a quarterly journal from the hongkong federation of youth groups December 2010 Volume 2 Number 4

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Contents
Anniversary messages
The Hon Donald Tsang, Patron
Sir T.L. Yang, Vice Patron
Mr George H. Stokes, Vice Patron
Dr Peter Tsoi, President

5 Editorial

6 Highlight
Rosanna Wong
Ever changing, always here

Interviews
HKFYG Council Members
16 Peter Tsoi, President
Involved, connected, committed

18 Clara Shek, Ogilvy

Listening, communicating, facilitating

19 Hubert Chan, HKC International

Seeing two sides of cyberspace

20 Allen Fung, McKinsey

Getting involved: a dose of reality

Feature
36 Internetscope
Reaching out in cyberspace

38 City space
Sporting chance

In the loop
46 Asia Bibi
Dress to impress!

47 June Leung
A chance to re-invent your self

48 Kaleidoscope
George H. Stokes, Vice Patron
The founding of the Federation
 December 2010 Volume 2 Number 4
Identifying needs,
targeting problems
Youth at risk
8 On the skids

10 Late night hang out

12 At the margins

14 Parent-child mediation
Resolving conflicts

Counselling
22 Close to the edge

24 Special needs, special strategies

25 Turning monsters into kittens

27 Youth entrepreneurship
Think sustainable: interview
with Alex Tam, Ecosage co-owner

30 Youth SPOT project

Saving up for future needs

Addictive behaviour
32 Escape from reality

34 Future at stake

40 Arts & culture

Sugar Chan
Why I dance

Travel
44 Anaita Tejpal
Welcoming the New Year with lights: Diwali

45 Au Ka-lam
The Chinese experience:
Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong

HKFYG Core Services

Counselling Parent-child Mediation
Creativity Education & Youth Exchange Research & Publications
e-Services Services for Youth at Risk
Education Services Volunteer Services
Leadership Training Youth Employment
Leisure, Cultural & Sports Services Youth SPOTs
HKFYG Anniversary Messages

Warmest congratulations to the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups on its

50th Anniversary. As our key partner in youth development, the Federation works
tirelessly to encourage young people to lead a life driven by a sense of mission, civic-
mindedness, healthy habits and positive attitudes.

Many of these young people have become responsible adults, model citizens and
even brilliant leaders in our society.

I thank the Federation for its commitment to our younger generation. May I wish the
Federation another fruitful half-century.

The Honourable Donald Tsang, GBM

Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region
Patron

My most sincere congratulations for the Golden Jubilee. Together, we nurture young people;
together, we strengthen them to face the challenges ahead, and together, for at least the next fifty
years, the Federation will inspire them to even greater things.

Sir T.L. Yang, GBM, JP

Vice Patron

The foundations of the HKFYG were established by the time I left in 1970. Those foundations
still stand firm. The Federation meets so many needs in the community, with so many different
activities now. May the good work continue for another fifty years.

Mr George H. Stokes, MBE

Vice Patron

For fifty years, the Federation has been providing services to generations of young people. It would
not have been possible without the assistance, encouragement and partnership of the community.
On behalf of everyone at the Federation, I would like to express my deep gratitude for this support.
We so value your trust in us.

Dr Peter Tsoi, JP
President
 Editorial

I
would like to thank our Patron and Vice Patrons for their encouraging words and their abiding
support. It is our honour, obligation and joy to fulfil our vision and mission to serve the young people
of Hong Kong.

In this special issue of Youth Hong Kong, we have invited those at the frontline of Federation services
to talk about their work. With them, we discover the nature of the young people we care for and serve.
Outreach and social workers, along with mediators and counsellors, share the challenges they face, while
young people reflect on their own experiences.

Hong Kong has changed over the past 50 years, as have the aspirations, issues, needs and dreams of
young people. Throughout, the Federation has been here, constantly gaining insight into the world of
youth so that we might be able to deliver relevant and timely services.

This is our commitment. It is our pledge and promise: to care, to serve, to always be here for each
successive generation of Hong Kong’s young people.

Dr Rosanna Wong, DBE, JP

Executive Director
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups
December 2010

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 5

Highlight
Ever changing, always here
No one would deny that the changes in Hong Kong over the past 50 years have been anything short of tremendous.
Leaving aside the unique political transition from colony to Special Administrative Region, this is a city which has
transformed itself economically and socially. Here we trace the parallel changes in services for youth.
In the 1960s, Hong Kong had a global reputation as a “factory city”,
manufacturing inexpensive, but not always safe or reliable products. A
burgeoning middle class was still dwarfed by the large labouring class
which worked hard in difficult, dangerous conditions and lived simply,
in overcrowded squatter settlements or housing estates. They received
little by way of social provision or assistance from a government
whose focus was on administrative affairs and containment of unrest,
especially at the time of the 1967 riots and the acute water shortages.
For a vast number of young people, working to help the family out of
poverty took priority over both a carefree childhood and an education.
With a dearth of trained youth workers, the various youth organizations
could do little more than simply provide recreational facilities and
opportunities, instead of addressing more deep-rooted challenges and
offering in-depth, diversified services.
The beginnings of a social policy
By the end of the 1960s and into the next decade, changes included
a marked development in social policy. While some might argue that
this was a reactive, rather than a proactive action on the part of the
government to ensure social stability, it did improve the material
conditions of the people. Youth organizations also began introducing
various initiatives to establish more comprehensive services. Pilot
projects included youth counselling and guidance, as well as service
projects for young people working in industry and outreach social work.
However, the focus still tended to be on remedial work, rather than on
the all-round development of young people and their potential.
6 Youth Hong Kong December 2010
by Rosanna Wong
The 1970s were marked not only by the extension of government-
subsidized education from six to nine years, but also by the introduction
of a housing policy and the emergence of subsidized primary
healthcare. The city was changing too as a result of the opening up of
the mainland. This saw manufacturers moving their factories north of
the border and Hong Kong redefining itself as a commercial, service-
orientated city. As a result, incomes increased as did the standard and
quality of living, allowing for a high degree of upward social and
economic mobility.
“For a vast number of young
people, working to help the family
out of poverty took priority over
both a carefree childhood and an
education.”
The emergence of new priorities
Young people’s needs and issues were reflected in these changing times
and youth organizations responded by further consolidating their
counselling and outreach work and by instigating a new focus on family
life and school social work. The latter two developments are indicative
of Hong Kong’s growing stability, in that family and education now
appear as major concerns, compared to poverty, long working hours
and low wages in the past.

In the 1980s, the future of Hong Kong was negotiated. While this had
repercussions in political circles, the city was booming economically and
was slowly asserting itself as a wealthy business and financial centre. In
fact, the ever-changing, ever-higher skyline was a visible indicator of the
growing prosperity of Hong Kong, in spite of the rise in emigration.
Increasing affluence, increased expectations
With growing affluence, the challenges faced by young people changed
as their expectations and aspirations rose. No longer dependent on
outlets for simple recreational activities, youth services now included
focus-on holistic development and broader experiences. Young people
were now being equipped with skills to face an increasingly competitive
world, participating in increasingly popular exchange programmes, and
getting involved in science and other educational activities outside the
classroom.
“With growing affluence, the
challenges faced by young people
changed, as their expectations and
aspirations rose.”
As the professional standards of social and youth workers improved,
so too did their delivery of services to young people. With enhanced
effectiveness and efficiency, the government consequently recognized
these efforts as standard subvented services.
Politics and economics were the focus of the 1990s. The Handover
was imminent and the Hong Kong government tried to ensure a stable
society. Emigration again was on the rise and while the community felt
uneasy, the markets were more affected by worldwide trends than local
domestic politics.
Hong Kong was now confirmed as an affluent city, referred to as the
world’s freest economy and one of the four dragons of Asia, at the
Highlight
forefront of commerce, including finance, shipping, tourism and service
industries.
Increasing complexities
The shift in attitude among young people reflected not only this
growing wealth, but also a sense of entitlement, which was countered
by a focus on volunteering, and leadership development, awareness-
building and education on how to give back to society. None of these
new service areas detracted from fundamental counselling and needs-
related services, but the challenge for youth organizations was remaining
relevant in a context of increasing complexity.
“The need to constantly update
their competencies has placed
today’s young people under levels
of unprecedented pressure.”
Now, into the second decade of the new century, Hong Kong is not
only a global economic player, but a leader in human development as
well. Ranked second by the World Bank in its index for ease of doing
business, Hong Kong is also ranked highly in the newly released UNDP
20th Anniversary Human Development Report, entitled “The Real Wealth of
Nations: Pathways to Human Development”.
Hong Kong has a key role to play in globalization and this too has had
its effect on youth. Their need to constantly update competencies in the
face of increased competitiveness from peers locally and overseas, along
with the rapidity of technological advancement, has placed them under
unprecedented levels of pressure. The internet and new media have
introduced new forms of connectivity and communication, while also
introducing new sets of problems and challenges. Youth organizations
too have had to update and modernize their responses to ensure
continued effective and efficient delivery of services to meet the needs
of young people.
Not always easy, and ever-evolving, the last 50 years of Hong Kong’s
rapid and expansive development has had inevitable bearing on young
people. Each generation of youth has been seen as the future, and at
each stage of development, youth services have been there to assist,
lead, educate, counsel and serve.•
Sources
1
“Fifty years: past and present at The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups”,
Youth Hong Kong 2(1), March 2010, p.43.
2
The World Bank, Doing Business 2011 report on measuring business
regulations, covering the period from June 2009 to May 2010. See http://
doingbusiness.org/rankings (accessed 7 November 2010)
3
UNDP, Human Development Index 2010, “The Real Wealth of Nations:
Pathways to Human Development,” International Human Development
Indicators, Hong Kong. See http://hdrstats.undp.org/en/countries/profiles/HKG.
html. For the full report, see http://www.undp.org/publications/hdr2010/en/
HDR_2010_EN_Complete.pdf (accessed 7 November 2010)
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 7
Identifying needs, targeting problems Youth at risk

On the skids
Outreach services for vulnerable youth, at risk of involvement in drugs, violence or crime, are at the core of the
Federation’s work. The three stories in this section, about drug abuse, petty theft and late night gang activity, are
examples of the services in action.

Wing is 17. Ever since he was little, he has felt insecure. His parents got divorced when he was at primary
school and now his mum works night shifts. He started hanging out with triads who gave him a sense of
protection.

That’s how he got into drugs, and dropped out from school. There was never much supervision at home and
most of his time there he used to spend online. He got pocket money for drugs from his unemployed father
who lives off Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) welfare payments. Wing told us about his
experience, and how the Federation helped him give up drugs.

