Taking up responsibility
G
ladys Wong has won a number of awards and wishes that young people like herself were allowed to take up the responsibilities for which they have aptitude.
Better public speaking was the goal when Gladys joined the HKFYG Summer School for Effective Leadership programme. “In fact, I learned a lot more. We talked about poverty, ageing populations and climate change and there were many inspiring ideas.” In search of more challenge, she signed up for the following year’s programme. Gladys then found role models and remembers one person in particular: a mainland student. “I realized that we are never too young to serve the community and that acts of kindness are never too small. Every summer, that student gave back to his community by teaching foreign languages to underprivileged children.”
After visiting street sleepers and understanding their situation at first hand, Gladys realized that reading about society’s problems can never replace experiencing them in real life. “I realized that poverty can trap even those who work tirelessly and that it is important to look after our own community before trying to solve the world’s problems.”
Next, she learned about the predicament of people in less developed countries. “I found out about the millions of Africans without shoes. Walking even one imaginary mile with them on the Bottle Shoes Movement was an eyeopener. Yet we are often blindsided, living in our world of luxury, feeling poor because we can’t afford the newest iPhone. I also realized that we don’t need expensive clothes or ‘likes’ on social media to be happy. Why can’t we think of ways to use our resources to help the less fortunate instead?”
Seeing that cooperation is the key to change and shouldering responsibility is what’s needed, Gladys wants, “to tell other young people about my transformative experiences, about Ming-gor, a restaurant owner in Sham Shui Po who gives free meals to the less privileged, and about how the circular economy can save lives by recycling soap bars.”
With HKFYG, Gladys says she learned how to work with people of contrasting personalities from different backgrounds. “Coordinating them as a team and finding out about other cultures made me realize that although Hong Kong is an international city, we are still not good at catering for multicultural needs. Volunteering taught me about humility, integrity, empathy and effective communication. It made me realize that each person is unique, that it is unfair to stereotype.”
Watching the world’s political leaders shuffle off the blame and avoid responsibility, Gladys observes how this hinders solutions to global problems like the covid-19 pandemic. “Leaders need to be observant and daring, to make important decisions and give clear directions. They need to have vision that unites people but be generous and refuse to let emotion override good judgement. Most importantly, they need to be team players, not be dictators.” Asking why Hong Kong society is reluctant to let young people take up their responsibility, she points out that, “The government says it wants to understand 17
