Yhk 9 2 looking forward by Youth Hong Kong

a quarterly journal from the hongkong federation of youth groups

June 2017

Volume 9 Number 2

Youth HONG KONG

Looking Forward

Contents

OVERVIEW 4 Hong Kong after 1997

June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Volume 9 Number 2

INTERVIEWS 6 Engaging young people Mrs Carrie Lam Chief Executive-elect 10 Knowing more about China Mr Lau Ming-wai Commission on Youth PERSPECTIVES 12 The economy: Greater Bay area and beyond Titus Lo 14 Hopes and expectations Youth IDEAS 16 Learning from the past Carew Chan 18 Strengthening multiculturalism Stephanie Hung 20 Enforcing gender equality Bonnie Chiu 22 Needing to trust Alex Pang 24 Medical technology and the human touch Benjamin Lui 26 Public transport: congestion or the hyperloop? Max Ng 28 Taking climate change seriously Hazel Wong 30 Dealing with waste Gary Lee 32 Becoming part of you Samuel Lau 34 Trying to move forward Poppy Tam

4-5

6-11

OVERVIEW

INTERVIEWS

TALKING POINT 36 The Rule of Law Ho But-lam

12-35

36-37

PERSPECTIVES

TALKING POINT

38-41 YOUTH WATCH

YOUTH WATCH 38 Youth policy Jennifer Lam HKFYG 42 45 46 48 50 51

YOUTH HONG KONG published quarterly by The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups EDITORIAL BOARD Rosanna Wong Elaine Morgan (Editor) Ada Chau (Assistant Editor) William Chung Andy Ho Lakshmi Jacotă Angela Ngai Hon Advisers Henry Poon Veronica Pearson CIRCULATION (unaudited) 11,000-12,000 in Hong Kong, throughout the region and overseas VIEWS EXPRESSED are the authors’ and interviewees’ may come from official sources, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board or publisher

42-51

Youth IDEAS Surveys Summer Youth Programme Concert of 10,000 Voices Mosaic cocreation: China Week Leaders to Leaders Summer 2017 Belt and Road: multimedia resource kits

REPRODUCTION OF CONTENTS without written permission from the publisher is prohibited OVERVIEW Lakshmi Jacotă INTERVIEWS Elaine Morgan Lakshmi Jacotă Ada Chau OTHER CONTRIBUTORS Titus Lo Carew Chan Stephanie Hung Bonnie Chiu Alex Pang Benjamin Lui Max Ng Hazel Wong Gary Lee Samuel Lau Poppy Tam

HKFYG

Ho But-lam Virginia Addison HKFYG Youth Research Centre TRANSLATION Ada Chau & Angela Ngai PHOTOGRAPHS Acknowledged as captioned, stock images, public domain or by Elaine Morgan TRADEMARKS All brand names and product names are registered trademarks. Youth Hong Kong is not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in articles. ARTWORK, DESIGN, LAYOUT & PRINTING DG3 ISSN 2071-3193 (Print) ISSN 2519-1098 (Online) WEB youthhongkong.hkfyg.org.hk CORRESPONDENCE to The Editor, Youth Hong Kong, 21/F, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Building, 21

Pak Fuk Road, North Point, Hong Kong TEL 3755 7084, 3755 7108 FAX 3755 7155 EMAIL youthhongkong@hkfyg.org.hk ADVERTISING enquiries to Ada Chau 3755 7108 The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups was founded in 1960 and is the city’s largest non-profit youth organization. Its programmes and activities at over 60 locations have annual attendance of 5 million. CORE SERVICES Youth SPOTs, M21 Multimedia Services, Employment Services, Youth at Risk Services, Counselling Services, Parenting Services, Leadership Training, Volunteer Services, Education Services, Creativity Education and Youth Exchange, Leisure, Cultural and Sports Services, Research and Publications WEB hkfyg.org.hk m21.hk

Editorial June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

As the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region approaches its 20th Anniversary, Youth Hong Kong takes this opportunity to hear from tomorrow’s leaders today. Young people share their expectations and hopes for Hong Kong’s progress, writing from a range of perspectives about various concerns. We are privileged to have the Chief Executive-elect share her vision on how to positively engage young people for the future development of Hong Kong. This is their future and these are their visions and dreams. We hope that as a result of reading this issue you will appreciate the dynamism of Hong Kong’s youth. As always, we look forward to receiving your feedback. Dr Rosanna Wong, DBE, JP Executive Director, HKFYG June 2017

Overview June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Hong Kong after 1997 Feelings of hope, excitement and anxiety all met on a rainy day in Hong Kong 20 years ago. It was the day the city became a Special Administrative Region of the People’s Republic of China. All those emotions were completely natural – and inevitable – given that the concept of “One Country, Two Systems” was untried anywhere in the world. What has happened since then has run the gamut of challenges and opportunities, many of which were similar to those experienced by other major cities. Hong Kong’s unique position has at times exacerbated events, but on balance, this is a city that has continued to make progress.

Social, health and economic concerns Some of Hong Kong’s biggest challenges actually drew people together, most evidently during the SARS outbreak of 2003. The city came to a virtual standstill: quiet streets, closed schools and universities, tourists absent and the economy in freefall. This health disaster saw 299 deaths and more than 1,700 people affected. In response, people rallied round to help each other and the community’s resilience was second-to-none. Although other health crises including bird flu and swine flu also took their toll, the public health system, often criticised for its long waiting lists, dealt with each crisis in a manner that drew admiration around the world. Economic volatility has also affected the city and the Asian financial crisis of 1997 was probably the most dramatic example, especially when the government made the unprecedented move of intervening in the market. This was considered controversial because of Hong Kong’s reputation as a free market economy but it was a courageous move, emulated by many countries ten years later when the global financial crisis hit. 4

In the meantime, Hong Kong has dealt with real and increasing competition from mainland China and overseas. As part of China, it feels the impact of competitive first-tier mainland cities and widespread economic growth in China. Nevertheless, Hong Kong’s economy nearly doubled in size over the past two decades with GDP growing at an average annual rate of 3.4%. Per capita GDP during the same period rose by more than 60% to HK$330,720 (US$42,400) representing average annual real-term growth of 2.5%.1 Inspite of its economic growth, one of the most serious problems Hong Kong has witnessed is the continuously widening wealth gap. According to one estimate, in just four years, 2011-2015, the number of poor families rose an alarming 6%. 19.6% of the city’s population can now be classified as poor.2 With low wages and rising costs, upward mobility is extremely difficult, creating a vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty. The last 20 years have also seen rising property prices that put buying a home out of the reach even for the middle class. This will have long-term social repercussions as young people postpone marriage and having children. Meanwhile, intergenerational tensions and frustrations with the government will grow. Probably one of the most important changes has been in demographics.3 Like many other places, Hong Kong has an ageing population and a low fertility rate. As the proportion of those under 15 falls and the proportion of those over 65 rises, so the median age, which in 2016 already stood at 44, continues to rise. Given that life expectancy is also expected to increase, critical social issues related to the elderly will assume greater and greater importance in policy matters. In the workforce, unemployment and underemployment rates still remain stable despite growing concern about the mismatch between available jobs and required skills.

Demonstrations show the public’s belief in a political system that allows them to give vent to their opinions

Political challenges One cannot ignore the growing politicisation of Hong Kong. This was reflected by the record turnout of 2.2 million voters for the 2016 Legislative Council election. While wanting their voices to be heard, the public have also had to get used to legislators’ filibustering tactics and to seeing anticipated new policies vetoed, as was the case in the political reform package. Given that members of the public do not hesitate to express their opinions on governance and the impact of policies, it is not surprising that Hong Kong has also grown accustomed to political demonstrations. The annual 1 July protest rally, the major three-month sit-in of the Umbrella Movement or Occupy Central, and many other pro- and antigovernment protests, large and small, all are manifestations of growing political awareness in the community. There are few, if any, cities in the world today where everyone agrees about politics. It is normal to have divergent political positions and to disagree about how policies must be implemented. Nevertheless, some analysts 1. 2015 market prices; gov.hk/en/about/abouthk/docs/2016HK_in_brief.pdf 2. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2028422/hong-kong-government-slammed-poverty-figurehits-six-year 3. legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1415in07-population-profile-of-hong-kong-20150416-e.pdf

by Andreas. flic.kr/p/4UmCBy

diagnose these signs − most of which signify discontent − as being indicative of fragmentation of Hong Kong society. While not diminishing the genuine sentiments of those who protest, it should be said that public demonstrations here take place within the framework of Hong Kong’s commitment to the Rule of Law, its respect for freedom of expression and the right of assembly and procession. Most importantly, what these demonstrations show is the public’s belief in a political system that allows them to give vent to their opinions freely, even if they are at odds with the government.

Optimistic outlook Despite differing opinions about politics and the economic and social challenges faced by the city, there is a genuine, firm commitment to the future and a strong wish for progress and prosperity at all levels of society. With a high degree of autonomy, legally enshrined in the Basic Law, there still remains optimism for the future and many people feel a strong sense of belonging to Hong Kong.4 The city is confident that it will continue to be an international hub, not only for business and financial services, but also as a global leader in trade, aviation, shipping, logistics, the arts and culture. Consistently ranked as the world’s freest economy, open to people from around the world, Hong Kong will maintain its role as “Asia’s World City.” 回歸二十年，香港社會經歷了各種變遷及重大事件。例如金融風暴、沙士疫潮、貧富差距，以至近年的政治爭抝等，既有挑戰，也有機遇；為社會帶來矛盾的同時，也為社會向前進步創造契機。近年香港樓價持續高企，年青一代在社會向上流動的問題也備受關注；多項民生議題仍有待改善。然而，前瞻未來，只要社會各界繼續願意為香港出一分力，就各項困難尋求溝通、凝聚共識和努力發展，香港定能把握優勢，維持我們的競爭力與國際地位。

by ¡kuba! flic.kr/p/o4HAy3

Traditional industries are no longer a mainstay of growth and progress and this means that new avenues for investment and training, including science and technology and the creative industries, are being explored. The dominance of finance and business in tertiary education needs to be addressed as Hong Kong looks to expand its economic base.

4. Chinese University survey cpr.cuhk.edu.hk/en/press_detail.php?id=2364

Interview June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Engaging Young People I

n this interview with Mrs Carrie Lam as she prepares to take office as Chief Executive, a message of profound commitment was clear. Mrs Lam stressed the need to engage young people as a major priority, to build their confidence and strengthen their sense of attachment to Hong Kong.

Asked what her wishes were for the city’s future, the Chief Executive-elect said, “Looking ahead, fundamentally I want to ensure the continuing success of ‘One Country, Two Systems’. That means upholding our core values: the rule of law, the independence of the judiciary, the freedoms that we enjoy. These principles are crucial for maintaining Hong Kong’s stability.” In relation to young people specifically, Mrs Lam talked about her days of campaigning. “What I heard from young people was their anxiety and despair,” she said. “Those feelings can be very damaging. Without hope, life becomes very depressing. I need to get to the root of the problem to understand better.”

During my election campaign, by interacting directly with youth, I learned a lot about how they felt.

Getting to the root of the problem While this might be a general phenomenon, Mrs Lam suggested that lack of hope for the future often comes from lack of opportunities. Therefore it becomes imperative to give young people more faith, both in Hong Kong and in the government, with tangible opportunities to succeed and prosper. How her government plans to do this is by working on clear policies to address specific areas that have a direct impact on young people. These are housing, education and economic development, all of which, as she went on to explain, are interconnected. “Look at property prices and wages today. Buying a home has become unaffordable, impossible for young people. Working out a policy that will allow them to own their own flat, not immediately, but in due course, is my foremost goal.” Education is so important, Mrs Lam said. “Hong Kong is a place without many natural resources and we have built our success on people. Now we need to improve educational opportunities, invest more in talent and produce the people to drive Hong Kong’s economy.”

Interview June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Without hope, life becomes very depressing. I need to get to the root of the problem. Economic development: providing motivation for youth All this naturally depends on the assurance of secure economic development. “To grow the economy, not only do we want to strengthen traditional sectors, including finance, shipping, professional services and tourism, we also want to press ahead with emerging sectors.” Specifically, these are innovation and technology, as well as the creative industries. These could, in the long term, provide motivation for youth to play their own role in economic development, given competencies in both sectors, Mrs Lam affirmed. As an example, she would like to see young people with innovative ideas devising policy and applications for the delivery of medical care, biomedicine and biotechnology for the elderly. Artificial intelligence (AI) is another field where young people should be involved. “I think we have a strong edge in developing AI. I have seen very talented students in this area, with new ideas in automation and robotics.” What the government needs is to have a shared vision of growth in opportunities and investment so that young people will see more clearly that this is where their future lies. The central focus of Mrs Lam’s vision for young people is their growing involvement in the public arena. Tapping their forces and resources, listening to and engaging them are very important. She highlighted three approaches which could facilitate the process of engagement and offer a real, comprehensive way in which the concerns of young people could be heard while possible solutions were gleaned from them.