Almost everyone I used to hang out with did drugs. It One day at a friend's home, I blacked out. It had happened
was normal. Just like drinking coke or eating noodles. I before but this time it was different. I started throwing
remember snorting my first hit of K. I was with a up blood and my stomach burned so I couldn't
member of the gang. It was no big deal, I stand. On the way home at an MTR
just felt a bit distant. So I did it again. station I blacked out again. That’s
when the Federation social
Then I really went K-riding. worker found me.
Right into the K-hole. It was
like floating, like flying, a She took me to a doctor.
real mind-out-of-body He said I had bladder
feeling. Because Mum damage and a stomach
was working all the time ulcer. I haven't done
and Dad was out of the K for a few months
picture, it was easy to get now. I feel better about
away with it. everything, I don't fight
with my Mum any more
I started buying drugs online and my Dad is speaking to
and had them delivered. In me again.
the end I needed them so badly
that if I couldn’t get money off Dad I also joined Project Shine and the
I would steal it off him, till he found out. social workers helped me get my place
Then I spent the money Mum gave me for food on back at school. I’ve discovered break dancing too.
drugs. I almost never ate anything. I kept forgetting things. Break dancing really helps so I go down and join the
I dropped out completely from school and didn't care others a couple of nights a week. The only reason I stay
because I was flying high. But actually I was on the skids. out late now is for break dancing.

8 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Identifying needs, targeting problems
Every time I think about how I used to be I feel sick. So
many of my friends think they're fine but I know they're
not. Now I remember everything I learn at school. I even
feel smarter. But even now I still can't remember a lot of
what happened before I quit.
I’ve got a message for parents, especially if they are
divorced. Get on the same page as your kid. Check in with
them often, and be sneaky if you suspect something. Learn
how to check a computer history log. If my Mum knew
how to do that, she would have known I had a problem.•
Note In Hong Kong, ketamine, often known as “K” or “K Jai”, is the drug of
choice for teenagers. It is easily available and cheaper than drugs like
heroin and Ecstasy, at about HK$100 per gram compared to about HK$80
for an Ecstasy tablet. Users often take several Ecstasy tablets together,
but a group of users share a gram of ketamine. For more on youth drug
abuse in Hong Kong, see Youth Hong Kong December 2009.
All names and some of the circumstances surrounding the people in these stories have been adjusted to protect identities.
HKFYG’s outreach programme and
Project Shine
The immediate outreach service provided by HKFYG for Wing was
based on his most urgent needs. Subsequent intervention included
medical check-ups, activities and, later, help finding work. The goal
was to help him grow and develop while reflecting on his behaviour
and acquiring positive values.
Project Shine is a Beat Drugs project run by HKFYG Outreaching
Social Work Teams in Tsuen Wan and Kwai Chung, and Sai Kung
and Wong Tai Sin districts. It helped 144 youngsters like Wing from
September 2008 to August 2010 and organized 47 anti-drug abuse
programmes for about 3,340 young participants during that period.
Project Shine went into its second phase in September 2010 and
Project Shine II will build on past experience, offering counselling
to high-risk and habitual drugs users. A clinical psychologist will join
the team which is supported by partners in the local community,
including government departments and district organizations.
Web http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/chi/yar/index1c.html
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 9
Identifying needs, targeting problems Youth at risk

Late night hang out

Outreach social workers are keen observers, and they sometimes keep youngsters out of trouble. Young people
who hang out late in public places might be escaping tension at home. Others are looking for personal space,
stressed out by high-density living. A few of them need help.

Late at night, the outreach workers go round parks, playgrounds, promenades and internet cafés. On foot or by
car. The idea is to keep an eye on things. Often they work the same neighbourhoods. Developing rapport with
the young people who hang out there. Bored kids, chatting, playing cards, break dancing or skateboarding. This
story, set in the present tense for dramatic effect, describes how they deal with one incident.

It's Friday night. Mike and Kathy, two of the outreach team, are in a housing estate playground. They see a
group of teenagers. The two they know look different somehow. What’s up? Obviously neither want to talk.
Even though Mike and Kathy have known them for months. Strange, Ben and Chris usually like to chat about
what’s happening. Trivial or important, it’s all the same. Tonight’s different. Something serious. There are
unfamiliar faces. Maybe a bit older, 17 or 18. They don’t look happy. Quite annoyed in fact.

“Hi guys, how’s life?” Kathy’s worried. Wants to make sure Ben and Chris aren’t in danger.
She and Mike introduce themselves to the older guys. Ask if they’re
“Not bad, same as usual.” interested in the outreach show in Tseung Kwan O Sports Centre that
night. It keeps going till 2am.
“Did you get that part-time job, Chris?”
Not interested. Dismissive even. Soon, the group breaks up. Looking
“Nope. Still looking.” purposeful. They disappear quickly.

“How about you, Ben? Catching up better in class?”
“So far so good.”
“Everything OK guys?”
“Why d’you keep asking?”
“You look a bit worried, Ben. That’s all.”
“He’s alright, Kathy. Leave him alone.”
Ben and Chris, usually go home about midnight or they go to the Sports
Centre. Not tonight. Still worried some kind of fight’s brewing, Mike
and Kathy follow. Ben and Chris are in a park 5 minutes’ walk away.
On the fringes of a much larger group. It looks like an argument with
another gang. Kathy decides to break in. No weapons were in sight. But
trouble for sure.
“Hey guys. Anything we can do? You’re looking kind of unhappy.”
The tension between the groups seems to ease a bit. Kathy’s been
around for a while. Her face is known. She understands the dynamics of

10 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Identifying needs, targeting problems

situations like this. Maybe it’s her tone of voice. Or her body language.
Maybe it’s just that she’s older. Finally, Ben’s older brother, Rocky, who’d
been in the playground earlier, steps forward. He’s grown a beard.
“Almost a fight at Ben’s school today,” he mutters. “He tripped
up another boy in the corridor. He got insulted. It didn’t get
physical. But I still don’t like that.”
Rocky’s a pretty tough, aggressive type. He doesn’t like anyone messing
with his brother. He’d found out who was involved. This was show
down time.
“These guys have been picking on Ben. They shouldn’t do that.
It makes me angry. They should apologize. Right now.”
Extended Services for Young Night Drifters
The services began in 2001 in Sai Kung and Tseung Kwan O.
They are proactive rather than reactive, geared to build positive
self-images and set life goals. Of 855 young people who used
the services in 2009/10, about 78% (664) were male and 22%
(191) female. Most were aged 14-17 and came from a mix of
family backgrounds. Apart from handling potential crises such as
the one in the story, outreach workers also take young people
home if need be, and tell them about daytime youth services,
if appropriate. They follow up more closely as necessary, on
problems such as employment, health and education. Regular
events are held at Tseung Kwan O Sports Centre late on Friday
nights where a safe, open space is provided for break dancing,
basketball, badminton and some other sports. Social workers on-
duty provide counselling services and basic medical check-ups if
necessary, as well as conveying an anti-drug abuse message.

Email ynd@hkfyg.org.hk
“Let’s cool it a bit Rocky, and get things sorted out nice and easy.
Don’t want anyone to get hurt, do we?”

Ben, Rocky and the student at Ben’s school who’d started things,
confronted each other, glowering. They jeer and spar. Kathy broke in
again.

“If you make a row like that someone will call the police. We’ll all be in
trouble. Come on guys. It takes two to make a fight.”

Things are pretty tense for a while. The outreach workers try to
cool things. At last everyone backs off. The groups break up.

“Time to go home,” called Ben to Kathy, “and thanks.”

Kathy and Mike sigh, and relax for now. Outreach work is a never-
ending task. The more you do, the better you get. You know how
youngsters’ minds work, who their families are, who hangs out where.
Details matter a lot. So does experience and patience.•

Further reading
Lee, Francis Wing-lin, Department of Social Work and Social
Administration, University of Hong Kong. Youth Mobile Teams for Young
Night Drifters in Hong Kong. Conference de Montpellier, 15-18 July 2002.
Newbery, Peter. “Youth Outreach: Crisis Intervention with Marginal
Adolescents”, Asian Journal of Counselling 2(2), 1993.
Newbery, Peter and Shum, David. “Hong Kong's Alternative Night Life: A
History of the All-Night Outreaching Service for Hong Kong Runaways”,
Journal of Youth Studies 2(2). July 1999.

All names and some of the circumstances surrounding the people in these stories have been adjusted to protect identities.

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 11

Identifying needs, targeting problems
At the margins
There are vulnerable young people on the margins of every society. This is the story of Harry. He stole a
phone, got caught and then felt so bad he made a big effort to get back on track, with the help of the HKFYG
Youth Support Scheme.
“I’m Harry and I’m 15 this year. Last year there was a boy in my
class who was always picking on me, making fun of my clothes and
my accent. I really hated him, so one day I stole his mobile. Just for
a laugh really. Just to get revenge. Then I thought I could make some
pocket money by selling the phone and nobody would ever find out.
That’s when my life went wrong.”
Harry took the phone to a local shop but the police were watching it.
The vendor had been suspected of dealing in stolen goods.
“My mind went blank when that policeman tapped me on the
shoulder. My legs froze and I couldn’t move. I just thought how
12 Youth Hong Kong December 2010
Youth at risk
upset my mum would be. I was so ashamed. My dad was working
on a building site and he managed to make just enough to keep us
all alive. I realized my idea of getting revenge was so stupid. I didn’t
know what to do. I knew I’d be labelled as another useless kid and I
just started to cry.”
“If you make a bad mistake, don’t
hate yourself for it. Tell yourself
you can turn things around.”
Harry was cautioned under the Police
Superintendent’s Discretionary Scheme (PSDS)
and came to the HKFYG Youth Support Scheme
for aftercare. He was still very upset and confused
by the time he met the Federation’s caseworker,
but as a result of consistent, caring support he
slowly regained self-esteem. He learned how to
box with the police and was very good at it. He
was good at basketball and running too.
“I was really excited when I found out I was
good at sports. I’d never tried very hard before.
Another thing that made a big difference to me
was realizing that other people needed looking
after. Mum for example. Seems like nobody
looks out for her most of the time.”
Now Harry always seems to have a smile on his
face and shares an extremely close bond with his
mother. She always stood by him and now they
 Identifying needs, targeting problems

really enjoy talking to each other.

