sound and updated youth policy should help and guide the development of youth work in the following goals.

Youth

work offers opportunities for young people to develop their innate capabilities and potentials.

It should also provide the means for

exercising their rights and putting forth their ideas and thought through a process of an open dialogue and a process of comnaunity development.

Also youth work should offer chances for young people

to assume responsibilities both for themselves and for the wider

82 commmity.

A community approach perspective encourages young people

t o do things f o r themselves based on the p r i n c i p l e s of s e l f - h e l p and self-determination and of doing things f o r others based on the p r i n c i p l e of community involvement.

Youth work i n any s e t t i n g

employing the community approach must b a s i c a l l y mean an e f f e c t i v e understanding o f young people.

This understanding i s not merely

confined t o young people i n d i v i d u a l l y but also to the reference group of which he i s an i n t e r g r a l part and t o the community t o which he belongs -

So i t means an understanding of the family, the school,

the work-piace t the s o c i a l environment, the culture and the structure of the society.

Actually a coiranunity approach t o youth work would,

through the processes of p r a c t i s i n g , help both the youth and the workers t o recognise t h e i r rights and r e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s i n the community. They are t o change the unjust and undesirable conditions hindering human growth and development i n the community. From t h i s , I see an implication i n employing a community approach that i s that youth work should extend beyond the t r a d i t i o n a l confines of the helping process and the problem-solving methods i n individuals to broader social/community issues and s o c i a l p o l i c i e s which warrant a s o c i a l development approach.

The u t i l i s a t i o n of a community approach

i n youth work would enlarge the scope of view of our youth t o a broader s o c i a l perspective.

I t gives the youth a v i s i o n of creating a more

j u s t and equal society as an i d e o l o g i c a l goal f o r t h e i r development.

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Y.W.C.A.

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