Listening and interacting, engagement and direct participation First and foremost Mrs Lam stressed that young people need more opportunities to interact with government officials and to gain a better understanding of public policy. “Indeed, I promise that I and the Principal 8

Officials of my government will go to schools and youth organizations with the express intention of listening to young people directly and interacting with them.” The second approach to youth engagement that Mrs Lam would like to pursue is an increased youth membership of government advisory boards and committees. “There are hundreds of these and we could invite or appoint more young people.” A new self-nomination process could also be established whereby vacancies were advertised and those interested could put their names forward, involving a proactive response from young people themselves.

Nothing can substitute for dialogue with a personal touch. Third, Mrs Lam outlined a strategy to bring more youth directly into government by giving them working experience in public policy and public affairs. “I promise to create 20 to 30 positions on non-civil service contracts for this purpose. Then we can work more side by side.” Together, what these three approaches offer to young people is actual and direct participation, which could go a long way to improve communication and understanding on both sides. Underlying Mrs Lam’s vision of expanding youth opportunities, both in the workforce and in the civic arena, is the creation of a youth development policy.

Youth policy from new Youth Development Commission At present, youth development work within various government departments may seem compartmentalized. The Social Welfare Department, Home Affairs Bureau and Education Bureau all run different youth development programmes. “What we need is a well-articulated, overarching youth development policy to bring them together.” A higher level Youth Development Commission, to grow out of the existing Commission on Youth, will draw up the policy, a visionary statement encapsulating hopes and goals for Hong Kong’s youth. “Whatever policy the

I want to give young people confidence in themselves and in the government. government develops it has to be acceptable by young people.” The composition and structure of the Commission has not yet been decided but, tentatively, Mrs Lam says the Chief Secretary for Administration will chair it and there is no reason why it cannot have youth members. Stressing the need to take stock of the youth work done in all the various departments, Mrs Lam insists that youth policy must be discussed by and embraced by youth. “We are not in a position to dictate to them. I want to listen to them first. Only then will it be possible to work out what policy we should have and how it can be taken forward in a coordinated way in future.” In order to get a broad grasp of young people’s views, Mrs Lam is convinced that face-to-face communication works best although she agrees that the means of communication that young people use themselves will also be adopted. While confirming that her government will reach out extensively on social media, she is committed to simply sitting down together and talking. “Nothing can substitute

for dialogue with a personal touch. That’s what works best. During my election campaign, by interacting directly with youth, I learned a lot about how they felt while they came to understand a bit more about how the government works.” To conclude, the Chief Executive-elect spoke heartfelt words. “My overall vision is to make sure that people of all ages in Hong Kong have hope and can live happily in this city, that they will become more attached to it than ever and call it their home.” Especially for young people, her message is one of hope. “I want to give them confidence in themselves and in the government. To achieve this we must see them as a diverse group with very different talents. We should not stereotype. Instead we should provide opportunities that allow youth to fulfill their potential, to confirm their sense of commitment and then – in future – give back to the community.”

今期我們十分榮幸，訪問了香港特區候任行政長官林鄭月娥女士。林太跟我們暢談對香港未來發展的寄望，以及她所重視的青年政策。林太表示，新一屆政府將積極鼓勵青年參與政策討論和制訂；而政府亦會致力拉近與青年的距離，並進一步吸納有志服務香港的青年，為社會作出貢獻。此外，林太指出，近年社會整體氣氛低迷，明白一些青年何以對前景感到沮喪。她希望透過改善香港房屋、教育等社會現況，並大力推進新的經濟動力，能讓青年有更多向上流動機會。而政府亦將設立新的統籌機制，制定長遠的青年發展策略，進一步培育年青一代成為社會棟樑，帶領香港再創高峰。

Interview June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Knowing more about China F or Hong Kong youth's awareness and understanding of mainland China to be enhanced, they need first-hand experience, says Mr Lau Ming-wai, Chairman of the Commission on Youth.

Getting to know Hong Kong youth has been the focus of Mr Lau’s work with the Commission on Youth and he is a leading voice on matters concerning Hong Kong’s young people. His benchmark is for them to be happy, healthy and resilient. When asked about the challenge they face on the subject of national identity, his answer is clear. “I think that one’s cultural identity is an individual choice and it can only be meaningfully formed through personal experience and reflection.” A nation is more than a place. Its people are bound together by a shared past, ethnicity or language that create a sense of identity, but some youth say that they feel their sense of Hong Kong identity is being threatened. Mr Lau acknowledges that the unique history, identity and culture with which they grew up are quite different from those of mainland China. Therefore, he points out, “The fundamental premise of any sort of winning hearts and minds is that we have to acknowledge that these differences are real.” “Integration with China on many levels and in many spheres, including the economic, social and cultural, will take time,” he continues. However, he believes that, “The social and cultural integration issues we’re seeing, in my opinion, are man-made. No one is forcing us to speak Mandarin. No one is forcing us to read simplified Chinese. One can be proud of one’s Hong Kong identity and culture, and at the same time accept and embrace mainland Chinese identity and culture.”

Finding out what makes China tick can be achieved in many ways. Most often, Hong Kong youngsters do so by joining exchange tours or doing internships “The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government has had a long history of supporting youth exchange in mainland China,” Mr Lau points out.* “In 2016-2017 alone, the Commission on Youth funded more than 300 exchange and internship tours organized by third parties.” Given the wide range of such tours, naturally their quality varies. “While there are low quality ones that provide less chance for personal reflection, many are not like that. I have participated in some exchange tours that offer students a chance to experience local culture and meet local people. Spreading these best practices is a work in progress.” *More details coy.gov.hk/en/mainland_exchange/funding_scheme_17_18.html

One can be proud of one’s Hong Kong identity and culture, and at the same time accept and embrace mainland Chinese identity and culture. Other than government sponsored tours, working holidays are also gaining in popularity among young people and given that travel today often means organized tours with little chance for independent discovery and interaction, Mr Lau encourages young people to learn about mainland China on their own. Do young people need to know more about the Basic Law or the “One Country, Two Systems” concept? Yes, Mr Lau says, but his answer is qualified. “Measures like rote-learning the Basic Law, and Putonghua recital competitions have limited effect, in my opinion. They convey only superficial knowledge and do not engender a genuine understanding of mainland China or resonate on a personal level.” pp Lau Ming-wai with a group of young people on a trip last year to Inner Mongolia, an autonomous region of northern China.

One of Mr Lau’s priorities is to review the design, operation and overall quality of all such tours and internships with a view to continually improving them to provide a better experience for young people. “Last year, I personally joined some of these tours to collect students’ feedback. Participants told me that they appreciated authentic exchanges with local people and free time to explore the destination city and its culture.” Destinations now span the whole of China. “What the government has been doing is providing opportunities for those who do not know where or how to start.” Types of programmes range from cultural and historical tours, to legal and architectural internships, to volunteer service camps and Mr Lau considers that the variety of programmes caters for different needs and interests.

To learn more, access to first-hand experience is needed and this could also be most helpful in the effort to form a sense of national identity, Mr Lau thinks. By visiting various parts of the country, meeting people, listening to them and finding out about their lives, Hong Kong youth will discover a key to better understanding.

青年事務委員會主席劉鳴煒一直關注青年事務與發展。談及香港青年的身分認同問題，他認為文化身分認同屬個人選擇，這可透過自身體驗和反思，豐富其意義。劉先生表示，明白部分青年擔心港人身分會逐漸被遺忘；畢竟香港基於歷史因素而發展出一種獨特文化，跟內地文化也存在差異。他認為，香港青年既可為港人身分與文化感到自豪，同時亦可肯定並擁抱中華文化，以及作為中國人的身分；兩者並無衝突。他表示，香港青年應該更關注國內的發展，加深認識經濟、社會和文化等狀況，以期消弭誤解。他亦建議青年參與優質的交流活動，透過親身接觸和分享，建立友誼並促進生活文化的相互了解。

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Hong Kong’s economy Seeing opportunities in the Greater Bay Area and beyond

Hong Kong has a unique business environment and several special advantages. Furthermore, I think the recent announcement about the development of the Greater Bay Area, destined to integrate the economies of Guangdong and Macau with that of Hong Kong, means our strengths will become even more apparent in future. What the business sector needs, especially young entrepreneurs who have to take considered risks, is predictability. For that, it is very important to be able to rely on Hong Kong’s solid legal system and its stable regulatory environment. These provide the kind of transparency which entrepreneurship needs in order to thrive and are factors that cannot be counted on in mainland China.

The kind of stability that Hong Kong offers also reduces the chance of failure and supports both innovation and reinvestment. Even if our GDP is small compared to that of mainland China, figures for the first quarter of 2017 were very encouraging, showing that Hong Kong’s economy expanded by 4.3% in real terms, compared to only 2% in 2016, and we are on track to meet the estimated growth rate of 2-3% for the whole year. 1 However, in order to maintain the confidence of the business community – especially that of international companies − I believe there are several crucial factors. First, the Rule of Law and a well-established legal culture. Second, a corruption-fee society. Third, a renewable

by Ben Brown flic.kr/p/776Az9

oung accountant Titus Lo believes that Hong Kong’s reputation as a businessfriendly environment is one of its greatest assets. With its world-class communications and logistics, the city makes an ideal hub, providing a host of opportunities for networking and investment.

It is very important to be able to rely on Hong Kong’s wellestablished legal system and its stable regulatory environment.

To sustain Hong Kong’s competitiveness as the city’s ties with the mainland become stronger and China itself becomes more confident of its power, a stable investment environment protected by fair, transparent courts is essential. With these assured, Hong Kong will be able to take advantage of a bright future as a linchpin in the Greater Bay Area*. Even more, it will offer a key to the door of cooperation and coordination with other countries in Southeast Asia and beyond.

by Xianyi Shen flic.kr/p/gr4VM1

pool of talented young people. Fourth, language skills – especially in English. All of these contribute to Hong Kong as a thriving international financial centre and are essential for our future prosperity.

Titus Lo completed a Bachelor of Commerce, Professional Accounting, at Macquarie University in 2013 before working as an audit assistant with Philip Poon & Partners CPA, and then in systems testing with the Standard Chartered Bank in Hong Kong.

Sources Professor Y.C. Richard Wong, The University of Hong Kong wangyujian.hku.hk/?p=8241&lang=en 1. hong-kong-economy-research.hktdc.com/business-news/article/Market-Environment/Economic-and-Trade-Information-on-Hong-Kong/etihk/en/1/1X000000/1X09OVUL.htm * For a changing map of the evolution of the Greater Bay Area go to: scmp.com/infographics/article/2087678/evolution-greater-bay-area

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Hopes and expectations A small-scale survey was conducted this year among the members of Youth I.D.E.A.S, a platform created by HKFYG to enable young people to exchange views on issues concerning youth. They were asked to consider the incoming administration and say what their top priorities were. These young professionals and tertiary students have high expectations of the new Chief Executive and her governing team. They want her to mend the divisions between various factions of the community and find practical solutions to social problems such as the city’s education system, inequality and housing costs.

by Colt Group flic.kr/p/kEdq7h

Integrity and good communication between the government and the public are of central importance to them, whether by face-to-face dialogue or social media. Among the qualities they will be looking for in the administrative team, the top two are effective listening skills in response to public opinion and integrity. Of all the possible core values that a Hong Kong leader should uphold, among those mentioned in the survey the Rule of Law was the top priority, followed by freedom and anticorruption.

What are your main expectations of the new Chief Executive?

Healing Hong Kong’s divided society Solutions to social problems Better relationship between the Executive and Legislative Councils Good governance with leadership skills Ability to communicate with different sectors More talented people in government Better use of public finance Other

46% 32% 29% 23% 22% 18% 10% 1%

What priorities would you give the new Chief Executive? 47%

Provision of affordable housing for purchase and rent 37%

A better education system 32%

Upward social mobility Reduction in youth poverty

17%

Developments in innovation and technology

17% 13%

Secure employment 9%

Support for entrepreneurship 3%

Other

What qualities do you expect of the governing team? 47%

Ability to listen to and respond to public opinion 41%

High level of integrity 35%

Appointment of suitable candidates at all levels of the administration 23%

Efficiency and sense of responsibility

19%

Teamwork and cooperation Serving the publicâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s best interests

Other

What are the most important ways in which the new Chief Executive should communicate with youth?

Regular face-to-face meetings

40%

Maximizing opportunities for mutual understanding

37% 36%

Active use of social media Online opinion platform

26%

Youth seminars Other

16% 7%

Which core values should the new Chief Executive uphold?

48%

27%

The Rule of Law

23%

20%

Freedom Anticorruption Justice

18%

14%

Democracy High level of integrity

11%

Fairness

10%

Social stability

Harmony

Equality

Others 15

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Learning from the past C

arew Chan discusses mainland arrivals in Hong Kong. She reminds us that many local people are second or third generation mainland immigrants themselves though some see the newcomers as outsiders.

The 20th anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification with mainland China is on 1 July 2017. It is a good time to ask ourselves how we should treat mainland immigrants in the city and I think the answer can best be found in the past.