“I think if you make a bad mistake, don’t hate yourself for
it. Tell yourself you can turn things around. Keep telling
yourself. Just give it a try. Never give up.”
He also started volunteer work with some handicapped kids.
“They were so hopeless, so helpless. It made me realize
how lucky I really was, and that I could do a lot for them
just by being around. It also helped me back at school
because I could write about it for my OLE. Nobody knows
it all started because I stole that phone.”•
“Keep telling yourself. Just
give it a try. Never give up.”
The HKFYG Youth Support Scheme (YSS) is part of HKFYG’s
core services to youth at risk. It began with support from the Lotteries
Fund in 1994, became a subvented service by October 1998, and was a
territory-wide project by December 2001. Now it provides individual and
group counselling to young people aged 10-18 who have been cautioned
under the Police Superintendent’s Discretionary Scheme, in Kwai Tsing,
Tsuen Wan, Tuen Mun districts and Tung Chung. In 2009/10, YSS handled
a total of 655 cases.
Normally, juvenile offenders regret what they do. Their self-esteem hits
rock bottom. A criminal record would ruin their lives. If they get a second
chance they can make a remarkable turn-around. Most of the cases
dealt with by YSS concern minor offences such as theft, shoplifting, or
common assault. They come to us via the Crisis Assessment Sessions at
Divisional Police Stations. The young offenders are given education and
career counselling and they take part in programmes that improve their
social and interpersonal skills, such as sport and volunteer services which
heighten their sense of purpose and civic awareness.
Web http://www.hkfyg.org.hk/chi/yar/index1a.html

Boxing training organized by the Police’s “Operation Breakthrough” programme for teenagers cautioned under PSDS

Note Other Learning Experiences (OLE), introduced with the new secondary school curriculum and including experiences such as voluntary community work.
All names and some of the circumstances surrounding the people in these stories have been adjusted to protect identities.

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 13

Identifying needs, targeting problems Parent-child mediation

Resolving conflicts
“All happy families resemble one another, each unhappy family is unhappy in its own way.”
Leo Tolstoy

Negotiating the minefield of disagreements between parents and teens is difficult. Adolescence is a time
when rules and expectations at home can escalate into fierce arguments. Professional mediators can teach
communication skills to solve problems at home or avoid worse conflicts, like the one that blew up in the Chan
household. Philippa, a social worker, sets the scene…

Philippa the mediator
Parents tell me about problems with their kids that they can’t
solve. If the child agrees we try to have a dialogue. In this case,
I already knew that the Chans had been living in Tuen Mun
for almost 20 years and that Ah Mui, now 16, had a younger
brother called Ah Wah. First I ask for both points of view.
Mrs Chan to Philippa We didn’t speak to each other for a week
after that, not easy when four of you live in less than 500 square feet.
My husband never gets involved with the kids. All the burden is on me.
I just can’t understand her. Ah Wah doesn’t make me crazy like her.
What kind of future will she have if she doesn’t work hard?

Mrs Chan to Philippa Ah Mui has been staying out all night since
she was 14, sometimes with boyfriends. I don’t like it but I’m more
worried about her homework than anything else.

Once she didn’t come home for two nights. I tried her mobile. She’d
never leave that behind, but I could only leave a voicemail. I was at the
end of my tether. I called the police and reported her missing.

A couple of hours later she turned up. She completely ignored me and
I lost my temper, calling her many things that I feel embarrassed about
now.

Ah Mui to Philippa Dad let me in. Ah Wah was in his pyjamas,

stuffing himself with snacks at the computer as usual. I just walked past
my mother. She just started yelling, calling me a slut and whore. She
never asked where I’d been. Basically she doesn’t trust me. And she only
really loves Ah Wah.

She’s always nagging. “Get off the phone.” “Change your clothes.” “Eat
your food.” It’s never-ending. Ah Wah, a year younger than me, never
gets that. She’s always fussing over him. As for my father, he just shuts
himself off from all of us.

I’d stayed out plenty of times before so why the worry this time? I think
it’s to humiliate me. But I’m 16! I’m not a child! And I’d already finished
my homework, which is the only thing she cares about most of the
time, apart from Ah Wah.

14 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Identifying needs, targeting problems
On the first day of term there was loads of publicity including a circular
about talks by the school social worker. It said she helped parents get
on better with their children. I knew things couldn’t go on the way they
were so I signed up. Of course I did it without talking to Ah Mui. She
would just have said “no”!
Philippa
In fact Ah Mui agreed but before we started I made sure they
knew the basic rules they would have to follow, such as no
bad language and no interrupting. Then, I asked them to focus
on a specific problem to sort out. Ah Mui wanted her mother
to trust her and she wanted to be treated the same way as Ah
Wah. Mrs Chan wanted Ah Mui to concentrate on schoolwork
and take her future more seriously. The next step was to bring
them together and finally, they both agreed to focus on solving
academic problems.
Mrs Chan Ah Mui doesn’t realize how important school is. She
thinks that it’s a waste of time. I have to push her otherwise she spends
all her time on the computer or the phone. That makes her a bad role
model for her young brother.
Ah Mui How do you know how long I spend on homework? You
think I’m using the computer to chat or waste time, never that I’m using
it to do homework. When I phone my friends we don’t just gossip you
know, we’re checking our answers too.
All names and some of the circumstances surrounding the people in these stories have been adjusted to protect identities.
Mrs Chan That’s not the way to do homework! Every time I look
you're messing around instead of working hard! Do you think I am
stupid? You give me no respect and I can see right through you…
Philippa Remember the ground rules! No swearing, no insults.
They calmed down a bit and we continued…
Ah Mui You never get complaints from school do you. The problems are
all in your imagination. I don’t know what you want except to cut off the
internet connection and take my phone. Why can’t you trust me?
Mrs Chan How can I trust you when I don’t know what you’re doing? I
don’t know your friends and I don’t understand how you can do homework
with other people. Homework is homework, just sit down and do it!
They became very hostile and insulting at that point so I invoked
the ground rules again and got them to refocus on the academic
issues again.
Philippa The world has changed since you were at school Mrs. Chan.
Maybe, Ah Mui, you could show your mother what you’re doing online
and introduce her to your friends. Mrs. Chan, I think Ah Mui can be a
responsible girl. As she said, there have been no complaints about her
homework. If both of you give and take a bit more, talk to each other
more, it will help, especially if you don’t think of your mother as an
enemy, Ah Mui.
Ah Mui OK I’ll try, as long as she treats me the same as Ah Wah.
Mrs Chan I’ll try too, if Ah Mui gets some homework done at weekends.
Philippa concluded
Social workers can’t perform miracles and it’s hard to predict
how things will turn out. I think we’ve found a way to lower
the household’s emotional temperature by negotiation. They
both focused on a mutual goal rather than to think only of
themselves and their grievances. Some things are very hard to
change and Mrs Chan does appear to be show more affection
to her son, not uncommon among more traditionally-minded
parents. Now she is aware of it, perhaps it will be easier to treat
the two of them equally.•
HKFYG Parent-child Mediation Centre
When trust breaks down, motivation to communicate can be re-
established through a neutral third party acting as a mediator.
A special centre was set up in 2008 to offer such mediation for
parent-child conflict. It is near the HKFYG Jockey Club Ping Shek
Youth SPOT. Similar services are also offered at five HKFYG Youth
SPOTs as part of the Federation’s efforts to develop mutual respect
and improve parenting skills.
Web http://pcmc.hkfyg.org.hk
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 15
Interview HKFYG Council President

Involved, connected, committed

Dr Peter Tsoi has been working for youth for over 20 years, both in his professional capacity as a specialist in
psychiatry and as a member of HKFYG’s Council. He has now taken on the mantle of President and in the
next few pages we explore his breadth of vision for the Federation. Three new members of the Council also
tell us why they find working with young people so rewarding.

“I see our task having three parts. The first essential is to identify and understand young people’s needs. Second,
we can try to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves, or whose voices are not heard, thus making the
community aware of those needs. Third, we can do pioneer work and steer our services to fill the needs.”

Being sensitive to needs

“For me, working with youth is exciting and fulfilling because of the
development that takes place in the childhood and teenage years.
During the growing-up process so many things are not fixed. You can
really do something to change the course of a young person’s life and
you will be able to see the results for a long time to come.

“It is very important to let people know about all the ways in which
they can contribute to our work with youth, regardless of their age
and background. Once they find out how helpful they can be,
they will certainly do more.

“You can really do something to

change the course of a young
person’s life and see the results
for a long time to come.”

“The strongest influences on a young person are the family

and school. At HKFYG we supplement and facilitate, filling
in gaps in the learning and growing-up process. We can’t
serve all the people in Hong Kong, no matter how big we
become, no matter how comprehensive our services.
What we can do is try to take the lead.

