Consistent values, changing environment

This year, the Federation commemorates 60 years of service to Hong Kong’s young people. Over these years, there have obviously been many changes that have impacted the development of our city, socially, politically and economically. These changes have affected the aspirations and ambitions of each successive generation as they negotiated and navigated their own pathways. For an organization like the Federation, the challenge has always been to keep pace by adapting, adjusting and amending services and service delivery to ensure relevancy.

In spite of everything, looking back one can say that the Federation has never reneged on its fundamental vision, mission and values: to stand by young people, assisting, supporting, encouraging and motivating. In fact, whether they were called customers or users or clients or participants, all our services have been youth-orientated.

I have seen this personally, through very specific events. When I started working at the Federation in 1986, one of my first responsibilities was to prepare young people for the Duke of Edinburgh Award (DEA), now known as The Hong Kong Award for Young People. As an interesting aside, George Stokes, who started the Federation, was also responsible for bringing the DEA to Hong Kong in 1961.

by Andy Ho Wing-cheong

The goal was to help participants build up their selfconfidence and skills while training them for leadership and giving back to the community. This goal remains the same for the Federation, even if the programmes and activities are different. In fact, today, when the Federation promotes the concepts of confidence, responsibility and service, which we refer to as “CRS”, its work is simply a continuation of what began before the specificities of the DEA were established.

Similarly, I remember the transformation of youth counselling. Face-to-face meetings at our Youth Counselling Centre slowly expanded in the 1990s and then a hotline was introduced, enabling a less restrictive way for young people to reach out and seek help. With developments in technology, counselling began to use online messaging and SMS texting on phones. Now, with the ubiquitous smartphone, counselling can be delivered on a range of cyber platforms, most especially social media. Just as the means of counselling delivery has changed over time, so have the concerns of young people. What has not changed, however, is the essence of counselling and the commitment to provide the best assistance and support we can to those who need it for their wellbeing.

Another area where the environment has changed, but not our values, is the promotion of creativity and innovation. The Federation has always encouraged school students to get involved in various competitions from building mechanical tools and conducting scientific experiments to testing their skills in public speaking. Today, we still provide platforms for young people to shine, though they are perhaps a little more sophisticated given the amazing potential of technology. They also allow for more variety of expression in the performing and creative arts.

What about the future? We understand that our areas of focus and the ways in which we conduct services must remain flexible and we are committed to tackling new demands and criteria. Towards this end, we envisage three pillars – engagement, professionalism and innovation– as key areas for organizational development in the immediate future. We believe they will also inform our programmatic services.

In other words, we recognize the need to prepare today’s youth not just for the challenges of tomorrow but also for the hurdles presented by unprecedented situations and the environment in which they find themselves. This involves being open to new ideas, new thinking and new ways of work. For example, we need to be able to handle, unexpected circumstances like the global pandemic which resulted in young people being faced with lockdowns, online classes and social distancing. Likewise, we need to be able to cope with young people’s frustrations, anxieties and upset when society is disrupted by political and economic upheavals. Only if we remain strong as an organization will our mission and goals remain robust. Therefore, we will continue to build a strong cohort of next-generation leaders, with sound IQ and EQ, as well as AQ or Adversity Quotient. We will do this by focusing on wellness and on the skills which we believe will provide young people with emotional and mental resilience for the future, skills that go along with the necessary intellectual and practical tools to face the local, national and global challenges that await them.

We cannot anticipate everything, but we know that the future will require a strong sense of identity, a deep understanding of country and an international outlook. The Federation has to face these challenges alongside young people, assuring them of our trust and enabling them to be trustful of the systems they face.

As we look forward to the next 60 years, this is our pledge – as it has been from the beginning – to serve with the same passion and commitment to unleash the full potential of young people. There may be changing environments; but the Federation will always be consistent in its values.

香港青年協會成立 60 周年，一直與青年同行，多年來因 應社會變遷、青年需求改變而提供最適切的服務給青年。 即使未來遇上各種挑戰，總幹事何永昌先生及其團隊將繼 續持守專業，與青年並肩邁步向前。