The majority worked in factories or as labourers but a significant number were industrialists who set up or transferred their businesses to Hong Kong.9 Together, they made a major contribution to the early strength of the manufacturing-based economy and over time they became not only the backbone of Hong Kong’s working population but also the main reason for its growth.10

Although Hong Kong was sparsely populated until colonial times, mainland immigrants have been coming here for centuries. Wars such as the Second SinoJapanese War (1937-1945), the Chinese Civil War (19451949) and political upheavals from 1950-1978 meant that millions of mainland immigrants moved to Hong Kong during the 20th century, many as refugees.

In the earlier years, local people were sympathetic, providing new arrivals with food, clothing and even building materials to make squatter huts.11 In 1962, over 2,000 Hong Kong residents even rushed to help refugees who were arrested as illegal immigrants.12 There were no organizers and the helpers got nothing in return. Perhaps they remembered enduring similar hardships themselves.

There were three major waves of immigration, in 19451950, 1966-1968 and 1980-82. Sample figures show that three-quarters of a million arrived in the first quarter of 1950 alone.1 This flow of mainland people southwards was in addition to two-way migration across a relatively unrestricted border in the early years. [See Figure 1.]

Many of the immigrants were young and there was a 132% increase in Hong Kong’s 15-19 year-olds from 1961-1966.13 Local people, especially relatives and friends, served as a bridge, helping new arrivals to integrate into the community, find jobs and schools, adapt to local life and extend their networks.14 Before political problems on the mainland prevented it, there was also a constant cross-border flow.

New arrivals included 56,000 illegal immigrants in 1973 and 100,000 in 19798, but many came here legally across a porous border until controls were introduced. 2

Figure 1 Mainland immigration to Hong Kong Years

1901-1941 1937-1945 1945-1949 1950-1978 1951-1956 1956-1957 1957-1958 1958-1961 1966-1976

Events

Second Sino-Japanese War Chinese Civil War Political Movements Thought Reform Movements and Sufan movement Hundred Flowers Campaign Anti-Rightist Movement Great Leap Forward Cultural Revolution

Approx. Population [in millions]

Population Growth

368,986 - 1,639,000

1945: 0.6 1950: 2.5

Over 1 million

2-3% annually 2% annually

Tens of thousands of refugees arrived in Hong Kong from mainland China

1960: 3.0 1970: 4.0

1978 onwards

Period of economic reform and opening up

Mainland China has administered the One Way Permit Scheme 6 (OWP) since 1980. The quota is 150 per day. According to the 2011 census, 93.6% of Hong Kong’se population is ethnically 7 Chinese with 32.1% born in mainland China, Taiwan or Macau.

1980: 5.0 1990: 5.7 2000: 6.65 2010: 7.024 2017: 7.375

Simmering tensions

Both locals and immigrants developed a shared Hong Kong identity, not only through solidarity and work but also through entertainment. Many film, TV and pop music stars were born in mainland China. Their memorable depictions of life in Hong Kong made them part of local culture.15 As a result, there was no strong conflict between locals and immigrants in those days and by the 1980s, when the political environment on the mainland had stabilized, the major reason for immigration was for families to reunite. The controversial One-Way Permit Scheme (OWP), administered by mainland China since 1980, allows residents of mainland China to settle in Hong Kong permanently. About 879,000 did so from 1997 to 2014.16 The quota of 150 new arrivals per day allows a hypothetical total of about 55,000 per annum although this quota was not always filled. Official statistics17show that approximately 93% of population growth between 1997 and 2001 can be attributed to newly arrived mainland immigrants under the OWP. Most immigrants are hard workers, but prejudice, discrimination and stigmatization of mainland immigrants has become common. Why? According to modern conflict theory,18 resentment is often created by an unequal distribution of power and resources among social groups and this theory is applicable in Hong Kong where recent arrivals from mainland China are seen as outsiders. Locals who hold a protectionist view believe that the immigrants use resources to which they are not entitled, despite the newly acquired affluence of some. Have we forgotten, or never known what it is like to be a stranger? Is it no longer possible to feel sympathy? If we could remember or rediscover such feelings we could begin to work towards unity and a better Hong Kong, not just for the newcomers, but for all of us.

Hongkongers blame mainland investors for pushing up property prices and have in the past protested against mainland women coming to Hong Kong to give birth. “Parallel traders” who buy tax-free products here and resell them for a profit across the border are also a bone of contention. However, overall attitudes may not be as negative as the media portrays them to be, according to a survey last year at the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. About 60% of respondents think that new immigrants place a strain on social welfare programmes but nearly 50% think they should not be isolated because “we are all Chinese”. Around a quarter oppose mainland immigration but slightly more say it is acceptable. About a third believe that new immigrants can counter the ageing population and enhance the city’s competitiveness with a larger labour force. Source scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/ article/2045204/hong-kong-media-vilification-mainland-chinese

1. Yamagishi, Takeshi. ‘Chinese and Overseas Chinese (Ⅱ) - Opening Up Policy and New Immigrants. Southeast Asian Studies. 2009 (2): 51-71. 2. Bacon-Shone, J, Lam, JKC & Yip, S.F. Yip. The Past and Future of the One Way Permit Scheme in the Context of a Population Policy for Hong Kong. Report commissioned by Bauhinia Foundation, 2008. ssrc.hku.hk/files/reports/population/OWP_Report.pdf; 3. Liu, Shuyong. A Brief History of Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Joint Publishing, 2009. 4. Census and Statistics Department. 1969. Hong Kong Statistics 1947-1967. 5. ibid 6. had.gov.hk/en/public_services/services_for_new_arrivals_from_the_mainland/surveys.htm 7. Census and Statistics Department. (2012). 2011 Population Census – Summary Results census2011. gov.hk/pdf/summary-results.pdf 8. ssrc.hku.hk/files/reports/population/OWP_Report.pdf op.cit 9. Wong, SL. 1988. Emigrant Entrepreneurs: Shanghai Industrialists in Hong Kong. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press, 1988. 10. Smart, A & Yin Peng. “Management and settlement of new immigrants in Hong Kong.” Journal of Guangxi University for Nationalities. 2008 (2): 27-34. caod.oriprobe.com/articles/13955664/ Management_and_Settlement_of_New_Immigrants_in_Hong_Kong.htm 11. 余妙雲。2003。香港福音機構的回顧。香港基督教機構協會。hkaco.org.hk/2003/12/31/10years-articles-03/ 12. Fei, Michelle. The Great Exodus. China Daily. 20 April 2011. 13. Wong, R & Wong, KF. The importance of migration to Hong Kong’s future. Siu, Helen F & Ku, Agnes S, eds. Hong Kong Mobile. HKU Press, 2008, pp90-116. 14. Chan, JMM. Immigration Policies and Human Resources Planning. Hong Kong Mobile. op cit 149-199. Li, Ruojian. “Population study of mainland immigrants in Hong Kong.” Population & Economics. 1997 (2): 24-29. 15. Ma, Eric Kit-wai and Tsang Chung-kin. TV, Film and Hong Kong Identity. Hong Kong: CUHK Press, 2010. 16. Legislative Council House Committee. 2015. www.legco.gov.hk/yr14-15/chinese/hc/sub_com/hs51/ papers/hs5120151123cb2-292-2-c.pdf 17. Report of the Task Force on Population Policy, 2003. info.gov.hk/info/population/eng/pdf/report_eng. pdf 18. Knapp, P. One World – Many Worlds: Contemporary Sociological Theory. Harper Collins, College Div, 2nd ed, 1994, 228–246.

Carew Chan is 24. She is one of the deputy conveners of the HKFYG Youth I.D.E.A.S. think tank. She is also Community Service Director of the Rotaract Club of Happy Valley and a member of the Board of Management,Yin Wan Education Fund Ltd.

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Strengthening multiculturalism S

tephanie Hung looks at the foundations of Hong Kong’s multicultural society. She finds them well-established yet in need of a legal review and says the city could offer more to its diverse, immigrant people.

It’s 20 years since the handover of Hong Kong and 20 years since my brother and I moved here in 1997. My Taiwanese mother brought us here to reunite with my father who originally came from mainland China. He arrived many years earlier whereas my extended family was scattered around the world. From then onwards, throughout my schooldays with international classmates and travelling overseas to visit my family, I learned to appreciate the value of a truly multicultural society.

Now, in 2017, 7.4 million people call Hong Kong their home and there is a growing ethnic minority population. Although most migrants come from mainland China, there is also immigration from the Philippines and Indonesia, with a forecast influx from Cambodia due to relaxed visa restrictions to meet the increasing demand for helpers. Other ethnic groups include Indians, Pakistanis, Nepalese, Japanese, Thais, Koreans and westerners.

In 1997, Hong Kong’s population was 6.4 million. Many members of the emerging middle class emigrated overseas as the handover approached. Even so, the population continued to grow, with mainland China as the primary source of new immigrants. Nevertheless, by 2016 a report from local think tank, Our Hong Kong Foundation, urged a review of immigration policies and an intensification of efforts to attract skilled immigrants, especially from mainland China.1

Raymond Tam as Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs in 2012 said that “Hong Kong is a multicultural, international city and a harmonious community with heterogenous diversity. Local residents and incoming visitors may have diverse cultural backgrounds, ways of living and social systems … [but]… it is our common hope that all people can live together in harmony, with diversity and inclusiveness under the common values of mutual understanding and respect.”3

Like New York and London, Hong Kong is a melting pot and so multiculturalism needs to be understood and dealt with carefully. “We are a city of immigrants,” says broadcaster and investment manager, Richard Harris. “Just a few thousand are true descendants of indigenous Hong Kong farmers and fishermen – though about another million claim that right. The rest of us are economic migrants.”2 However, as Harris also pointed out, “Immigration schemes must be designed to provide wealth, wisdom or work… for our economic growth will be stimulated both by professionals in their early twenties and foreign domestic helpers permitted to do a wider range of low-paid jobs.”

This sounds quite promising, but five years later, nothing has changed to promote and protect multiculturalism in Hong Kong, although other forms of protection are provided by Hong Kong legislation. These include the right to equality and non-discrimination under Hong Kong’s Basic Law, the Bill of Rights Ordinance (Cap.383), the Sex Discrimination Ordinance (Cap.480) and the Race Discrimination Ordinance (Cap.602). Unlike Canada and the US, Hong Kong has no specific policy on multiculturalism. Therefore, immigrants “… face the usual difficulties of resettlement, access

h i c s of E t h ni c 7%

Gr ou

2% 3% 30% 4%

12%

29%

133 377

Indonesian

16 518

Nepalese

133 018

Filipino

12 580

Japanese

55 236

White

11 213

Thai

28 616

Indian

12 247

Other Asian

18 042

Pakistani

30 336

Others

Source had.gov.hk/rru/english/info/info_dem.html

to the labour market, language etc.” They also face prejudice and challenges such as mastering spoken Cantonese as well as written Chinese, which affect entry to universities in Hong Kong that require both English and Chinese as entry level subjects. 4

In her research on the subject at the University of Hong Kong,5 Associate Professor Puja Kapai recommends evidence-based policy-making. She calls for the review and immediate reform of existing laws protecting the rights of ethnic minorities and the Race Discrimination Ordinance in particular. She also recommends raising the awareness of

by Sidne Ward kr/p/aiTPcs

p gra

ethnic minority rights among all government officials and NGO personnel, with training in human rights and cultural sensitivity. Enhanced visibility and leadership among ethnic minorities to cultivate both inclusive citizenship and a sense of Hong Kong identity is also recommended. An ethnic minority policy for students in Hong Kong is also very important. As Professor Kerry Kennedy of the Education University says, “Schooling is a fundamental issue for new arrivals of school age who cannot afford to pay fees in international school. There is little or no attempt at the system level to incorporate a multicultural perspective in the curriculum.” Currently, NGOs such as Hong Kong Christian Service take up such issues with initiatives like Multicultural Education@Schools.” They play a fundamental support role with a range of services, including political advocacy. However, the rights of minority cultural groups should be properly protected by the law and one hopes that the government will take a more active role in future. From a personal perspective, the experience of multiculturalism in the classroom, workplace and other areas of my life has given me inspiration, teaching me about equality and respect and making me more empathetic. For the future, economic growth in Hong Kong is not enough. Social growth is also needed for stability and Hong Kong should try its best to accept and integrate immigrants. In another 20 years’ time, wouldn’t it be great if we could see Hong Kong citizens opening their arms to welcome new friends and family from other cultures, building its cultural mosaic into an ever-expanding panoply.