16 Youth Hong Kong December 2010


“An important part of our work is to be pioneers, being sensitive to
the needs of today’s younger generation, trying to keep up to date and
create models that we hope others will follow.
The neglected generation
“People are all the same, no matter when they were born. The difference
comes from the changes in their environment and the influence these
changes have.
“When the territory was preparing itself for the Handover we saw a
lot of panic, doubt and argument. I believe that we forgot to let youth
participate meaningfully then, when everyone else was distracted by
trying to cope with the changes taking place around them.
“Parents were busy making money for an uncertain future. Politicians,
who might now take youth’s views into consideration, were arguing.
The young people were left out. I think the anger we see in some of the
post-80s generation comes from that neglect.
“We can’t serve all the people
in Hong Kong, no matter how
comprehensive our services.
What we can do is try to take the
lead.”
“After the Handover, ideally these young people would have begun
to develop a sense of identity with their country but instead they face
increased competition. At present, the mainland still feels far away
because there is a border between us, but we have to accept that in the
future we will become like any other city in China.
“Gradually, Hong Kong people will adapt and accept this. The
Federation has been doing a lot of work in this area, trying to help
young people learn about their country. Encouraging them to go and
see, to have direct contact with their roots and with what is happening
on the mainland. This will mean they adapt more easily.
Interview
Shaping up for the future
“The way we shape our young people for their future will in turn affect
the shape of our future world. They are the ones who will push forward
development. As I result, I foresee the generation gap getting bigger. To
bridge that gap, to avoid conflict, sooner or later we need young people
to take a bigger hand as policymakers. For that reason, they need to be
equipped to take up responsibility in leadership roles.
“We have to consider the problems of an ageing society very
carefully. Many old people will be depending on young people. Their
responsibilities for the upkeep of seniors will increase and perhaps
become a big burden.
“Furthermore, many young people who were born here but grew up
on the mainland will be back in Hong Kong in 10 years’ time. The
Federation will have to anticipate their needs. Local young people will
inevitably think of them as outsiders so we have to prepare them too,
not just to compete, but to be in harmony and to cooperate.
Message for the future
“Helping young people to develop basic human values will be very
important, especially in the light of mainland immigration and
responsibilities for the elderly. Today, when we think so much about
material gains, such moral values are lacking. We are trying very hard to
educate, to teach practical skills and book learning, but I don’t think we
teach youth enough about fundamental values.
“Remember the Chicken Soup series? It was a bestseller because people
needed to know about the good things people do, not only about
the bad things. There is an element of this in many of the HKFYG’s
programmes, but in the community at large not enough people are
talking about the importance of honesty, integrity, responsibility and
plain hard work. These are the values, once absorbed, that will help
youth in the years to come.”•
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 17
Interview HKFYG Council Members
Listening, communicating, facilitating
Ms Clara Shek, Managing Director at Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide, took up the threads spun by Dr
Tsoi. She explained why she joined the Federation and offered keen insight on the pivotal role played by
parents.
“I decided to help HKFYG because I have two boys aged 5 and 10. I’m
also concerned about alarming issues such as the upward trend in youth
drug abuse and suicide. I think the broader community should pull
together to try to find resolutions.
“We need to find the missing
link between parents and their
kids.”
“We at HKFYG not only need to connect with youth,
we need to find the missing link between parents and
their kids. Sometimes kids seem to lack love or feel they
are not being heard or understood. If parents don’t
listen, young people will look for other ways to express
themselves, and sometimes they will be with illusion
that drugs or gangs. I believe that many kids actually
feel lost and have the illusion that drugs give them an
escape route.
Knowing what you don’t
know
“Work ethics in Hong Kong mean people
are so busy making a living that they
have little time to listen to their kids. In
paternalistic, traditional Chinese culture,
parents rarely express their love for the
kids. In that kind of environment, how
will a child ever gain confidence? I think
we need to enable parents to be better
communicators, for their kids’ sakes.
“Take me, for example, I thought that
as someone from the communications
industry, I should be doing a fine job.
Then last year I went to a programme
called Landmark Forum and found out
about what I didn’t know.
“It was a transformative experience that
made me see clearly how fundamentally
important our relationships with
parents are, and how they shaped my
relationship with my kids. I didn’t realize
18 Youth Hong Kong December 2010
that I’ve been on a kids-on-demand mode, interacting with my kids only
when I wanted them, not when they needed me. I’m as busy as before,
but the way I relate to my kids at home now has changed. If parents
and marginal, problem kids could only go through a programme like
that it could change their lives. It would remove barriers.
Perhaps this is an opportunity for a sponsored
Federation pilot project.
“I think of HKFYG as
a facilitator that can
enable kids to reach
their best.”
Putting the issues on the
radar
“Well-intentioned parents seek ways to
improve their parenting skills, others may need
something like a Parents 101 course, something
to put the issues firmly on the radar. When kids
are old enough, like my 10 year-old, they already
have an idea about what’s going on in the world.
They are starting to be more assertive. Good
parent-child communications at this stage can
prevent problems later.
“An example from our home is that we have
no PlayStation or online games. Computer
use is limited. My 10 year-old asks before
he uses the computer and the maximum is
30 minutes. He understands the rules and
is responsible for keeping them. I want
kids to figure out their own form of play,
in the park, in the playground. Giving them
too many things could deny them their own
creativity. Instead, just give them a blank piece
of paper, a pencil, and an entirely empty room.
They will create their own amusement.
Facilitating, enabling, lifting
“I don’t think HKFYG’s role should be ‘helping’
youth. Calling it ‘help’ actually places them in a
weak spot which could create resistance. Instead, I
 Interview

think of HKFYG as a facilitator that can enable kids to reach their best.
We can try doing this by being more edgy too, pushing the envelope,
getting kids to really connect with each other face to face, instead of
sitting at the computer for 5 to 6 hours
a day.
“The goal of HKFYG is to lift up every young person. If that person
is already doing well, it will enable them to become a leader. If they are
vulnerable, on the margins of society, it will bring them back on track.
This process can make it possible for young people to see their own
strengths, recognizing early in life their own inner strength and beauty.
That’s what we can facilitate.”•

Seeing two sides of cyberspace

Dr Hubert Chan also joined HKFYG’s Council this year. He is Chairman of the Communications Association
of Hong Kong, HKC International Holdings Ltd, and the father of two teenage boys. He shared his views of
youth services from both professional and personal perspectives, reflecting on how cyberspace has become part
of reality.

“My reasons for joining the “A parent’s role is

Federation are connected to my to make sure the
work in the field of information and children are aware
communications technology (ICT). of both the good
The average youngster spends so and the risky sides
much time on the computer nowadays, of cyberspace.”
more time even than in front of the
TV. Let’s face it, cyberspace is not going “The trouble is that young people
away. I want to help both the community can be suffocated by information
and families make it a more secure overload, especially when it is combined
environment. with pressure to succeed. Although I
believe that education helps a great deal,
“A parent’s role is to make sure the exposure is also crucial to give them
children are aware of both the good and perspective. Every couple of
the risky sides of cyberspace, recognizing years, I go to less developed
its temptations and traps while making good parts of the world with my
use of the huge resources it offers. All of these wife and two sons. Together we
have changed our world enormously. see the world as it really is. We
join a group of other families
Multifaceted roles and have been to several poor
“The role of the Federation in cyberspace is areas in China, some of which are
multifaceted. One example is the annual event with served by World Vision projects, for
HKFYG as part of the World Telecom Information example.
Society (WTISD) campaign. This has elements of
both internet education and a career forum. In “This is a very good experience
today’s world, with so much choice, choosing a for my two sons who are 16 and
career is difficult, but education and information 17 years old. They see the effects
are still the keys, and cyberspace itself is a way of of the poverty gap, especially on
becoming aware of opportunities, in education and the mainland where there is such
at work. great diversity. In the face of this

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 19

Interview HKFYG Council Members
inequality, and given the problems caused by poverty in Hong Kong, we
need to show young people how to discover their individual strengths,
especially if they come from disadvantaged backgrounds.
“Building connectivity, within
the community and across the
generations is one of the best ways
to use of cyberspace.”
“Children need exposure to a large range of activities and opportunities.
Then they will find out what they are good at and where their creativity
lies. Take my younger son as an example. At school he is not good at
maths. Visuo-spatial memory and strategic thinking are his forte. They
come out in how he plays chess. He won the Hong Kong Open chess
championship last year at the age of 15 because he can memorize all the
moves in a game and play chess in his mind. We found this out simply
by playing the game together.
Getting involved: a dose of reality
Dr Allen Fung, Managing Partner of McKinsey & Company, talked about establishing his connection with
the Federation through a programme for young entrepreneurs. He also echoes the other members of Council,
summing up views on parents, communication, exposure and cyberspace.
“My introduction to the Federation’s work was overwhelming, a really
emotional experience for me. I was a judge at the launch of a new
programme called Youth Business Hong Kong (YBHK, see pages 27-
29) which helps young entrepreneurs competing for start-up seed funds.
The winners of the competition have mentors to help them build
networks, and I was one of them. The dedication and passion of those
young people were awesome. To me, they represented the spirit of
Hong Kong.
“I realized that being a mentor is not only useful to the mentee but also
to the mentor. It gives you a dose of reality, especially if you are a senior
manager in a big corporation. You see how to drive things with very
little. In your own work you have access to a wide range of resources,
but your mentee may have practically nothing.
Alive and kicking
“The entrepreneurial spirit is alive and kicking here but we need more
proactive measures to promote it. Basic skills have to be nurtured,
20 Youth Hong Kong December 2010
Stimulating creativity, building connectivity
“That’s where parents come in. Instead of having over-expectations
about academic abilities, parents are in a perfect position to recognize
and stimulate their children’s creativity. Family gatherings and trips
provide an ideal opportunity for this to happen, although I have to
confess that a trip I arranged for my family to the Shanghai Expo nearly
foundered because the boys said they had already been there… online!
“In the future, I can see the work HKFYG already does in ICT being
consolidated and strengthened, with more internet education and internet
counselling (see pages 36-37), reaching both the hidden children of the
cyber world, and the ones deprived of access to that digital world.
“Building connectivity, within the community and across the generations
is one of the best ways to use of cyberspace: for connections with
parents, friends and teachers. Given my experience and background
in ICT, I hope I can be of value to the Federation in helping those
stakeholders see the good it can bring.”•
like handling spreadsheets for finances. Lack of skills such as these
undermine underlying raw passion. This is where mentorship is so
important.
“The dedication and passion of
those young people were awesome.
To me, they represent the spirit of
Hong Kong.”
“Anyone who has been to one of those YBHK competitions will be
aware and convinced of this. More mentors with local entrepreneurial
experience of our competitive world themselves, who founded their
own businesses, would be so valuable. People like that understand what
it’s like to take risks.
 Interview

“Competitiveness can be a good thing but it needs to be balanced
with teamwork. Hong Kong youngsters need to be assertive, but they
also have to work out their own style. Some might see an influx of
competition from the mainland as a threat but I think new talent can
be a good thing. It will change the dynamics, creating opportunities and
exposure for everyone. This will raise our game.
A sense of purpose
“Take our disadvantaged kids for example. As long as you don’t measure
them in a single narrow dimension – how well you do in school – you
can give them a sense of purpose. We need to get them to participate in
areas like music or sport, areas where they might excel with pride.
“How do we create alternative paths like this? How do we create
windows through which to grasp those opportunities? I think
supportive parents are very important. If we create more activities that
parents approve of, then kids will participate more and more.
“Being a mentor is not only useful
to the mentee but also to the
mentor. It gives you a dose of
reality.”
have more exposure points. Not just at school but in a variety of
situations, interacting with people from different social strata, in
different contexts with which they are not entirely familiar, and not
entirely comfortable.
“For me, it was the experience of going abroad to study at Brown
University. That placed me in a very different environment. It was tough
to begin with and I had to learn how to handle so many new situations.
For kids who can’t afford to go abroad, it’s so important to give them
exposure. It will lift them up, show them they are able to succeed, help
avoid demoralization and build self-confidence.
Get involved
“That brings me back to mentorship and how the community can work
with HKFYG. Mentorship brings confidence. It helps youth cope with
pressure, and prevents them feeling like failures. That’s why it is so
worthwhile getting involved. Even if you can only spare one afternoon
a month. It will make such a big difference, whether you are a mentor
or give a hand in the youth centres. Just get involved once. You will
want to do it more.”•

Parents, social skills and the virtual world

“One trend I’m very concerned about is the loss of social skills,
especially the sort that come with meaningful, direct contact between
the generations. Young people live more and more in a virtual
world. They lack face-to-face communication. Instead they do
social networking online. Many of my friends who are parents are
challenged by the new media, yet that’s the social world of the young.

“The Federation can do a lot in this area and once parents

have a taste of what’s on offer they will come back
for more. Whether you like it or not, the virtual
world is here to stay and despite its resident
risks parents can use it as a channel for
communication.

Challenge, exposure and

confidence
“Communication is linked to another
key factor: exposure to different
environments. Kids gain confidence
in their own abilities if they

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 21

Identifying needs, targeting problems Counselling

Close to the edge

Many young people feel depressed or sad about sometimes, about confusing events in their lives, rebelling
against parental control or overly influenced by friends and classmates, desperate to fit in and plagued by the
stress of conflicting emotional needs. These are fleeting problems for many. Some suffer far more.

They include people with bipolar disorder, sometimes called manic depression. It causes serious mood swings,
shifts in energy levels and erratic judgment. It means phases of intense creativity and euphoria alternating with
depressive phases, a sense of worthlessness, sometimes thoughts about death.

Triggers can be failure at school or work, or losing someone they love. The depression can spiral then out of
control. This is the story of May, who has bipolar disorder and now in her early 20s, told by her closest friend,
who helped her through a suicide attempt.

I met May when we were 15 and “May called me

both members of the school rock and said it was
band. I played drums. May was all her fault, that
lead singer. I used to envy her she couldn’t
looks and her voice. Such a great bear the guilt
figure. Such a cool style. Such and pain, that
confidence and energy. Or so it she wanted to
seemed. die.”

She was always talking about

how making it big in pop music She said her father was an
as soon as she left school. She alcoholic and a manic depressive,
almost seemed to be bragging. But that her older brother was on
then one night on our way home drugs and very unpredictable.
after there had been an argument She had tried Ecstasy once too
with the band’s leader, she burst but it made her feel worse. For a
into tears. She told me she hated couple of weeks she was in low
herself, that nobody liked her, spirits when she was with me, but
that life was hopeless. It was a she made an effort to disguise
confusing shock to me to begin her real feelings when we were
with, but the fact she told me with others. She sometimes got
meant she trusted me. I wanted to irritable or angry with me for no
help. May is a very special person. real reason, but I put up with it.

22 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Identifying needs, targeting problems

“Being focused seems to help.

So does success. But May is still
bipolar. They say it never goes
away.”

Then one day her brother got killed in a motorbike accident. I

didn’t know all the details. May called me and said it was all her
fault, that she couldn’t bear the guilt and pain, that she wanted to
die. I believed her and called her parents and the police.
They found her on a ledge outside her bedroom. It took a while
but they persuaded her to come back inside and convinced her that
she needed a psychiatrist. He diagnosed bipolar disorder, gave her
medication and a contact at HKFYG with professional training for
when she needed someone to talk to.

That was nearly a year ago. Since then May has become very
Photo by Eeppeliteloop (Wikimedia Commons)

focused on putting a new indie band together. She's often very

excitable but they’ve taken off in a big way. Being focused seems to
help. So does the success. But May is still bipolar. They say it never
goes away.

Whenever she feels low she still calls me even though we’ve both
left school now. She sometimes says really hurtful things. It used to
make me think I couldn’t help her, but over time I’ve got used to
it. She doesn’t mean it. I know that deep down. But it sometimes
hard to bear and I’m glad there’s a professional to share the load. May - now focused on her new indie band
The HKFYG counsellor reminds her of her strengths, like I do,
of her special talents and gifts for holding an audience spellbound “Such confidence and energy. Or
with a song.• so it seemed…”

The HKFYG counsellor still keeps in touch with May although they’ve never met. MSN works well. It’s fast enough to be spontaneous but
gives just enough space to stop and think. Web-based counselling, via MSN and blogs, is a new initiative at the Federation. See pages 36-
37 for information.

All names and some of the circumstances surrounding the people in these stories have been adjusted to protect identities.

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 23

Identifying needs, targeting problems
Special needs, special strategies
The Student Guidance Team at HKFYG deals with children who have emotional or psychological problems. It
also helps families who have difficulty bringing up primary school-age children. Here, a mother tells how Kelly,
a member of the Team, helped her autistic son, Fred.
“I’ve been terribly worried about Fred ever since he was little. When he
was diagnosed as an autistic I felt quite unable to cope. That was in his
first year at school. His behaviour seemed to get worse and worse, not
only at school but at home too. The teachers couldn’t handle him and I
had to get him into another school. I was practically in despair.
“He’s always been clever but sort of inward-looking. He desperately
needs security. If anything unusual or unexpected happens he gets
unpredictable. The teachers have told me he sometimes gets up,
pushes his desk over with a crash and runs out into the street, scaring
everybody, just because he got an answer wrong.
“Sometimes he’ll throw things at
them, or fling himself on the floor if
they aren’t nice to him.”
“He doesn’t seem to care what the other kids at school think of him.
Sometimes he’ll throw things at them, or fling himself on the floor if
they aren’t nice to him. The last time that happened, the teacher got
Kelly to come along to help. Kelly is a social worker from the HKFYG
Student Guidance Team. I don’t know what I would have done without her.
Before Kelly
Fred
After Kelly
24 Youth Hong Kong December 2010
Primary school counselling
“She told Fred stories about how to behave properly at school and
helped him imagine himself in those situations. Sort of role-playing in
his mind. Then the two of them would act out some situations so he
could practice what he needed to do and say. Sometimes she asked him
to play the teacher while she pretended to be the kid – he really enjoyed
that! I never thought it would work but I was wrong.
“Fred practised step-by-step with Kelly. She put cartoon stickers on the
floor to show him where to queue up. She took photos to remind him
where to go. Those clear instructions and Kelly’s patience reassured him
so he learned from her.
“She tried slogans too and that helped a bit. When he got the wrong
answer in class Kelly told him to recite to himself ‘An answer can be
right or wrong. Don’t give up, just try again.’ The message sank in. Bit
by bit he had fewer and fewer tantrums.
“Of course lots of teachers haven’t met special-needs kids like Fred.
You know, they didn’t seem to understand that he genuinely couldn’t
help himself. Kelly told me I should try not to get emotional when Fred
acts up at home. She also said all the adults in his life need to respond
consistently so that he gets very clear messages about what’s acceptable
and what isn’t. It’s really important to praise him when he does well, not
Fred's classmates
Fred and friends
 Identifying needs, targeting problems

just scold him when he is naughty. I noticed a real difference when I and maths. You can be good in class too!’ They seem more tolerant
began to do that. of him, partly because he’s so good at some things they find hard, like
maths. He will help them when they get stuck and they appreciate that.

“They seem more tolerant of him, “Fred is eleven now and I can’t help but wonder how it’ll be for him
partly because he’s so good at when he’s at secondary school. Kelly told the school social worker at
some things they find hard, like the new school about him and his difficulties and we all went to visit
maths.” the school. His new teacher seems very kind and welcoming and he met
the school social worker too. I still feel quite apprehensive but I’m much
better able to face it than I used to be. The Federation is opening a
“I’ve learned so much from Kelly. Fred no longer runs out of the class Student Support Centre in Tai Kok Tsui for students with special needs,
when he gets upset and his classmates know what he’s like now. When like Fred. I know we’ll be able to go there if we need to. That makes me
he gets emotional they say things like, ‘Hey, you’re so good at English feel better. But we’ll miss Kelly.”•

Counselling at HKFYG
Counselling offered by the Federation includes Youthline 2777 8899, MSN and hotlines. These have been supplemented recently by
the Web Positive Online Outreach Counselling Service which is mentioned in the story about May, pages 22-23, and in the new section
Internetscope, pages 36-37. The Student Guidance Team has worked with primary pupils since 2002. For more information about the
Student Support Centre and how school social workers offer their support, see Youth Hong Kong September 2010.

Email ycs@hkfyg.org.hk

Turning monsters into kittens

Children who are different always suffer from being on the edge of the crowd. They handle it in different ways
depending on the individual. In this second case of guidance by a school social worker, a talented mainland girl
called Ching finds self-expression and fulfilment through drawing. The social worker explains.

“I’ve been working as a primary school social worker with HKFYG
for about 8 years now. That’s how I met Ching. She was living with her
father who was over sixty and had heart disease. They didn’t seem very
close and Ching said he was often nasty to her, but I never actually
met him. Her mother had already left Hong Kong to go back to the
mainland.
“The other kids made fun of Ching. She got her accent from her
mainland mum and it sounded so funny to them. You know how
children tease. Unfortunately, Ching was also rather big for her age
compared to local children. Maybe that’s why she seemed so clumsy,
always tripping over things.
“Some kids were really horrid and called her a monster. She was
obviously unhappy but seemed bad-tempered on the surface. Her
teachers said she was badly behaved, always quarrelling. She got into a
nasty fight one day so the teachers sent her to me.
“Her fingers were covered in ink
and she really did look a bit of a
mess.”
“She was uncommunicative to begin with. I tried to get hold of her
father but had no luck so I hinted gently to Ching that we would look
for a way to help her make friends. She looked grumpy and shuffled her
feet. Her fingers were covered in ink and she really did look a bit of a
mess.

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 25

 Identifying needs, targeting problems
“I wasn’t sure I was getting through to her, but one day I noticed her
doodling. It turned out that drawing was her favourite pastime. That’s
where all the ink came from. She liked to draw large, violent-looking,
creatures in vivid comic strips. As she got older so she got more and
more skilful and I gave her a big sketch book.
“By then she was in P4. When the book was full and I gave her another,
and another, and another. By the time she left the school she had over
20 collections of comic strips, all original, all creative, each with a
special creature from her own imagination as the main character.
“Bit by bit, as she gained confidence in me she told me why she loved
drawing large creatures. ‘Drawing those nasty looking animals makes
me feel stronger,’ she said, ‘but I still want my stories to have happy
endings. I dream that the stories take place at home.’
“I tried to think of a way into this girl’s imagination and suggested that
she might draw smaller animals that looked less scary. That she might
create a comic strip with less conflict and fighting.
“Well, it worked. Gradually Ching’s scrap books had more and more
rather domestic-looking animals. She started showing them to her
Image by aaipodics (Flickr/Creative Commons)
All names and some of the circumstances surrounding the people in these stories have been adjusted to protect identities.
26 Youth Hong Kong December 2010
Primary school counselling
classmates who were astonished. They started to look up to her. None
of them had talent like that.
“By the time she left primary school, Ching was much better-tempered.
She had quite a following and the teacher put her comic strips on the
walls from time to time. Some were totally fantastic, but always well-
crafted and sometimes rather funny.
“I wasn’t sure I was getting through
to her, but one day I noticed her
doodling.”
“Being accepted by the others had a marked effect on her. She calmed
down, rarely got cross, and as she grew taller she grew slimmer. She still
towers over the others and hasn’t totally lost her accent, but Ching is
clearly going places. Maybe she’ll be a cartoonist or a film animator one
day. The last I heard of her she was saving up for graphics software.”•
 Youth entrepreneurship Identifying needs, targeting problems

Think sustainable
Alex Tam and Felix Chung, both in their early 30s, run Ecosage, an award-winning recycling company
supported by HKFYG’s Youth Business Hong Kong (YBHK). Alex tells how it all started, and where they’ve
got to so far. “When we first met in the 1990s we were classic young white-collar workers, giving other people
orders and earning regular salaries. We had no idea that soon we would be getting our hands dirty, but we did
realize that it was time for a rethink.”