Stephanie Hung is a newly qualified barrister and regular contributor. Sources 1. Our Hong Kong Foundation, “Riding on Mainland’s Economic Development in a New Era.” 28 October 2016. ourhkfoundation.org.hk/sites/default/files/media/pdf/ChinaHK_Report_ English_28.10.16.pdf 2. Harris, Richard, “Hong Kong’s immigration policy: a help or hindrance to business?” South China Morning Post, 16th February 2017. scmp.com/business/china-business/article/2071350/ hong-kongs-immigration-policy-help-or-hindrance-business 3. “LCQ14: Government respects and safeguards the freedom of speech and academic freedom.” 15 February 2012. info.gov.hk/gia/general/201202/15/P201202150267.htm 4. Kennedy, Kerry J. “Immigration and Hong Kong: “New Immigrants” and ethnic minorities.” 2012. ied. edu.hk/diversityproject/Outputs%20and%20downloads/Doc/Immigration%20and%20Hong%20 Kong.pdf 5. Kapai, Puja, “Status of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong 1997-2014”, 2015. law.hku.hk/ccpl/ StatusofEthnicMinorities/A.CoverPage.pdf

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Enforcing gender equality G

ender equality is a fundamental human right and women’s empowerment is one of the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals. Bonnie Chiu set up a social enterprise in Hong Kong to focus on this area. She sees support for women in the workplace as the key to moving forward. The first time I ever thought about gender inequality was when my female relatives said they had to give up their education for the sake of the family. Girls were expected to work in the factories and then get married. Why should boys be given different opportunities from girls, simply on account of their gender? I did not understand and that is why I have focused on advancing gender equality in my career. In Hong Kong, Chinese women’s subordination stems from Confucianism which has always emphasized women’s familial responsibilities. The saying goes, “Women take care of the household affairs.” The foundation of all Confucian ethics is piety and such responsibilities are not limited to childcare but also involve care for the elderly. It is therefore not surprising that, historically, Hong Kong has had a rather low female labour force participation rate. World Bank statistics1 show that in 1997, the female labour force participation rate was only 48% − fewer than half of the female population aged 15 and above were active in the labour market. My mother was one of the 48% − she managed to build her career while my grandmother helped to fulfil most of the care responsibilities.

In the past twenty years, a more hopeful picture for gender equality in Hong Kong has emerged with the female labour force participation rate steadily increasing from 48% to 53% in 2017, when Carrie Lam will become Hong Kong’s First female Chief Executive. But the urgent need to increase female representation in Hong Kong politics has not disappeared. According to the Women’s Foundation,2 the current Legislative Council has only 12 women, equivalent to 17.1% of its members. This trails well behind many other advanced societies. Carrie Lam has said, “To the women of Hong Kong, I hope I will lead by example to encourage more women to take part in politics.” 3 Meanwhile, the glass ceiling remains. A report on women sitting on Hong Kong boards in 2015 showed the ratio of women in directorships had risen, but only slightly, to 11.1%.4 In general, female workers face a growing gender pay gap and in 2015 they were paid on average HK$2,500 per month less than men for the same work, despite the government’s pledge to work towards equality.5 For those living below the poverty line the gap has also widened in the past 15 years, with women on average earning only 60% what men do according to an Oxfam report.6

by European Parliament https://flic.kr/p/rwbiZy

Looking to the Future

Wage worries Monthly median income in poor households*(HK$) 2001

5,000

Female Male

Pay gap

7,500 *Poor households refers to those

2015#

6,700

living on less than half the median monthly household income of the

11,000

corresponding household size #

Percentage of those who work fewer than 17 hours a week 2001 2015#

59.4

2015 2nd Quarter

40.6 66

Sources: Census and Statistics Department, Oxfam

What meaning is there to the empowerment of one group of women when it is based on the disempowerment of another? Has Hong Kong really moved on and is the current state of affairs sustainable? Reflecting on these statistics, as a young woman born and raised in Hong Kong, I admit that gender has not held me back, so far. However, I consider myself to be exceptionally fortunate: an only child, with strong women to look up to who studied in an allgirls school for 12 years. I would certainly describe myself as an empowered woman. But looking at the statistics above, I feel worried about the future.

In fact, the apparent economic liberation of women in Hong Kong is largely thanks to the increasing export of domestic workers from the Philippines, Indonesia and most recently Cambodia. Hong Kong now hosts close to 350,000 foreign domestic workers, which amounts to almost 5% of Hong Kongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s population.7 They have relieved many Hong Kong women of the need to stay home and take care of their families. However, when I was working for Amnesty International Hong Kong, I researched the rights of migrant domestic workers. Not only must they also live far away from their families, they are also subject to long working hours, unfair treatment and human rights abuses.8

So much more remains to be done, especially enacting policies that actively support women in the workplace. Meanwhile, female leaders need to encourage more young women to move up the ladder into influential positions. Their task is to increase awarness of the huge gender gap that still exists and show that Hong Kong as a whole can only benefit by placing men and women on an equal footing.â&#x20AC;&#x201A;

Bonnie Chiu, a 24 year-old a former participant in HKFYG programmes, is the Founder and CEO of social enterprise, Lensational. One of its goals is to challenge the stereotyping of women. More details lensational.org/

Sources 1. data.worldbank.org/indicator/SL.TLF.CACT.FE.ZS?locations=HK 2. twfhk.org/blog/women%E2%80%99s-representation-legco 3. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/politics/article/2082493/carrie-lam-hong-kong-leader-will-door-open-other-women-top 4. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/education-community/article/1921918/hong-kong-women-make-painfully-slow-gains-battle 5. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2019404/gender-pay-gap-widens-among-hong-kongs-poorest-workers-women 6. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2019404/gender-pay-gap-widens-among-hong-kongs-poorest-workers-women 7. ahka.org/statistic-of-foreign-domestic-helpers.html 8. issuu.com/aihk/docs/aihk_humanrights_06

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Needing to trust I

n this frank and personal view, 26-yearold Alex Pang asks what the incoming government can do to increase young people's hope for the future. Twenty years ago, many Hong Kong people thought that with the “One Country, Two Systems”* principle Hong Kong could still remain the place we knew instead of becoming just a Special Administrative Region of China. Today, we all understand that the central government makes all the important decisions. I believe that the Hong Kong government needs to be more proactive, with more authority and influence. It worries me that so few talented young people consider joining the government. If political problems did not create such a barrier they might feel more encouraged and political development might not be so slow. For now though, unexceptional people make policy decisions and I don’t think the government can do much to build trust. Of course, there are exceptions. Jasper Tsang Yok-sing, the former President of the Legislative Council, has political wisdom and understands the situation. He also seems willing to understand and communicate with people who hold views different from his own. That is so important if you are hoping to reach a mutually acceptable outcome and it is crucial if you want to rebuild trust. Otherwise there will be a stalemate. In my opinion, only very few Hong Kong people are really asking for “Hong Kong independence.” Generally, people just focus on earning enough to cover the high cost of living. They feel they have no choice and many find life very difficult and stressful. Of course, all this affects children as well. They face huge pressure at school because 22

their parents want so much for them to be successful. Look at all the tragic student suicides. When did our society become like this? How could we allow such things happen? It would help to increase transparency and optimism if we saw more opportunities. In the economy, the focus is always on the finance sector and property development. This is too narrow and not healthy for society as a whole. Singapore, on the other hand, has very good high-end manufacturing, with the focus on innovation in science, medicine and engineering which seems more balanced. However, I always wonder whether the government really wants to listen to public opinion. Public consultations are poorly promoted and many people are unaware that they are taking place. Members of the public often feel that the government does not really care what they think anyway. Instead, when policy decisions emerge they seem to reflect a foregone conclusion reached by a government bureau.

hope for the future. At present, many people here have lost the trust they once had in the government. Once lost, it is very hard to rebuild.

Hong Kong people are becoming resigned and very downhearted. Everyone can see the divisions in society and there have been so many shocks in recent years. The Umbrella Movement is a prime example, but for me the biggest surprise was when HKTV’s application for a free-to-air television programme service licence was turned down. This resulted in much controversy about censorship and I could find no proper reason for it. Immigration from the mainland is another issue. There seems to be no real choice. The daily quota is 150, and that’s that. What we are looking for is more autonomy and self-government. If only the central government would give a clear sign of introducing a one-man, one-vote electoral system for the Chief Executive, that would give me more faith. It has to happen step by step to rebuild confidence in “One Country, Two Systems.” Much depends on our new Chief Executive. If she acts quickly to reach out and show that she is an inclusive person there might be some

My cultural identity, my sense of being a Hong Kong person, has been shaken. Take Cantonese for example, the language with which we really express who we are. Hong Kong Cantonese is extra special because so many foreign languages have merged with it. It reflects our multicultural society. In the old days, when people moved to live in Hong Kong, many wanted to learn local Cantonese and gradually build their sense of belonging here. But now, most new immigrants are not willing to learn Cantonese. Instead, they expect us to speak Mandarin. To help maintain the unique identity of Hong Kong, something that is very important for me, I think the government should create a new campaign that boosts interest in learning Cantonese among all those who live here for which it is not a mother-tongue. I really have no hope that the new government can improve the situation but I will not give up easily. I want to see a positive future, but first trust needs to be rebuilt, through action, not just words. Alex Pang Tak-yin graduated from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, majoring in mathematics. He worked in the finance sector for two years before going to India to learn about yoga. Recently, he returned to Hong Kong as a yoga teacher.

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Medical technology and the human touch

xperts point to the potential of Hong Kongâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s world-class universities for the development of robotics. However, while recognizing this and observing surgical robots at work, medical intern Benjamin Lui says that the human touch of doctors is irreplaceable. Imagine a sci-fi horror scene: an innocent man, tied to a table, screaming desperately while knives held by cold, lifeless robots are approaching him from aboveâ&#x20AC;Ś. Believe it or not, such robots could be doing their job in a Hong Kong surgical theatre right now. Surgical robotics are an essential part of state-of-the-art surgery. But in reality, our patient would be anaesthetized and the robots would be controlled by a skilled surgeon nearby. While our own hands are an incredible natural gift, robotic hands and arms allow more precise movements and can eliminate much of the shakiness of natural hands, going deep into spaces unreachable by real hands and able to remove so many cancers previously deemed inoperable.

As a medical student observing the use of surgical robots via live broadcasts in the operating theatre, I appreciate the fineness of the procedures. The surgeon uses his or her hands and feet on joysticks and pedals almost like a video game player at first glance. Nevertheless, to navigate tools deep inside a human body through a robotic arm, the doctor needs excellent hand-foot coordination that takes hours and hours of practice on models to perfect. However, this is not cutting-edge medical robotics. That is in the realm of artificial intelligence (AI) and IBM Watson Health offers such services. Like the fictional Doctor Watson, IBM Watson is a detective. Its strengths are in data organization and analysis and it can build a complete picture from concrete information such as investigation results as well as data on general health status.

Medical students and junior doctors such as me often struggle to derive patient management plans from such a wealth of information, yet comprehensive management plans should consider all factors related to each patient in order to provide clear directions for holistic, feasible and individualized treatment. For this, IBM Watsonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s speed and accurate analysis makes it an ideal partner for real doctors.

One question naturally follows. If these robot doctors are so good, will they replace human doctors? To me, the answer is obvious. A fundamental element of clinical medicine is human-to-human interaction. Despite the occasional shameful compromises taken in routine medical practice due to various limitations, we should never give up communicating with patients.

Another example comes from DeepMind â&#x2C6;&#x2019; the institution behind AlphaGo, the AI machine that mastered the ancient art of Go. The company has invested heavily in healthcare technology and has already implemented pilot research programmes in radiation treatment planning at the National Health Service (NHS) in Britain. Radiotherapy planning requires a fine balance between controlling the cancer as far as possible while protecting nearby vital organs. This process involves many complex calculations and compromises. AI with machine learning fits this task nicely, greatly accelerating the process.

Clinical communication, especially breaking bad news, is a delicate art. It is unacceptable to give a diagnosis of cancer on the phone or by email. I can imagine how puzzled and emotional I would feel to be diagnosed with a terminal disease in such a way. Instead, one wants the support of another human being, a compassionate doctor with whom ideas and concerns can be shared.

Coming back to Hong Kong, we have a medical system historically related to the NHS, and facing similar challenges with an ageing population and a shortage of resources. If the pilot programmes in Britain turn out to be successful and economical, our services may also be enhanced, potentially releasing manpower from tedious data analysis for other clinical duties, reducing waiting time for patients and increasing the time available for consultations.