“We handle 300 tonnes of recycling each month”

A business in recycling was Felix’s idea. I must admit I didn’t take to it
right away. Me? Handling other people’s rubbish? Funnily enough, it
was actually an old newspaper that got us going. Felix was eating dinner
in a restaurant when he saw an advertisement for YBHK in a newspaper
somebody left behind.
We put in an application. Just getting our business proposal organized
helped our ideas gel. We both wanted to do something friendly for the
environment and the government was already talking about user-pays
levies for waste collection back then.

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 27

Identifying needs, targeting problems Youth entrepreneurship

We had about HK$300,000 in savings but still lacked motivation.
Getting YBHK start-up funds of another HK$80,000 gave us the vital
first push. Then our business mentor, an entrepreneur himself, helped
us build a network. That made us move faster and faster.
But it was tough to begin with. I used to load the rubbish compactor
myself, working alone, late at night at Ngau Tau Kok. It was hard,
physical labour and I wasn’t used to it. But that was not the hardest
thing. It was facing change all the time, thinking of how to serve
customers and make money from them while giving satisfaction. This
was so challenging.
You can never relax. There is no spare time, ever, no weekends, no
girlfriends. But my life is full, full of work! My parents are always telling
me I should rest but my dad was a cab driver. He worked 7 days a week
too. My mum says it’s time I got married and had children. But I’m only
32. There’s still time.
Kwai Fong depot. The rag-pickers are outside the welfare net and they
need support, even though many won’t admit it.
I plucked up courage to talk to one of those old ladies after she’d been
coming to the depot for months. They can be quite daunting! She
said she couldn’t get CSSA because she had $30,000 in the bank. She’s
worked for 30 years and resents the fact that her savings mean she can’t
get any welfare payments, and I don’t blame her.
“The hardest thing [was] facing
change all the time, thinking of
how to serve customers and make
money from them while giving
satisfaction.”

It took a year and a half to break even, as we forecast in our business

plan. It sounds good, but progress then slowed down as the economy
nose-dived in 2008. Nevertheless, in 2009 we opened our second
recycling depot in Kwai Fong. You need courage to start up a new
business.

“Funnily enough, it was actually

an old newspaper that got us
going… Felix was eating dinner in
a restaurant when he saw an ad
for YBHK in a paper somebody left
behind.”

Back then we were really idealistic. Our dream was to open recycling
shops on every street corner, like 7-11 stores. YBHK advised us to
compile a new business plan. In the end we changed our minds and our
new idea is to collect electronic waste, like old computers and phones
instead of household waste. The world is changing, changing fast. Soon
there will be less waste paper but we can see no end in sight for old
electronic gadgets.

YBHK put us in touch with McKinsey and they helped us to refine

the plan. That’s when we realized we needed more money. We want to
set up a plant which will give us much higher bargaining power with a
potential investor. That means we need a bank loan, but our financial
situation isn’t bad and our success record is pretty good so far. Our
turnover is HK$3 million a year and we handle 300 tonnes of recycling
each month.

We also run a community outreach programme as part of our business

model. It draws in housewives and students, rag-pickers and cardboard
collectors. We have a social worker from St. James Settlement at the

Alex at the YBI awards ceremony in Mexico City in September 2010

28 Youth Hong Kong December 2010


Then I asked an old man of about 70 if he was happy. He said he was
still healthy and had a roof over his head so he could earn money by
bringing in empty cans through his own efforts. It meant he didn’t need
to ask for government handouts or beg. So yes, he was happy. Can you
imagine that?
Young Hong Kong people have been told for ten years now that
wastefulness is bad and recycling is good. Does it make any difference?
No. They are lazy. There are no laws that say they must, and there are
no financial incentives. So, being Chinese they think it’s unnecessary.
They are full of excuses: no time, no room to keep all that rubbish, no
energy to take it to a collection centre.
Actually the most environmentally friendly generation is not young
but old. The ones who know what it’s like to do without. Everything is
precious to them. The middle-aged are affluent now and young people
are used to plenty of everything. If you could present them with a
profit-making scheme, perhaps it might be
different!
“Back then we were
really idealistic. Our
dream was to open
recycling shops on
every street corner…”
I think a user-pays system will work in Hong
Kong. In Taiwan and Japan it’s already
happening. In Japan it’s part of the culture.
In Taiwan it’s a government initiative and is
considered big business. Public participation
there is very high. Here we make double the
rubbish we made 20 years ago. Hong Kong
comes top for creating rubbish.
“Actually the most
environmentally
friendly generation is
not young but old. The
ones who know what
it’s like to do without.”
If people really got into the habit of
recycling it would be like brushing your teeth.
If you don’t do it you feel bad. Some people
are already like that, but not many. So when
kids bring old newspapers we give them
HK$1 for 1kg. It’s pocket money and an
Identifying needs, targeting problems
incentive. Some housewives feel embarrassed when they first come. We
have to tell them it’s good for the world. Now some of them bring their
children too. It’s a start.
Our ultimate goal is to have Ecosage listed on the stock exchange. In
the meantime, we achieved one goal already. That was winning the YBI
Award for the Environmental Entrepreneur of the Year. It really was a
dream come true, just to get that recognition.
“If people really got into the
habit of recycling it would be like
brushing your teeth. If you don’t do
it you feel bad.”
The advice I would give to any idealistic young
entrepreneur is to be well-prepared. Then, when you
think you are ready, just go ahead, never wait. Use 15
0% effort to reach your goal.•
Youth Business Hong Kong (YBHK)
Since 2005, HKFYG’s Youth Business Hong Kong (YBHK) has
supported 93 young entrepreneurs. It provides mentors who
motivate and help build networks. First comes the planning
stage, essential for sound decision-making. Next is the
acquisition of skills and contacts to put the plan into action. Third,
entrepreneurs learn marketing skills and build on the drive and
enthusiasm to see their plan through to fruition.
Over HK$5.2m in seed funding has been allocated by YBHK
and over two-thirds of the start-ups have been successful.
Adequate funding and the support of mentors are crucial, but
coping with setbacks and failure are often equally important
to maintain momentum. Fundamentally, entrepreneurship
requires imagination, perseverance and courage. YBHK
provides the back-up.
For more details, contact Miranda Wong at YBHK, tel 3113
7999 or visit http://ybhk.hkfyg.org.hk.
Note The YBI Award for the Environmental Entrepreneur of the Year was given
by the Prince's Youth Business International. Ecosage was the winner
among all contestants from 36 countries in the YBI network.
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 29
Identifying needs, targeting problems Youth SPOT project

Saving up for future needs

“They always say that time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourselves.”
Andy Warhol

Background
The lives of 120 teenagers in the New
Territories West are changing as a result of
the HKFYG’s Prudential Assurance Co Ltd
Fly High with Us Young Savers Scheme. They
benefit from matching savings and corporate
volunteers act as their mentors, teaching life
skills including financial literacy. One of the
teenagers explained how she had changed as a
result of taking part.

Win-win situation
“I heard about it during assembly and told my
Mum. She thought it was a great idea. She’s
always saying it’s good to save but I don’t get
pocket money so I need to work out ways to
help myself. With this scheme Mum and Dad
put aside $200 each month for me from the
household budget because of the incentives.

“For every $200 I save, the Prudential puts

the same amount in my bank account.
When I have been saving for two years, the
government will add $3,000 to the total. By
next year I will have $12,600 in my account.
That’s win-win! But the point is not just to
save money. It’s to get us thinking about the
future, about making plans, and about making
changes for the better.

Growing pragmatism and

independence
“I’m 16 now and this savings scheme has
taught me to think about how to spend what I
save as well as learn a bit about independence. Saving to afford piano lessons
I’ll probably have to save to pay for my
university fees and I’m learning how to make “I started to play the piano when I was 7 a qualified teacher. Then think how much I
that feasible, but I would also love to have when both my mum and my dad were working could earn. Actually, it seems that not having
more piano lessons. They cost about $300 an and I had hoped to be at diploma level in a enough money is the greatest obstacle to
hour and that’s far too expensive. year or two. If I had managed that, I could be realizing your dreams.

30 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Identifying needs, targeting problems

Reciprocity and good manners

“My mentor on the scheme teaches me good money habits and lots of
other things too. She’s a manager at the insurance company and we’re in
touch on Facebook and on the phone. She talks about what’s going on
at HKFYG, and how I might use my savings eventually.

“The point is not just to save

money. It’s to get us thinking about
the future, about making plans,
and about making changes for the
better.”

“She also taught me how to relax with new people and introduced me
to table manners. Manners are often a matter personal image as well as
politeness. I was once very late for a meeting with her because I’d been
at a class that went on much too long. I didn’t call her to say I’d be late
and she was quite upset with me. Photo by alancleaver_2000 (Flickr/Creative Commons)

“She said I should treat others as I would have them treat me and she
showed me by example. She set up a Facebook account just to chat with
me and now we have something else in common. That also made me
realize that when I meet people I just need to find a subject we’re both
interested in and that will make it easier to get to know each other.

Distinguishing wants from needs

“I once asked her about the gap between the rich and the poor and
she said it was a matter of attitude. Nobody likes rich people who
show off, but some of the rich do help the poor. There’s no point
being pessimistic about how much money you have or haven’t got.
The poverty gap might even give some people motivation to improve
their own lives. If you already have everything it can make you lazy and Supported saving
wasteful. The Prudential Assurance Co Ltd Fly High with Us Scheme is
partnered by HKFYG and the government’s Child Development
Fund. The fundamental concept is planning for life and for
careers, with young people saving to prepare for their future.
“The poverty gap might even give They learn to understand themselves better, think positively and
some people motivation to improve set goals and objectives. They also devise a practical personal
their own lives. If you already have development plan. When the period of supported savings ends,
everything it can make you lazy participants may use the funds to develop skills in sports or the
and wasteful.” arts, to take part in vocational training, exchange programmes
or leadership training. Supportive parents and mentors play an
integral role.
“This scheme has given me motivation of many kinds, not just to save
but to change my attitude. I know there are many people in Hong Kong The scheme is a 3-year project run in collaboration with
who are poorer than me, like those who live in cages, and I really don’t HKFYG Youth Spots in Kin Sang, Tsuen Wan, Tsuen King and
know how to help them. Still, I don’t envy the big spenders and I don’t Kwai Fong. Apart from savings and one-to-one mentorship,
hanker after special ice cream or designer labels. A gap between rich and the scheme offers workshops in time management, personal
poor is inevitable. I’m content to try to make it smaller. At least I now finance, career and study planning, with both games and
know the difference between wants and needs.”• discussion groups. Voluntary work with the elderly, photography,
and team-building are other activities.

Visit http://www.hkfyg.org.hk

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 31

 Identifying needs, targeting problems Addictive behaviour

Escape from reality

Keung is a rather defiant-looking 17 year-old. He always used to shine at school, quite the teacher’s pet. He used
to feel in control, of his life and of his destiny, but all of a sudden he wasn’t all popular any more. Maybe he
was too clever. His parents and teachers praised him, but nobody in class seemed to like him. He felt pulled in
two directions and wanted to escape. Eventually, a Federation counseller understood him.

Keung retreated. Isolated by former friends, withdrawn from his family.
At night he wasn’t interested in homework. Instead, he played online
games, for hour after hour, refusing to eat anything other than snacks.
He often played on well past midnight after his parents had gone to
bed. Then he felt in control again.
What had happened? He had found an alternative world. A virtual
world, where he won all the battles and all the girls. He was in control.
He could escape there whenever he liked.
“That’s when I started skipping at classes. I couldn’t
stop playing if I wanted to keep winning, could I?”
Keung was hooked. His teacher realized something was going badly
wrong and kept him in the classroom after school to do his homework.
His parents were contacted. All this just provoked the rebel in him
Photos by blossomsK, Ramon Snellink, juanpol (Flickr/Creative Commons)
especially when his dad cut his computer’s internet connection. What
did Keung do? He went out to a mong ba (internet café) and stayed out
all night. Somewhere neither his teacher nor his parents could judge
him.
That was just the beginning. Sometimes, several days could go by when
he wasn’t seen at home at all. His family only knew he’d been back
because food disappeared from the fridge. He’d just call to say he was
OK and happy playing online games. His father and sister tried to stop
him.
His mother was afraid of making things worse but when his dad tried
physical force, that made Keung really mad. He lost his temper and flew
at him, then at his sister, hurting her so badly they called the police.
That was last year. He was cautioned and taken into the care of the
Police Superintendent’s Discretionary Scheme.

32 Youth Hong Kong December 2010


Keung was referred to the HKFYG
NetWise Support Centre for Families
and then to the Youth Wellness Centre.
A young counsellor called Anna talked
to him. By this time he was repeating S3
because he’d done so badly at school.
Anna didn’t try to stop him using the
computer as his family had. Instead she
chatted about online games. She played
them too and knew what fun they were.
But why they were so important to Keung?
Was it an escape from pressure: parents,
peers, teachers?
“OK, so the graphics are cool,
but what else do you get out of
playing online?” asked Anna. “Does it make you feel
proud when you beat someone in World of Warcraft?
Didn’t it feel the same when you beat all the others in
your class?”
Bit by bit, Anna helped Keung set up real-life goals. The first step was
to do well enough academically to move up to S4. Anna helped him
create a revision timetable and Keung kept to it, cutting his time online
after school from 4 to 2 hours a day. He got less scolding from his
parents and better results. Gradually he won back the respect of his
teachers and the friendship of his classmates. Approval of his parents
followed.
Identifying needs, targeting problems
Now, he no longer skips classes or stays
out at internet cafés till midnight. He feels
much more in control of his own life, but
he also understands himself better. The
crucial person was Anna. Unlike him, she
was content in the real world, but she also
saw what tempted him back, again and
again, to escape to that virtual world of
online games which felt so real.
In that other world he held all the trump
cards and chose all the moves. He was in
control, not subject to seemingly arbitrary,
adult decisions. Now he still recognizes
the temptations that took him online all
the time but his mindset has changed. He
sees that even in the real world nobody has
total control and that it’s up to him the take charge of his own, real, life
again.•
“I got into S4 this year. In fact I was in the top three
for maths. My folks are so pleased. That helped me
realize I can let online games go and live in the real
world again. Still, I recognize there’s often a very thin
line for me between reality and online virtuality.”
Findings of a 2006 study conducted by The Chinese University
of Hong Kong showed that an estimated 230,000 young
internet users were at risk of addiction disorders. In research
conducted by HKFYG in 2007, 3,586 P.5 to F.3 students were
interviewed. 5.4% of them were problem internet users and
15.7% were at risk of becoming compulsive users.
In August 2009, ReSTART, a residential treatment center for
people with "pathological computer use", sometimes known
as Internet addictive Disorder (IAD) opened near Seattle
in the US. Families in China have turned to unlicensed
training camps that claim to wean teenage children off the
internet. Last year, the mainland government banned physical
punishment to stop teens from overusing the internet. Electro-
shock therapy had already been banned. See Youth Hong
Kong June 2009 for more information.
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 33
 Identifying needs, targeting problems Addictive behaviour

The NetWise Support Centre for HKFYG Youth Wellness Centre

Families The HKFYG Youth Wellness Centre, a 3-year pilot project in Tuen Mun, is a
This Centre was set up with support from collaborative initiative with the Hospital Authority (New Territories West Cluster) and
government in 2009. It provides a one-stop service will probably start offering services by mid-to-end of November 2010. It is run by a
to familie. It helps those worried about safety online multi-disciplinary team including a psychiatrist, a clinical psychologist, social workers
or concerned about possible addiction, online and a psychiatric nurse, offering one-stop clinical assessment and treatment to
friendships with strangers, cyber-bullying, online young people aged 10-30 who suffer from symptoms associated with drug addition,
pornography or copyright piracy. Trained Internet problematic gambling, alcoholism, smoking and internet addiction. It advocates the
Ambassadors help promulgate the message about concept of wellness and healthy living through educational programmes organized in
staying safe online and the Be NetWise Parents schools and communities. A gambling treatment centre was run by HKFYG in Tuen
Handbook provides guidelines for use at home. Mun from 2007-2009 with support from the Ping Wo Fund.

Web http://benetwise.hk Email ywc@hkfyg.org.hk

Future at stake
Most people never get rich or powerful but society rewards those who do, and wanting a lot of money is
considered perfectly normal. That’s where the appeal of gambling lies. For some gamblers, it’s a land of make-
believe too. The HKFYG Youth Wellness Centre will help bring the real world back into focus.
Shine 2010 - 2010 World Cup good news (Flickr/Creative Commons)
Photos by Lisa Kong (About.com: Addictions),

Problematic gamblers served by HKFYG Youth Wellness Centre

34 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Identifying needs, targeting problems
Wesley, a 26-year-old engineering graduate, spends time with friends
these days when he’s not teaching. It wasn’t always like that. He has
been dealing with a gambling problem ever since he went to university.
“I live with Dad and my little sister, but for years,
rather than chat with them I watched football on TV.
Then I found out about online betting.”
To begin with, his online soccer winnings more than covered his bets.
But he gradually increased his bets, believing more and more that he
could guess the results accurately, feeling proud of his wins and the
admiration they brought him.
By the time he left university he was doing little else apart from
gambling. His anxiety mounted as soon as he tried to stop. Then he
started to lose, first a little, then a lot. Always believing that with one
more bet he could win it all back again.
“I thought I had mastered a real skill. It made me
feel so good for a while. In fact it was just a game of
chance and I was addicted to it.”
He borrowed $60,000 from a loan shark and was unable to repay.
He started getting threatening phone calls and noticed that he was
developing odd habits, like constantly wanting to wash his hands. He
had terrible headaches and was always forgetting things. That’s
when he realized things were out of control.
He called HKFYG for help. His counsellor, Roland, recognized the
symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder associated with gambling
addiction. He gradually convinced Wesley that believing gambling was
a way to riches was believing a myth. He also tried to persuade him to
see a doctor but without success. Wesley was convinced that a medical
record would spoil his chances of getting a decent job for ever.
Further reading
University of Hong Kong Social Sciences Research Centre.
Report on a study of Hong Kong People’s Participation
in gambling activities. Home Affairs Bureau, HKSAR
Government, 2005. http://www.hab.gov.hk/file_manager/en/
documents/whats_new/gambling/KeyStat_200514_e.pdf
All names and some of the circumstances surrounding the people in these stories have been adjusted to protect identities.
So instead, Roland gave advice about handling finances more wisely
and with his encouragement, Wesley got his first full-time job at a
tuition school. At least the salary meant he could start paying off
his debts. All seemed to be going well for a while, but then Wesley
got stressed out at work and started gambling again. He was lucky
and won $10,000. But success went to his head and yet again the
situation got out of control.
“Sometimes when the stress at work just gets too
much for me. I start gambling again, but keep on
losing. Ultimately, when I’m at my most desperate, I
think I might lose myself.”
Wesley now recognizes that gambling can destroy his life and he
is back at work again. He has made some good friends in the past
twelve months. Some of them have had a gambling problem too.
They reinforce each others’ efforts to stop betting. Roland keeps in
touch with him and still believes there is a way to get him out of the
cycle of win-lose. At least he now understands that when he loses,
gambling again is not the only answer, that others can understand
what it’s like and can help him see that every time he places a bet he
is also putting his future at stake.•
Problematic gambling
Problem youth gambling in Hong Kong starts as early as 12
years old, with an average bet of HK$6271 according to a
survey at Chinese University completed this year. The habit
can become as addictive as alcohol or drugs when gamblers
start to lose touch with reality. Betting on card games is
the most popular form among Hong Kong youth but online
gambling has added to the problems. Illegal online soccer
betting in Hong Kong is estimated to be worth HK$60 billion.
A 2008 report from the Home Affairs Department stated that
almost 70% of the Hong Kong population indulge in gambling
of some kind.2 A survey conducted by the Hong Kong
Polytechnic University and the Prevention and Rehabilitation
of Pathological Gambling Association interviewed 900
secondary school students in 2006 and found that the
problem of pathological gamblers is at its most serious in
Tuen Mun, home to the HKFYG Youth Wellness Centre.
Visit http://www.hkfyg.org.hk
Sources
1
South China Morning Post (29 June 2010).
2
South China Morning Post (3 March, 21 March 2010).
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 35
Feature Internetscope

This new feature section is for opinions and news about the online world
of the internet, where young people feel is so at home. All contributions are
welcome.

Reaching out in cyberspace

The internet has become the major source of information and
communication for young people. It provides a strong social and
cultural environment, and a forum for active participation. It lets them
contribute and share opinions, thoughts and feelings, quickly, easily and
they do so much more readily than they if they are required to do so
face-to-face.
The Federation’s Web Positive outreach online counselling service
has evolved in response.1 The service involves searching the internet
for youngsters who keep blogs about personal problems of serious
concern. These problems may involve stress or depression. Counsellors
use key words to find them and, when they identify young people who
seem to be in need of help, they make contact. If a relationship based
on trust develops they follow up the initial contact via messaging, emails
or hotline services, as appropriate.
or service, enables young people to retain some sense of control over
their lives. It involves their proficiency on the internet. It harnesses their
special ability to articulate feelings in writing, and it enables outreach
social workers, educators and others to contact young people who might
otherwise be inaccessible, via blogs and MSN, as well as other forms
of messaging. They can make contact in real time, with immediacy and
privacy because each is in their own familiar environment. Furthermore,
because this form of internet support service has potential 24-hour
access, the positive impact is immeasurable.