Even cutting-edge robotics cannot achieve this humane touch, although I have no doubt that AI will eventually surpass humans in many aspects of clinical medicine. AI may have a transitional role, saving us the time and effort needed for analysis, interpretation of investigation results and writing up reports. However, as long as human beings are the patients, I believe that human doctors will be irreplaceable.â&#x20AC;&#x201A;

Further reading ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1356187/ medscape.com/viewarticle/875299 sabcs.org/Portals/SABCS2016/Documents/ SABCS-2016-Abstracts.pdf?v=1 ibm.com/watson/health/oncology-and-genomics/oncology/ ibm.com/watson/health/value-basedcare/watson-care-manager/

by Ars Electronica Flic.kr/p/9sFzd5

deepmind.com/applied/deepmind-health/research/

Benjamin Lui graduates from the University of Hong Kong this year to become an intern with the Hong Kong Hospital Authority. As an awardee of the HKFYG Innovation and Technology Scholarship Award Scheme, he did an exchange at the University of California at Berkeley and was mentored by prominent American immunologist and geneticist, Prof Bruce Beutler. 25

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Public transport Congestion or hyperloop? “Don’t block other passengers, put your backpack down.” Does this slogan ring a bell? It’s what I have to do every morning to squeeze onto the already fully-packed East Rail train in Tai Wai.

by Kenneth Leung flic.kr/p/rZTGFp

Meanwhile, some bus routes have been cut with the opening of new railway lines. Road congestion has become part of daily life and there are about 350 licensed vehicles5 for every kilometre of road. That includes too many private cars.6

Hong Kong is rightly proud of its public transport and has the highest use of public transport in the world. 12.6 million journeys1 are made daily on public transport and 4.7 million by rail.2 Our infrastructure, ranked for seven consecutive years as the best in the world by the World Economic Forum,3 has been a driving force behind Hong Kong’s development. But heavy reliance on trains has sparked controversy. In 2015, morning peak loading on the MTR was 104% from Kam Sheung Road to Tsuen Wan West on the West Rail Line, and 102% from Tsim Sha Tsui to Admiralty on the Tsuen Wan Line. That translates into four people for every square metre,4 not a pleasant journey. 26

Four new railway lines have been completed since 2000 while the bus service has barely expanded and public road length has increased by less than 0.8% per year since 2003. Meanwhile, the number of licensed vehicles has multiplied annually by 3%.7 50,000 new private cars were registered in 2015 alone. At morning peak hours, the average car speed on Des Voeux Road Central in 2015 was just 12.1 km/h, while on Chatham Road North, speeds dropped from 8.9km/h, in 2011 to 5.7km/h in 2015. That’s slower than a brisk walk.8 No doubt rail is much greener than road. A Kwun Tong Line train can carry around 2,500 passengers, equivalent to 20 buses or 350 7-seater cars, but can they all get a seat? The chances are slim. That’s why bus rides, albeit

by Christian Junker flic.kr/p/9kSCRX

ax Ng writes about the impact of Hong Kong’s railways and roads on commuters and offers his view on the way forward.

slower, are still popular. But railways do offer economies of scale and have a quarter of the carbon footprint of buses while transporting the same number or more passengers.9 Moreover, building new roads would only attract even more cars. As traffic engineers say, “Trying to cure traffic congestion by adding more capacity is like trying to cure obesity by loosening your belt.” What about costs? New railways involve heavy investment such as constructing tunnels in densely populated areas. Nevertheless, building new roads is also very costly. The Central-Wan Chai Bypass, for example, is expected to cost more than HK$36 billion, paid by taxpayers in general, not just road users. There is no easy answer to the question of costeffectiveness. Hong Kong is expected to have more than 8 million people within 15 years10 and while I believe we should still put railways first, we need more efficient point-topoint bus routes in synergy with railways. We also need congestion charging on busy roads. It just might avoid the tragedy of the commons. the economic theory of a situation where individuals act independently according to self-interest, contrary to the common good of all users. However, none of these will change the fundamental problem: a tidal wave of commuters every morning. New railway and highway links are coming, according to the government’s HK2030+ plan, but what we really need is innovation. Central and Western district has an extensive

system of zero-fare escalators and moving pavements. The Mid-Levels escalator, while not unique, is the longest outdoor covered escalator system in the world and was a pioneer in its day. More would be good. On the other hand, Denmark has been promoting cycling since the 1970s and streets in mainland cities are flooded with public, shared bikes costing as little as RMB1 per hour. Carpooling is widespread in mainland China and Europe, while individual-occupant, self-driving electric cars are on the horizon and prototype autonomous flying cars are being trialed. So what’s going to happen next here? Technological breakthroughs move constantly beyond imagination. Maybe the futuristic Hyperloop will redefine commuting. This concept propels a pod-like vehicle through a reduced-pressure tube. In January this year, MIT demonstrated the first ever Hyperloop run in the world. Maybe commuting will simply disappear and we will all comfortably stay at home and be able to do anything anywhere. But until that day comes, we will probably still need to struggle to get on the train. Not all new forms of transport will be useful in our vertically integrated city, but disruptive innovation like that of Uber shows that instead of sitting on the fence, Hong Kong should get involved, adapt and find its own homegrown solutions, not least better sidewalks for pedestrians and more flexible work schedules so that rush hours are eased. Max Ng is a graduate civil engineer with a particular interest in transport infrastructure and policy. He was awarded the HKFYG Innovation and Technology Scholarship in 2013 and then studied at the University of Manchester after local government internships in Hong Kong. His mentor for the scholarship was Mr Wai Chi-sing who was the Permanent Secretary for Development (Works) at the time.

Sources 1. td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/public_transport/introduction/index.html 2. mtr.com.hk/en/corporate/investor/patronage.php 3. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/economy/article/2023292/hong-kong-slipped-two-spots-no-9-competitiveness-index-world 4. Paper submitted to Legislative Council Panel. LC Paper No. CB(4)854/15-16(07). MTR Corporation Ltd. April 2016. 5. td.gov.hk/en/transport_in_hong_kong/public_transport/introduction/index.html 6. thb.gov.hk/eng/boards/transport/land/Full_Eng_C_cover.pdf 7. Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central and its Adjacent Areas Public Engagement Document– Transport and Housing Bureau. December 2015. 8. Government Panel on Transport Public Engagement for Electronic Road Pricing Pilot Scheme in Central. Transport and Housing Bureau. 30 June 2016. legco.gov.hk/yr15-16/english/panels/tp/papers/ tp20151216cb4-1210-1-e.pdf 9. Carbon Footprint Management Toolkit for Sustainable Low-Carbon Living - School of Energy and Environment City University of Hong Kong. Jun3 2013. foe.org.hk/GOC/eng/menu/Action%20Manual_Energy.pdf 10. Hong Kong Population Projections 2015-2064. Census & Statistics Dept. censtatd.gov.hk/fd.jsp?file=B71510FA2015XXXXB0100.pdf&product_id=FA100061&lang=1

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Boiling Pot Kills Hong Kong Frogs Taking climate change seriously

fable about a frog that jumped into a pot of hot water sparks the imagination of Hazel Wong. The water gets hotter and hotter and the frog’s fate is sealed. It reminds Hazel of Hong Kong people, being slowly cooked in an era of climate change. lacking. The second attitude is pessimism. There may be keen awareness, as among my university classmates, but they think their individual ability to contribute to affect climate change is minimal. So again they do nothing. The slow, negative impact of climate change is like the slow boil of the pot with the frog on the stove. Like the frog, we need to get moving fast to save ourselves.

by Gonzalo flic.kr/p/ddP9h5

What is the moral behind the tale of the frog in the pot of hot water? It didn’t survive because it failed to see what was coming. To make the analogy more accurate, imagine the water temperature in the pot constantly fluctuating. Sometimes it boils, almost cooking the frogs to death. Then it turns to ice and the frogs freeze with it. Sometimes it evaporates and the frog nearly dies of thirst, but then it overflows and the frog drowns.

In similar fashion, rising sea levels and extreme weather changes, with longer and hotter summers and very cold winter days, are possible signs of climate change. Aware of all this, yet doing nothing, I think that we young Hong Kong people are like the frog, just not as ignorant. We know all about noxious greenhouse gases like CO2 and NO. We can make long lists of the anthropogenic causes of climate change such as deforestation, overconsumption of fossil fuels and failure to use renewable energy sources. The Hong Kong school curriculum has taught us all this. Yet we still relax like the frog. I have identified two attitudes amongst Hong Kong youth. The first is a reluctance to live greenly despite awareness of climate change: motivation is 28

Once I belonged to the pessimistic group but then I became aware of the problems Hong Kong faces. Every autumn, I used to go hiking with my family. The days were cool and pleasant. Then I realized Hong Kong’s welldefined seasons were gradually fading. Instead, people suddenly changed from sleeveless summer clothing to thick down jackets. The weather was either sweaty or − very occasionally − frosty. That’s what changed me. I discovered Friedrich Goltz, a 19th century German physiologist. He conducted experiments to prove that the “boiling frog” theory is false. Frogs can sense heat and would have tried to escape from the boiling pot. Can Hong Kong people do the same and save themselves from climate change? Official statistics show that over half of the city’s electricity is produced from coal. (See Figure 1). That is unsustainable. We must develop new energy sources. Figure 1 Overall fuel mix in Hong Kong in 2012 53%

coal

22%

natural gas

23%

nuclear

others

Source Environment Bureau, HKSAR. Future Fuel Mix for Electricity Generation Consultation Document, 2014.

pp Monument to the Sun in Zadar, Croatia, consisting of multilayered glass plates with the photovoltaic solar modules underneath.

Common forms of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, are not very efficient and require plenty of space, a limited commodity in Hong Kong. Nevertheless, there are solutions and floating solar panels are one possibility. They not only generate energy but also prevent evaporation. An installation in Japan that went into operation last year is expected to generate up to 20% more energy than land-based solar panels. In Singapore, where the largest system in the world was installed last October, bifacial solar cells which allow sunlight to enter from both sides are used. There is also an “active cooling” feature using pumped water for cooling and improved performance. Although some people are very pessimistic, I firmly believe that humanity’s ability to innovate and apply technology will save us. On a study tour at Tsinghua University I helped to design a small-scale sustainable

pp A map board inspired the author and her classmates to design a bus stop with solar power for charging mobile phones that incorporates rainwater collection for cooling.

energy system [see photos]. At home, I try to persuade my parents to consume less electricity. Sometimes they use air-conditioning too much or keep too many lights switched on, but at least they are now aware of the need for acquiring green living habits. While not everyone can innovate, we can all stay alert and play our part. Let’s not be like the lazy, dozy frog, soaking away in its pot while the water boils. Instead, it’s time to do some leapfrogging.* Look out for new technology coming soon to Hong Kong places near you.

*Leapfrog ahead The concept of leapfrogging is used in many domains, including economic growth and business. The main idea is that small, incremental innovations mean that leaders stay ahead until a radical change takes place. It is often based on older innovations and allows new leaders to advance more easily, thus “leapfrogging” ahead. The idea comes from the game where one child bends down so that another can use his or her back easily as a hurdle.

Hazel Wong is in Year 2 of an Environmental Management and Technology course at HKUST. She is fully committed to promoting green habits through environmental education. Her scholarship with the HKFYG Innovation and Technology Scholarship Award Scheme begins this year and she is planning an overseas attachment at the University of New South Wales in Australia, followed by a local internship with Dunwell Industrial (Holdings) Ltd. Her mentor is Professor Daniel M Cheng, Managing Director of Dunwell Enviro-Tech (Holdings) Ltd.

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Dealing with waste W

here does your rubbish go? Do you sort it? Do you collect recyclables or reuse them? Don’t delay, says sustainable development analyst Gary Lee.

Every day each of us puts about 1.3kg of rubbish in the bin.1 That’s a lot more than neighbouring cities such as Taipei, Seoul and Metro Tokyo where the rates are under 1kg per person.2 Experts point to three factors: our consumerist culture, small homes and busy lives.3

To find out more, I went to a public forum at the Environmental Protection Department. The government representatives were confident, referring to the results achieved by Taipei City and South Korea after introducing waste charging over a decade ago. [See Figure 1]

Most of Hong Kong’s rubbish goes into landfills. Only about 37% is recycled.4 The situation is unsustainable. Something has to be done to change our ways. We have tried charging for plastic bags. Now what?

However, they were rather vague when it came to the actual implementation of the Hong Kong scheme and their explanations were muddled, especially where enforcement strategy for non-compliance was concerned. Plans to improve the system of recycling and reuse were also unclear.

The government has decided to change behaviour. Pointing to our pockets, it will soon be making a typical Hong Kong family pay approximately HK$50 per month5 on the “Polluter Pays” principle, targeting a drop of 40% in the waste disposal rate.6 I asked my friends and family members whether paying for waste disposal would mean they threw less away. Most agreed it would, although the less environmentallyminded complained about the proposed charging method and questioned the use of funds raised by charging.

Figure 1 Waste disposal rates per capita: Hong Kong, Taipei City and South Korea kg/day 1.5

Taipei City

1.2

Hong Kong (Volume-based waste fee system was implemented in 2000)

0.9

South Korea

0.5

(Household garbage) (Household and small business waste) 0.2

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Source Environment Bureau, Hong Kong: Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022. enb.gov.hk/en/files/WastePlan-E.pdf

Where are the loopholes? Penalties for non-compliance will include fixed fines of HK$1,500, other fines of up to HK$50,000, and imprisonment for up to six months. However, the difficulty tracing the origin of garbage bags from residential and commercial buildings presents one enforcement problem which in turn can create fear of mistaken prosecution and moral hazard. Another issue arises with the “three nil” buildings such as subdivided flats and old single blocks. They have no owners’ corporations, no residents’ organizations and no property management companies. So who is going to enforce the rules?

There is no doubt that Hong Kong needs more proactive, effective waste management but action gets delayed because of bureaucratic inefficiency as well as pressure from the public and industry. What we need are more determined, clearer implementation details, greater public awareness and an improved recycling infrastructure.

Gary Lee Ka-lee, 26, who holds a BSc in Environmental Management and Technology from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, works with EcoVadis. He won a scholarship with the HKFYG Innovation and Technology Scholarship Award Scheme in 2013, did a local internship with the Development Bureau and went on overseas on an attachment to the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. His mentor was Mr Nicholas Brooke, former Chairman of Hong Kong Science and Technology Park.

Sources 1. epd.gov.hk/epd/english/environmentinhk/waste/data/stat_treat.html 2. Hong Kong: Blueprint for Sustainable Use of Resources 2013-2022.news.cleartheair.org.hk/wp-content/uploads/2015/12/WastePlan-E.pdf 3. Lo CH. Policy and Design for Waste Recycling in Hong Kong Communities, 2016. 4. gov.hk/en/residents/environment/waste/msw.htm 5. “Waste disposal charge will cost a typical Hong Kong family HK$51 a month.” South China Morning Post, 21 March, 2017. scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/2080508/11-cents-dump-1litre-trash-hong-kong-government 6. Two major charging modes are proposed in the Municipal Solid Waste Charging Scheme. For residents of buildings using Food and Environmental Hygiene Department (FEHD) and its contractors’ service, the charge will be $0.11 per litre of waste using designated garbage bags ranging from 3 to 100 litre sizes. For commercial/residential buildings and institutions that use private waste collectors’ services or dispose of waste directly at refuse transfer stations (RTSs) or landfills, the charge will be a “gate fee”.

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Becoming part of you I

f you grew up in Hong Kong after 1997, technology has always been an integral part of your life. Samuel Lau considers how technology continues to change us all.

I began to surf the net as a primary school student around 2007. In those good old days, I could already chat with friends through MSN, play online games and have my own blog on Xanga. That might sound a lot, but for most of the time I was not on the internet. Nowadays, we all rely on it. “Everybody has a cell phone, whatever is in your pocket or brain, you basically can’t live without it …. it’s part of your body now,” said Mamoru Oshii, the wellknown director of the film “Ghost in the Shell.” It was one of the most thought-provoking ideas I have ever heard. I am definitely a pro-internet person. The internet is so efficient. If you have a business idea but lack technicians and partners to launch your programme, you can go to Linkedin to build your network. If you are passionate about learning, you can find Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) like Coursera. If you want to be a superstar or an opinion leader, you can start uploading your videos on YouTube. All you need is about 100,000 followers according to the long tail concept [see box.]

I think of internet access as a social benefit. With the rise of social media and networking platforms like Facebook, YouTube and Instagram, people around the world can find and contact each other much more easily than before. Even locally it helps to build networks and I was surprised to learn that the Chief Executiveelect considered for a long time whether or not to go on Facebook. Most of the world’s politicians did so long ago, even President Xi Jinping. Are we slipping? What about Hong Kong’s online commerce? We have great infrastructure but our system has not moved on. Take the Octopus card. It was the most innovative payment system in the world when it was launched in 1997. Today, the most innovative is not homegrown. It comes from mainland China. With Wechat Pay or Alipay you can use your mobile

The long tail concept This term is used in online business, mass media, microfinance, user-driven innovation and social network mechanisms such as crowdsourcing. Researchers have shown that by greatly lowering search costs, information technology in general and internet markets in particular can substantially increase the distribution of hard-to-find products, thereby creating a longer “tail” in sales. Further reading en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_tail

phone to pay your tax bill or buy a movie ticket, all by the same method. Why did we not stay ahead of the crowd? Perhaps we are not ready for a cashless world. Denmark has already proposed a law to allow stores, restaurants and service stations to decline cash payments but detractors, the cash advocates, speak of a direct threat to everyone’s freedom. If all transactions were electronic they would all be recorded, exposing vulnerable data to the commercial sector and the state in the process. Do we want that? Regardless of our wants, there is no doubt that the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence (AI) is a reality. American technology entrepreneur and academic, Vivek Wadhwa, has predicted that robots and AI will eliminate the need for human workers within 20 years.1 In the meantime, it is a great area to consider working in!

like Cantonese. Treasured by Hong Kong people as part of their cultural heritage, Cantonese is a special case when it comes to automatic speech recognition. Software such as Dragon can “speak” in Cantonese, but the language creates problems in some applications, according to Ken Yeung, co-founder and CEO of Clare.AI. This chatbot*, which enables financial institutions to provide customer services, will be used more and more in future by businesses like banks, insurance companies and retail firms, says Mr Yeung. “But it will take a few more years before it becomes mainstream. You have slang, you have mixed English plus Cantonese, and that’s really difficult compared with [standard] English.”2

One big challenge for robotics and AI is natural language voice recognition, especially a language

My view is that come the day when robots can listen to us speaking in Cantonese, talk back in the same language, and do our work, they must be earning money – for someone. So the government will be able to tax them or their owners, won’t it? A San Francisco politician has already set up a working group on “automation tax.” Maybe that can happen here too and the result will be a tax on robots that will fund a basic universal income for us all! Samuel Lau, 22, is a past participant of HKFYG’s HK200 leadership programme. He is a freelance writer at thinkhk.hk

Notes and sources 1. singularityhub.com/2015/07/07/its-no-myth-robots-and-artificial-intelligence-will-erase-jobs-in-nearly-every-industry/

*A chatbot is part of a virtual assistant which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods and is designed to simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner. It passes the Turing test as a criterion of intelligence which depends on the ability of a computer program to impersonate a human.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chatbot 2. medium.com/@ftsupercharger/interview-with-ken-yeung-co-founder-of-clare-ai-ee3808ade2aa

Perspectives June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Looking to the Future

Trying to move forward P

oppy Tam, a parent in her 30s with a professional background in education, voices her concerns and preoccupations. Her views reflect a set of values and a cultural identity that are widespread in Hong Kong as the territory’s 20th anniversary approaches.

My son, Michael, is in kindergarten and naturally one of my top concerns is Hong Kong’s education system. For example, there is the Territory-wide System Assessment (TSA) also known as the Basic Competency Assessments. Last year, revised arrangements for the TSA were put in place and a group of primary schools were invited or volunteered to take part in a trial of a less demanding version than the old test. Now, the TSA is

actually assessing the performance of teachers and schools. It doesn’t really assess children’s academic performance. Nevertheless, it puts tremendous pressure on them. This means the teachers are stressed as well as the pupils they have to keep pushing to prepare for the test. Overall, however, I have to admit that parents focus too much on their children’s academic performance. Hong Kong is too small and job options are more limited than in some places. There is a common belief that if you want to get good pay and have a relatively comfortable life, you have to work hard and get a degree from a good university. If parents could see that there are many alternative career opportunities which would allow their children to excel, even without a particularly good academic performance, they might be more open-minded and a bit less pushy. Another point that bothers me is the proposal to introduce national education. The intention is to make children more patriotic and more knowledgeable about mainland China. But I am afraid the national education curriculum will be biased and will just instill pro-China thoughts in children and may even affect their judgment. I want Michael to be well-informed, not biased or ignorant. Still, there is hope. The curriculum could represent a balanced view of China, including both the “good” and the “bad”, allowing children to see their country and its history from both sides. Note Names have been changed to protect anonymity

Where home life is concerned, there is another kind of problem. Although most people here are used to living in small spaces it can get very difficult for young couples with small children. Many have to live with their parents because they can’t afford their own place. I think it’s fine for young adults to stay with their parents, but only until they get married. If I were a policymaker I would allocate a specific quota of public housing flats to families with young children. I would also want to severely restrict the trend we see nowadays of private property developers marketing extremely small flats. They are very unhealthy. I would also like to see the government stopping mainland people from buying Hong Kong property. I think today’s prices are extremely high because the demand from mainlanders is high. The majority of Hong Kong people are completely unable to afford such ridiculously high property prices.

I hope that the government will focus on these issues, especially where education is concerned so that my son grows up confident and competent into this new world. Sometimes the new world looks a little daunting but I try to look on the bright side. I have confidence in Hong Kong despite all its challenges. Perhaps we can move forward together if we are determined and optimistic, as well keeping up with the changing environment of learning and knowledge.

I am in two minds about technology. I see that the internet brings the world closer and this will widen my son’s horizons. However, I am also concerned about how safe technology is for children. They have access to everything and when I read about all the cybercrime I really hope that the government will make sure that young people are well-informed about what is legal and what is not. I know there will be many changes in the world that are not exclusive to Hong Kong in the next 20 years, especially increased automation, computerization and robotics.

Talking point June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

The Rule of Law What’s it all about? T

he author, an advocate and former university law teacher, Dr Ho But-lam, explains the concept of the Rule of Law. He stresses its vital importance for Hong Kong and for a better world.

The concept of the Rule of Law can be confusing. It is, first and foremost, a principle that is predicated on the existence of laws or a system of law set up by representatives who reflect the makeup of the communities they serve. Without laws, there would be anarchy or tyranny or both. Second, it relies on general acceptance that “the law rules.” At its bare minimum, this means that whatever “law” is in force in a country, it “rules” the lives of citizens of that country and applies to everyone, although the law in force can evolve and change from time to time as social values change. Of course, many suspect that some individuals behave as if the law doesn’t apply to them. This may be because their connections make them feel that they are above the law or are immune from the consequences of breaking it. In fact, the legal system is not perfect and there will always be those who break it and get away with it. Indeed, it is a longstanding principle of the common law that “better a guilty man go free than an innocent man be imprisoned.” However, if those who get away with breaking the law are more than a very small minority, society has a problem and the Rule of Law has been hijacked. Equally, if there are people who are or seem to be persecuted or always in trouble with the law, then the legal system and society have a problem. It may be that the law needs reform or the problem may have socio-economic causes. Otherwise, if ordinary people seem to be suffering from persecution, there may be political causes and the law may be being used by those in power to suppress dissent. Nonetheless, as can be seen from the recent jailing of one of Hong Kong’s former 36

Chief Executives, even those in the highest positions are subject to the law and can be convicted and punished for breaching it. The same is true for the prosecution of those who intentionally broke the law during the Occupy movement. Article 25 of the Basic Law states, “All Hong Kong residents shall be equal before the law.”

What about human rights? There is no question that principles of human rights are part of the law in force in Hong Kong. They are incorporated into the Basic Law, forming a central source of constitutional law that governs the rights of people in their relationships with the government or state. Indeed, Articles 26 to 42 spell out specific rights of residents, from freedom of speech, assembly and movement to the inviolability of residents’ homes and other premises, as well as their right of access to the courts. Article 39 of the Basic Law entrenches the provisions of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and international labour conventions, although Hong Kong does have some opt-outs from the former. It has been argued that the Rule of Law can exist almost anywhere, but it cannot exist without at least some human rights being incorporated in it, notably the right of access to the courts, equality before the law and

right to the due process of the law. Lord Justice Bingham, former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales and author of an authoritative book on the Rule of Law, rejects what he calls a “thin” in favour of a “thick” definition of the Rule of Law. The latter embraces the protection of human rights.

incompatible with such overriding principles. That is why judges must be independent, highly trained and possess integrity that is beyond question. This “independent judicial power … of final adjudication” (with some exceptions) is enshrined in the Basic Law, Article 18.

“A state which savagely represses or persecutes sections of its [people] cannot in my view be regarded as observing the rule of law, even if the transport of the persecuted minority to the concentration camp … is the subject of detailed laws duly enacted and scrupulously observed.”1

In the old days, laws used to be made by kings, perhaps giving rise to the expression: “The law is king.”3 Under the Basic Law, the laws in force in the Hong Kong SAR are inherited: the common law, rules of equity, ordinances, regulations and customary laws previously in force in the Territory (Art 8) and laws made by the legislature with some additions and deletions made by the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress of the PRC (Art 18). So, almost all law in Hong Kong is made by or may be changed by the HKSAR Legislature – the variously elected representatives of the people.

In other words, from a theoretical point of view, he disagrees with this statement: “A non-democratic legal system, based on the denial of human rights, on extensive poverty, on racial segregation, sexual inequalities, and religious persecution may, in principle, conform to the requirements of the rule of law…”2 Of course, human rights are a big part of the constitutional foundations of Hong Kong law.

Who makes the law? Democracy implies that the laws governing a people should be made by them or their elected representatives, but in reality, there are many countries where rules and regulations are made by subsidiary administrative bodies and even presidential decrees or orders which are more or less rubberstamped by the legislature. However, there should always be oversight by the judiciary − the judges and the system of courts that not only interpret the meaning of the laws, regulations, decrees and orders, but which have the power to annul such laws when they are in conflict with overriding principles such as those found in a constitution. In Hong Kong, the Basic Law is seen as a mini-constitution. It is difficult to work out when laws are inconsistent or

If we are striving to create a better world then the Rule of Law must be bolstered not belittled. As Lord Justice Bingham says:, “The concept of the rule of law is not fixed for all time. Some countries do not subscribe to it fully, and some subscribe to it only in name, if that. But in a world divided by differences of nationality, race, colour, religion and wealth it is one of the greatest unifying factors…It remains an ideal, but an ideal worth striving for, in the interests of good government and peace, at home and in the world at large.”4 Note The author’s pseudonym is Dr Ho But-lam. Further reading and sources World Justice Project. Rule of Law. worldjusticeproject. org/about-us/overview/what-rule-law Department of Justice, HKSARG. Legal System in Hong Kong. doj.gov.hk/eng/legal/ 1. Bingham, T. The Rule of Law. Allen Lane, 2010. p.67. 2. Raz, J: The Authority of the Rules of Law, OUP, 1979. 3. Thomas Paine (1776), English-American political activist, philosopher, political theorist, and revolutionary. 4. Bingham, T. op cit p.174.

Hong Kong 20 Years after the Handover Editors Brian Fong Chi-hang and Lui Tai-Lok Publisher Palgrave Macmillan Due July 2017 Series Studies in the Political Economy of Public Policy

This timely account examines the social and political development of Hong Kong since 1997. It describes the changes which have affected social mobilization and political activism in Hong Kong and the pattern of interaction between the government and civil society. eBook ISBN 978-3-319-51373-7DOI Hardcover ISBN 978-3-319-51372-0

Youth watch June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Youth policy J

ennifer Lam takes a look at youth policy-making around the world, showing how governments listen to youth and empower them.

As of 2014, 1221 countries had a national youth policy and at the first Global Forum on Youth Policies that year there were delegates from 165 countries and 115 governments.2 Discussion took place on a framework for youth policies and how they should be planned, financed, implemented and evaluated.3

Australia

China

Definition of youth 12-24 year-olds Youth policy The National Youth Strategy embodies Australia’s youth policy, the goals of which are to empower young people to build their own lives, enable young Australians to learn to take responsibility for their actions, become more resilient in order to navigate life’s challenges and build a healthier, safer and more productive Australia.4

Mainland China At present, China doesn’t have an explicitly written, unified national youth policy, nor an official executive mechanism for implementing or monitoring national or regional youth affairs. Youth policy is a component of overall policy.9

by Michael Coghlan flic.kr/p/hhpTsJ

Youth view In a 2016 pre-election poll, the most important issues for 17-25 year-olds were climate change, asylum seekers and marriage equality.7 44.6% said they would support the left-wing Greens because the other major parties were ignoring these issues.8

Hong Kong Formulating policies concerning youth has been the responsibility of various governmental departments and nongovernmental organizations in the past. Going forward, the proposed Youth Development Commission will formulate youth policy and implement goals embodied in central guiding principles for youth development.10 [See Interview pages 8-11.] Macau The Macau Youth Policy (2012-2020) is undergoing its first phase of implementation. A mid-term review was conducted in 2016.11

by ILO in Asia and the Pacific flic.kr/p/cAkhv7

Representative platform The Strategy established the Australian Youth Forum and National Conversation to listen to young people and ask for their views. An independently run National Youth Council of Australia brings together youth organizations and provides a platform for cooperation and discussion. It also operates an advisory arm that provides all levels of government and business with the opportunity to connect with youth councillors aged 18-30. Each year the Council holds a National Youth Conference at which delegates debate a range of issues and prepare an advisory paper for government and businesses on the topics discussed.5 In March 2016, two senators also called on the government to appoint a Minister for Young People to address the needs of the country’s youth.6

Finland Definition of youth Under 29 years of age Youth policy Finland’s Youth Act seeks to support young people’s growth and independence, to promote active citizenship and empowerment and to improve growth and living conditions for youth. Responsibility for youth work and youth policy lies with the Ministry of Education. The Child and Youth Policy Programme 2012-2015 includes nine strategic goals relating to active citizenship, employment, non-discrimination, gender equality, education and health.12 One of the goals of this policy,13 developed with input from young people, is to give youth social empowerment and expand their opportunities to voice opinions and influence decision-making. Representative platform The Finnish Youth Cooperation is the umbrella youth organization. Its purpose is to encourage young people to become responsible members of society and help them participate in decision-making processes and international activities. It lobbies decisionmakers, youth workers and youth organizations, and provides services directly to young people. The government is working with local authorities and youth organizations to improve the system for listening to young people’s opinions and has adopted an online feedback tool called eDemocracy in schools. The Finnish government encourages political youth groups and its Youth Act states that municipalities must involve young people in the preparation of youth policies and listen to their opinions.14 Youth view A 2016 survey by the Advisory Council for Youth Affairs found that about 59% of the young electorate planned to vote in the 2017 municipal elections but 21% said they would abstain as they felt that they had no opinion upon which to base their votes.15

India Definition of youth 15-29 year-olds Youth policy The 2014 national youth policy aims to create a productive workforce that contributes to India’s economic development and a strong and healthy generation. Other goals are the promotion of social values and community services, facilitation of participation and civic engagement, support for youth at risk and the creation of equal opportunities for all disadvantaged and marginalized youth.16 Representative platform Youth organizations in India are fragmented, with little coordination between the various stakeholders according to the national youth policy. Various national platforms and party youth wings exist, yet, “there are no systematic channels for engagement between the government and young citizens and no mechanisms for youth to provide input to government.”17 However, there is support for participation in the political process by engaging young people in monitoring elections and by helping them to identify relevant civic and social issues. Project Citizen is one example. It arranges meetings with relevant government officials and offers advice on devising action plans and alternative policy.18 Youth view In 2014, 150 million 18-23 year-olds became qualified to vote for the first time and 18-19 year-olds now comprise 14% of eligible voters.19 27 youth groups had instigated workshops and online dialogues to find out what young people wanted the government to promise.20

by Commonwealth Secretariat flic. kr/p/8PUTDd

by Utenriksdepartementet UD flic. kr/p/a6DUqQ

and youth views

Youth watch June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Japan

Mongolia

Definition of youth Under 30 years of age 21 Youth policy The Vision for Children and Young People outlines the 2009 Act on the Promotion of Development and Support for Children and Young People, and replaces the National Youth Development Policy. Principles include treating youth as partners with adults and providing support to youth to become proactive members of society. 22

Definition of youth 15-34 year-olds Youth policy The aims of the National Programme on Adolescents and Youth Development are to create a favourable environment for youth, to encourage them to take responsibility for themselves and for society, to protect their rights and improve their participation in social, economic and political life.26

Representative platform Japan does not have a national youth council. Youth involvement in civil society is segmented.

Representative platform The Mongolian Youth Federation maintains a leading role in national policy development for youth. It focuses on education, health, employment and other issues. The United Nations Development Programme is currently running a youth participation and civil education programme aiming to increase the number of youth voices in policy in Mongolia.

Youth view In 2015, Japan lowered its voting age from 20 to 18. In the 2016 Upper House election 45.45% of them actually voted23 whereas in the last national election only 35.3% of 20-24 year olds and 40.25% of 25-29 year-olds voted. In 2014, the prime minister said he was in favour of bringing the younger generation into Japanese politics with the help of schools, election boards and local communities. 24 A 2015 Japan Youth Research Institute poll showed that only 6.5% of Japanese high-school students believed that they could make a difference in politics.25

Sources 1. youthpolicy.org/blog/youth-policy-reviews-evaluations/state-of-youth-policy-2014/ 2. youthpolicyforum.&ltwbr /&gtorg/documents/commitment.pdf 3. undp.org/content/dam/undp/library/Democratic%20Governance/Youth/2014%20-%20REPORT%20-%201st%20Global%20Forum%20on%20Youth%20Policies.pdf 4. youthpolicy.org/national/Australia_2010_National_Youth_Strategy.pdf 5. youthcouncil.org.au/ 6. abc.net.au/triplej/programs/hack/is-the-time-right-for-a-minister-for-youth/8387988 7. Marriage equality is the movement which supports same-sex marriage. australianmarriageequality.org/get-informed/quick-facts/ 8. smh.com.au/federal-politics/federal-election-2016/election-2016-major-parties-ignoring-what-young-people-want-20160613-gphxfv.html 9. youthpolicy.org/pdfs/factsheets/china.pdf; youthpolicy.org/national/China_2011_Youth_Policy_Situation_Article.pdf

by Taylor Weidman / The Vanishing Cultures Project - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0 commons.wikimedia.org/w/index. php?curid=24648536

by Blondinrikard Fröberg flic.kr/p/FdDQEv

Youth view Recent surveys reveal widespread dissatisfaction among Mongolian youth, with the countries’ economic situation described as “bad” or “very bad” by 41.3% of respondents. Approximately half of Mongolian youth surveyed were dissatisfied with their jobs. In addition, 75% of respondents wanted to emigrate.27

World trends:

Signs of youth engagement in public affairs

Definition of youth 13-19 year-olds Youth policy England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all have recent youth policy and/or youth work strategies. “Positive for Youth” is a document that contains a number of policies that apply across the UK.28 Responsibility for youth policy lies with the Ministry of Education to the Cabinet Office which supports the Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister. However, there is no youth department as such.29 Representative platform The British Youth Parliament aims to provide opportunities for 11-18 year-olds to bring about social change through representation and campaigning.30 In 2016, almost a million young people voted for discussion topics to be included at the Youth Parliament and 276 youth MPs (MYPs) took part in the debate. The 2017 campaign includes topics such as lowering the voting age to 16 or 17, health cuts, cheaper transport, racism and discrimination, and the introduction of a school “curriculum for life.” MYPs are elected by their peers and each local education authority in England and Wales has its own Youth Parliament Constituency.31 Youth view 42% of 16-24-year-olds in a 2014 national survey claimed to be totally uninterested in politics but young people are not apathetic, according to researchers. 32 They are using digital platforms for action and discussion on issue-based campaigns, direct action, petitions, and politicsbased brand endorsement or rejection.33

The Youth Development Index suggests that despite young people in general becoming less interested in formal politics, they are engaged as much as ever with civic and political affairs, as evidenced by youth-led protests and single-issue campaigns. However, they prefer alternative modes of participation to elections. Political participation of young people in North America, Europe and Sub-Saharan Africa grew more than elsewhere in the world with an overall increase of nearly 6% between 2010 and 2015. South America, Central America, the Caribbean and South Asia were the top performing regions for political participation. The lowest were the Middle East, North Africa and the Asia-Pacific.34

Sources 10. youthpolicy.hk/; hub.hku.hk/handle/10722/144223 11. mindbank.info/item/4782 [in Chinese] 12. youthpolicy.org/factsheets/country/finland/ 13. icicp.org/resource-library/icp-publications/global-youth-service-database/europe-2/western-europe/ finland/ 14. finnishexp_political_youth_netti.pdf 15. finlandtimes.fi/national/2016/07/15/28582/21-young-voters-to-abstain-from-local-polls 16. youthpolicy.org/factsheets/country/india/ 17. ibid 18. icicp.org/resource-library/icp-publications/global-youth-service-database/asia-and-the-pacific/ south-asia-2/india/ 19. theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/apr/08/india-leaders-young-people-change-2014-elections 20. thehindu.com/features/education/what-young-india-actually-wants/article5104015.ece 21. youthpolicy.org/factsheets/country/japan/ 22. youthpolicy.org/national/Japan_2008_National_Youth_Development_Policy.pdf 23. asaa.asn.au/will-japans-lowered-voting-age-reverse-decreasing-voter-turnouts/ 24. asiapacific.ca/blog/japanese-youths-political-engagement-now-or-never 25. asiapacific.ca/blog/japanese-youths-political-engagement-now-or-never

by UK Parliament flic.kr/p/A5DX1f

26. youthpolicy.org/factsheets/country/mongolia/ 27. onehope.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Mongolia-Report-5.8.2014.pdf 28. youthpolicy.org/national/United_Kingdom_2011_Youth_Policy_Framework.pdf 29. youthpolicy.org/factsheets/country/united-kingdom/ 30. ukyouthparliament.org.uk/ 31. civilservice.blog.gov.uk/2014/09/05/why-should-government-listen-to-young-people/ 32. Jacqueline Briggs, Young People and Political Participation: Teen Players 33. bangthetable.com/news/youth-political-participation-uk/ 34. cmydiprod.uksouth.cloudapp.azure.com/sites/default/files/2016-10/2016%20Global%20Youth%20 Development%20Index%20and%20Report.pdf

Promoting STEM Education in Primary Schools

TEM education benefits primary students but adoption in Hong Kong schools has been slow. Why are we lagging behind some other countries?

Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education helps to equip students with the practical skills, knowledge and tools that they will need in life. It may also mean that they will contribute to Hong Kong’s international competitiveness. However, 40% of the students polled were not familiar with STEM education. Furthermore, nearly 50% did not participate in any STEMrelated learning activities because they said they had too many other assignments whereas 36% said their lack of interest was either due to the high cost of such classes or their lack of desire to learn STEM subjects (36.0%). The survey also revealed that according to the students’ own self-assessment, their levels of creativity and problem-solving skills were normal or mediocre.i Some of the STEM experts and educators interviewed also claimed that some Hong

Kong primary schools also encountered obstacles when they tried to promote STEM education. These included problems concerning teaching staff, subventions and resources. Comments from think tank members

Arnold Chan, group convener “There should be a scholarship scheme to reward undergraduates who study STEM-related subjects and who want to be primary teachers. This would encourage talented young people to develop STEM education at primary level. ” Derrick Fan, group member “Extending the scope of the existing “Paid Non-local Study Leave Scheme for Secondary School Teachers” so that it includes primary school teachers would also help. This would enrich their pedagogy and give them on-site experiential learning in other countries.” Alan Yip, group member “Cooperation between parents, schools and professional organizations could promote STEM education. In addition, the establishment of a STEM Learning Community* would raise public awareness of its importance.”

*STEM Learning Communities STEM Learning Communities (LCs) have become part of the higher education landscape in certain parts of the world. Their purpose is to recruit, develop, and retain students in STEM disciplines and to increase student academic success, graduation rates, and post-graduation participation in STEM fields. Students who participate in an LC are often housed together, take academic classes together, and are provided with educational and cultural programs to enhance the academic curriculum and social integration. STEM LCs have been shown to facilitate student academic success and persistence in science disciplines. Source washingtoncenter.evergreen.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1119&context=lcrpjournal

Report No. 20 HKFYG Youth I.D.E.A.S. Group Education & Innovation group “STEM Education in Primary Schools” 520 pupils in Primary 4-6 completed a questionnaire in February 2017. 15 STEM experts and educators were interviewed as well. Full details [in Chinese] yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/news.aspx?id=cdbaaff9-7ec5-4bf6-8494-bd78ab27d5a3&i=5502 Contact Youth Research Centre 3755 7022 i. 5.95 and 5.79 respectively on a 0-10 scale, 10 indicates extremely good and 5 indicates normal.

Creative Craftsmanship Development Challenge or Opportunity?

ccording to this study, businesses in the creative crafts offer alternative careers for young people but the shortage of space and lack of artisanal talent create hurdles for those who want to enter the field.

The creative economy is growing worldwide and opening businesses in various forms of craft has become popular among the younger generation in Hong Kong. However, 28.2% of the respondents to this survey thought the greatest hurdle for developing craftsmanship was lack of talent. 23% thought it was lack of space.

Cases involved in the study, including those related to leather ware, glassware, clocks and watches, clothing, jewellery and handmade beer, show that the growth of such business is certainly limited by shortage of space. Such artisanal work requires more space for the creation and retail of products than internet-based business do, for example. Nevertheless, all such businesses need to overcome management and technical problems and for craft-related businesses to scale up, the need to become involved in mass production means that space is crucial. Comments from think tank members

Jess Yeung, convener “It is worthwhile to support creative craftsmanship for the sake of economic diversification. Furthermore, a ‘Creative Craftsmanship Cluster’ could be set up and operated in a non-commercial manner in order to offer affordable rents to craft businesses. A ‘Craftsmanship Accelerator Programme’ could also be designed to nurture businesses that have the potential to grow into successful Hong Kong brands.” Aaron Mou, member “Creative craft production should be scaled up in order to make greater economic impact. The government should subsidize the use of technology and automation for this purpose. It should also provide trade financing services via financial institutions in order to relieve the difficulties faced by small creative craftsmanship businesses in commercial trade.”

Report No. 21 HKFYG Youth I.D.E.A.S. Employment & Economic Development group Published title “Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Development of Creative Craftsmanship in Hong Kong” 520 Hong Kong residents aged 18 or above took part in a random sample telephone survey. 19 young people working in creative craftsmanship and 7 experts or academics were also interviewed. Full details [in Chinese] yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/news.aspx?id=be10d3f7-9d17-48a7-b741-37f51c1db4cc&corpname=yrc&i=9551 Enquiries Amy Yuen 3755 7037

How Young People Cope with Stress

n a highly competitive society like Hong Kong’s, many adolescents experience stress, often exacerbated by personal, family and social factors.

Adolescence is a time of change and uncertainty: biological, psychological, emotional and behavioral and this is reflected in the response of 22.3% of the young people in this survey. They say that when they feel under great stress it can last for over a month on average. The main sources of such stress are concerns about academic studies (51.5%) or careers (31.5%). Other worries include doubts about future prospects (20.9%), family relationships (17.7%) and money (13.4%). The most common symptoms were described as deteriorating moods (31.2%), anxiety (26.0%) and insomnia (21.1%). Hong Kong youth’s response to stress in is generally positive, although some react negatively or pessimistically. Some also ignore their symptoms because they fail to understand their own emotional reactions and their sense of inability to cope. Those in this category also worry about not being accepted by others and are concerned about being stigmatized.

Report No. 22 HKFYG Youth I.D.E.A.S. Society and Livelihood group Published title “How Young People Cope with Stress” 520 Hong Kong young people aged 12-29 were successfully polled in a random sample telephone survey. 20 young people who suffered from stress and four experts or academics were also interviewed. Full details [in Chinese] yrc.hkfyg.org.hk/news.aspx?id=be10d3f7-9d17-48a7b741-37f51c1db4cc&corpname=yrc&i=9551

Comments from think tank members

Justen Li, convener “The study found that many Hong Kong young people don’t know how to cope with stress or manage their emotions. Ignoring underlying problems and failing to deal with them at an early stage exacerbates the difficulties they experience. It is worth considering a fully-subsidized outdoor camp programme for senior primary and junior secondary students that focuses on boosting self-confidence and improving communication and problem-solving skills. A territory-wide healthy life promotion campaign would also enhance awareness of the importance of mental health.” Peann Tam, deputy convener “Young people face pressure of all kinds nowadays. We recommend that the government allocates resources for online instant counselling. The development of youth physical and mental health should be a long-term government strategy that incorporates keeping track of the problem and coordinating services for greater impact.”

HKFYG June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Scores for Summer S

cores of activities for youth are organized by the Federation every summer. On some of them, a few places are still available. Book soon! Go to easymember.hk for full details LEAD+ Smart Inventor

Adventure leadership volunteer training

LEAD Lab – The Walker

Learn to code and create with Arduino microcontroller

Go rafting, climbing, abseiling and more

Take your lessons in a natural environment

Activities • Design and create personalized interactive inventions • Learn to code and solve logical reasoning problems • Collaborate with peers through hands-on practice Location LEAD Lab HQ, 1/F HKFYG Building, 21 Pak Fuk Road, North Point Date 25 July - 22 August (5 Sessions) Time 10.30am-12.30pm Age 9-15 Fee HK$980 Contact Edmond Hui 3755 7079 Deadline for registration 20 July Online registration easymember.hk/eportal/ Program/ProgramDetail. aspx?PID=17003653-1

Activities • Learn to lead outdoors adventures • Build a team while building leadership skills • Volunteer as leaders at future HKFYG camps Location HKFYG Heng Fa Chuen Youth SPOT, Eastern District Dates 29 June - 10 August Age 17-25 Fee HK$300 Contact To Yau 2557 0142 Deadline for registration 30 June Online registration easymember. hk/eportal/Program/ProgramDetail. aspx?PID=17001442-1

Activities • Combine physics and learning in the great outdoors • Theory & action classes Location HKFYG Jockey Club Hung Hom Youth SPOT, Shatin District Dates Tuesdays 11 & 28 July, 1 & 8 August Time 8.30am-10pm Sundays 16 July, 23 July and 13 August Time 9am-6pm Age 15-25 Fee HK$450 Contact Alex Auyeung 2715 0424 Deadline for registration 10 July Online registration easymember.hk/eportal/ Program/ProgramDetail. aspx?PID=17001912-1

Master of Japanese TV Drama

Stand Up Paddling Beginner’s Certificate Course

Zentangle Experience Workshop

Learn Japanese through active drama

Practise the latest craze in water sports

Focus feel good with fine drawing

Activities • Character role play from Japanese TV drama • Games and voice exercises • Practise Japanese pronunciation Location HKFYG Tsuen King Youth SPOT Dates Saturdays 22 July - 19 August Time 8pm-9.30pm Age 19-30 Fee HK$1,300 Contact Mani Chow 2498 3333

Activities • Test your balance and core strength • Great fun, easy to learn • Get fit and stay cool Location HKFYG Jockey Club Verbena Youth SPOT, Sai Kung District

Activities • Simple to learn • Beautiful complex patterns • Creative and calming Location HKFYG Jockey Club Tin Yuet Youth SPOT

Dates Sundays: 23 July – 6 August Time 8.30am-5pm Age 14-25 Fee HK$460 Contact Karen Tsang 2997 0321

Deadline for registration: 21 July Onine registration easymember.hk/eportal/ Program/ProgramDetail. aspx?PID=17002781-1

Web easymember.hk or syp.hkfyg.org.hk

Deadline for registration 22 July Online registration easymember.hk/eportal/ Program/ProgramDetail. aspx?PID=17004440-1

Date 16 July Time 2pm-5pm Age 14-25 Fee HK$200 Contact Joey Li 2445 5777 Deadline for registration 15 July Online registration easymember.hk/eportal/ Program/ProgramDetail. aspx?PID=17003109-1

Brochure Available in all HKFYG Youth SPOTs

HKFYG June 2017 | Youth Hong Kong

Concert of Ten T P L U S

A t t e m p t

a t

G u i n n e s s

n celebration of the 20th Anniversary of the Hong Kong SAR, 10,000 young people will come together in concert, singing of shared dreams, passions and hope for the future. Their enthusiasm and positive energy symbolize Hong Kong moving forward. Supported on stage by • 140 choral music students • 16 professional singers • 2 dance troupes • Percussion group • Marching band

Date

26 June 2017

Venue

Hong Kong Coliseum

Hong Kong Guest Performers Joey Yung, born in June 1980, is one of the foremost Cantonese singers of all time. She made her musical debut in 1999 and since then has won numerous awards, including the prestigious JSG ‘Most Popular Female Singer’ and ‘Ultimate Best Female Singer – Gold’ a record-breaking nine times. One of the songs to be performed at the Colisueum on 26 June will be a few lines from Joey Hung’s all-time hit I Can Fly, a huge favourite with Hong Kong audiences. Hins Cheung, the 36 year-old Cantopop star from Guangzhou, has a huge cult following among Hong Kong youth, a generation with whom he has strong empathy. His best known hits include My Way [ 港版 ] and Cool Love ( 酷愛 ).

Alfred Hui Tinghang is a 29-year old singer and dentist. Departure ( 出走 ) and Ant ( 螞蟻 ) are among his hit recordings. He also won much critical acclaim for his song, The Ode 香港特別行政區成立二十周年官方標誌使用指引 of Youth ( 青春頌 ).

Joey Yung See me fly, I’m proud to fly up high

不因氣壓搖擺只因有你擁戴 Believe me I can fly I’m singing in the sky

假使我算神話因你創更愉快

James Ng Yip-kwan, better known as Kwan Gor, is a 27 year-old Hong Kong singer and actor. His pop songs, including She Doesn’t Love Me Enough ( 原來她不夠愛我 ) garnered millions of views on YouTube. He starred in Happiness (2016) and the hit sitcom Come Home Love.

Ng Yip Kwan

Hins Cheung 46

Alfred Hui

Thousand Voices W o r l d

R e c o r d

f o r

B e a t b o x

Overseas Guest Performers Club For Five - the world-renowned a cappella group from Finland Club For Five, one of the best, most versatile a cappella groups in the world, sings everything from classical music to heavy metal and gentle jazz. Delighting live audiences with their chameleon-like quality, they are also well-known for their expert studio work and gold-selling albums. Firmly rooted in a strong Nordic musical tradition, they translate haunting, icy cold, winter landscapes of the North into beautiful jazz harmonies and ethno flavours. In Chinese-speaking parts of Asia, audiences love their Mandarin rendition of Wan Wan De Yue Liang.

CLUB FOR FIVE ALSO APPEARING ON 27 JUNE in the HKFYG Jockey Club International a cappella Festival Master Series

Major Sponsor The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust Date and time 27 June 8pm

Venue Concert Hall, Hong Kong City Hall Tickets HK$350 / $250 / $150 on sale now at urbtix.hk

SEATS A FEW

Reservation enquiries 3761 6661 Credit card telephone booking 2111 5999

LEFT!

Programme enquiries 2395 5753 Mobile booking app My URBTIX (Android and iPhone/iPad versions)

Concert of 10,000 Voices also featuring a Guinness World Record-Setting Attempt for the Largest Human Beatbox performance

FATKING, Hong Kong Beatbox Artist, founder of Hong Kong Beatbox (HKB) and Hong Kong Beatbox Academy (HKBA), will be the Beatbox coordinator at the Concert of Ten Thousand Voices. Organizers

Tobias Hug Tobias Hug will be an adviser for the attempt to set a Guinness World Record at the Coliseum on 26 June. Based in London, Tobias has been working for more than 20 years as an inspiring teacher of vocal percussion in places as diverse as Singapore, Norway, China and Kenya. From 20012012, he sang with Grammy-Award winners, The Swingle Singers, who performed in the 2011 HKFYG Jockey Club Hong Kong International a cappella Festival Master Series. He was a judge for the HKFYG a Cappella Contest in 2016.

More details m21.hk/icanfly