“…potential 24-hour access, the

positive impact is immeasurable.”

Outreach in reach
In North America, Australia and some parts of Europe, the provision
of online youth services, including counselling, is already gaining
ground. It has been observed that adolescents, especially those who are
troubled, depressed or suicidal, often isolate themselves, preferring to
spend a lot of time on their computers, chatting or emailing friends and
even empathetic strangers – unsurprisingly in this age of self expression
and catharsis. Secrets and troubles are shared, confessions made and
sometimes self-harm or suicide pacts agreed upon.2 In fact, there are
easily accessible, specific suicide sites and forums.3,4 The internet, for
these young people who feel trapped or isolated, is sometimes very
literally their only lifeline.

Opening up this medium as a vector for counselling, for reaching out to

youth-at-risk who are otherwise hidden from view, was mentioned in the
Hong Kong Chief Executive’s 2010 Policy Address. The advantages are
enormous. Most obviously, this type of internet counselling, assistance
Online counsellors use keywords to search for troubled youngsters

36 Youth Hong Kong December 2010


Training for professionalism
An important factor when considering online outreach services is
the professionalism of online counsellors. The reason why this is
so important is that it requires skill-sets and competencies that are
different from the more traditional forms of face-to-face guidance and
counselling. First, the professional must be quick-witted enough to
recognize the difference between a genuine case and a prankster.
Second, she or he needs to be familiar with the typical cyber-vernacular
used by youth today, with its acronyms, short-hand and emoticons.
Proficiency in these will allow a counsellor to develop a genuine rapport
quickly. It will mean that both the counsellor and the counselled will be
speaking the same special “language”, the language that youth use to
communicate with one another on the internet.
Third, the professional needs the skill of “reading” between the lines
of responses, especially when using chat software. They need to be able
to discern hesitation, regret, inarticulateness and nuance, to know when
to start or stop typing, giving the young person on the other end of the
line the dominant role in the conversation.
Finally, no matter how confident a young person might seem, protected
by the anonymity of the cyber world, the professional needs to remain
consistently cognisant and sensitive to the fact that a vulnerable young
person is in need and they are reaching out for reassurance and help.
Feature
Quiet investment, rich returns
This is an exciting endeavour, but one which needs the commitment
of the Government. It is necessary for Government to partner
organizations like the Federation that are slowly developing their
own online service provisions on the internet. It is also necessary for
government not to diminish the real importance of such an initiative
by loud, inappropriate or flashy public relations exercises. Rather,
what is needed is quiet investment in education and training of
highly specialized personnel who can maximize the potential of web
counselling. These could very well be qualified social workers, but they
could also include educators, youth workers and perhaps even volunteer
counsellors.
Reaching out to “hidden” youth, those who don’t normally seek out
help, identifying youth-at-risk via their own self-expression, online, is
really a viable, attainable and potentially revolutionary form of service
and intervention. It should be given the highest priority and governed
by the highest standards of quality control and commitment. Only by
making such an investment will tomorrow’s young people be able to
begin looking forward today towards the caring, connected society of
the future.•
“…it requires skill sets that
are different from face-to-face
guidance and counselling…”
Note and sources
1
HKFYG Web Positive social workers use search engines to seek blogs by
using keywords such as “unhappy”, “feeling sad”, “depressed” and “suicide”.
Then, they broawse recent articles on the blogs retrieved in the searches to
assess whether the bloggers are emotionally disturbed. If so, they try to leave
caring messages in order to encourage them to talk about their problems. They
do not disclose their identity to begin with in case this acts as a disincentive
to further communication. Once a trusting relationship has been formed, the
social workers reveal their identity and may follow up by MSN or hotline. From
June 2009 to August 2010, HKFYG Web Positive professional staff visited
14,239 blogs, followed up 8,460 of those blogs and engaged 982 bloggers
successfully in online conversation.
2
Fox, G. “Lonely hearts end life in suicide pact”, The Telegraph , 24 September
2010. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/8021337/Lonely-hearts-end-life-in-
suicide-pact.html (accessed 29 October 2010). Story about the dark side of the
internet and two women who made a cyber-suicide pact; highlights the reality
and frequency of such pacts.
3
“Suicide pacts and the Internet”, British Medical Journal 329:1298, 2 December
2004. http://www.bmj.com/content/329/7478/1298.full (accessed 29 October
2010)
4
Harding, A. “Japan’s Internet ‘suicide clubs’, BBC , 7 December 2004. http://
news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4071805.stm (accessed 29
October 2010)
This article by Rosanna Wong appeared in modified form in
South China Morning Post on 8 November 2010.
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 37
Feature City space

Sporting chance
The link between exercise and weight control is indisputable. Given the growing problem of overweight
children in Hong Kong, it is salutary to compare the views of two Hong Kong parents on the pros and cons of
physical education in the timetable. What do you think?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the US,1 one of the most effective ways to combat obesity in children is to
encourage schools to implement a high quality programme of physical education (PE) in conjunction with healthy eating plans and general good
health education. This view was also expressed at the International Conference on Childhood Obesity: Evidence and Practice from Exercise Science,
held in Hong Kong in November 2008.2 Would parents like more PE for their children at school? The two in the following dialogue disagree.

On the start line

completely unnecessary. It takes away valuable learning time.

A recent report3 on obesity among Hong Kong children states
that the problem rose from 16.7% in the 1996-1997 school
“We place very high expectations on the children. We want them to
year, to 22.2% per cent in 2008-2009. Obesity in children and
excel in their studies and outside the classroom, at music or art for
young people is not unique to Hong Kong. In fact, the most
example. That they snack in between is only natural if they are tired and
visible face in the fight against childhood obesity is probably
hungry. I honestly believe that as they grow older, they’ll become more
that of the First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama.4
conscious of their looks and take steps to lose weight if necessary.
When she launched the initiative to combat the problem, she
called obesity “an epidemic and one of the greatest threats to
“I’m also against PE in the curriculum because I believe it can
America’s health and economy.” Replace “America” with any
categorize children negatively. Not all children are sporty and some
city or country and the statement stays on target.
find it hard to run around, let alone understand the rules of games and
sports. If children who have no aptitude for sport are forced into it
Mrs Lim, mother of two boys, aged 9 and 11 during the school day, they may be ridiculed or even bullied.
“I understand the problem of childhood obesity and the need for
children to be physically active. But isn’t that the parents’ responsibility “If parents want children to do sport it should be outside school hours.
rather than the school’s? It’s up to parents to ensure their children eat a There are so many after school activities that involve some sport or the
healthy, well balanced diet, get enough sleep and exercise. other. I just see no need to have a PE hour during the school day just
for the glory of one or two children at the expense of the others.
“Children go to school to learn, to study and to acquire the knowledge
and skills that will make them competitive. They do not go to school “Physical education in school is really a waste of time!”
to run around the playground! I think the idea of PE in schools is

38 Youth Hong Kong December 2010


Mrs Wong, mother of two teenagers, a boy and a girl
“I am so happy to see that PE is part of the curriculum at my
children’s school. I believe very strongly that youngsters should have
the opportunity within their school week to be physically active. I
understand that not all are good at sports, but that’s not the point. The
point is to get moving and get the blood pumping.
“We live in a city where there is neither much space for physical activity,
nor is there a culture that appreciates children being active. This is
desperately unhealthy. Young people should not be expected to sit all
day in the classroom and then either plonk themselves in front of the
TV or the computer or have to attend tuition classes without having any
form of physical exercise whatsoever.
“I’ve heard some parents at my children’s school argue that those who
are interested in sports should do them as an extra-curricular activity.
That makes me mad. We are not talking about sport or physical exercise
as an extra, but something that must be incorporated into the young
Enough support for sport?
Best foot forward:
HKFYG 50th Anniversary Walkathon
On Sunday 28 November, thousands of people joined in the
HKFYG 50th Anniversary Charity Walkathon. The kick-off, with
the Chief Secretary for Administration, The Hon Henry Tang,
GBM, GBS, JP as Guest of Honour, took place at Hong Kong
Science Park Amphitheatre in Shatin. From there, along the Tolo
Harbour Cycle Track, families and friends made their way to Taipo
Waterfront Park. Proceeds are going to the Youth Support Fund to
help young people with special needs.
Web http://walkathon.hkfyg.org.hk
Feature
person’s routine daily life from an early age. As adults we are all aware
of the health issues and the ill-effects of a sedentary lifestyle. So why
wouldn’t we want our children to learn about this now, rather than later?
“Maybe I’m unusual, but I honestly believe that if young folk get used
to some kind of PE on a regular basis, then their mood improves, their
health is better and their brains work better!
“I am all for PE in schools. I worry about obesity and believe that
exercise is a lifestyle choice for the better. It benefits youth as they grow
into young adulthood and can do nothing but good.”•
We would like to keep this discussion going. What’s your point
of view? Please write to youthhongkong@hkfyg.org.hk and let
us know.
Sources
1
Centre for Disease Control, “ Make a difference at your school” at http://www.
cdc.gov/HealthyYouth/keystrategies/index.htm (accessed 29 October 2010)
2
See website to the conference: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/spe/obesity2008/
album.html (accessed 29 October 2010)
3
Editorial, South China Morning Post, “Schools hold the key to winning war on
obesity”, 25 October 2010 .
4
See, “Michelle Obama to launch initiative fighting child obesity” in USA Today,
20 January 2010, on http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/weightloss/2010-
01-20-michelle-obama-obesity_N.htm (accessed 29 October 2010)
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 39
Arts & culture

Dancing comes in many shapes and forms at HKFYG. Programmes took off with the Hong Kong Youth Dance
troupe, as part of the work of the Leisure, Cultural & Sports Services unit. In this roundup of news and views
from Hong Kong’s world of young, talented dancers, we hear about their motivation to dance, what dance gives
them, and what they give to others through their dancing.

Why I dance
by Sugar Chan, member of Hong Kong Youth Dance

I have been dancing since I was in secondary school. I started

because most of my friends danced. Now, I can’t imagine life
without dancing. For me the experience is almost spiritual, but
it also helps me feel connected with the world.

The first dancing group I ever belonged to was the HKFYG’s

Hong Kong Youth Dance troupe. It was set up in 2008 and
provides its members with regular training in dance techniques.
It also gives us a platform on which to perform Hip Hop, Jazz
Funk and Modern Dance.

I have been one of the troupe for three years and it has been
a truly unique experience. I didn’t just learn dance steps and
techniques, I made friends and became myself. For this, I have
to give credit to my teachers, Andy Wong, Frankie Lui and
Larry Cheng. I learnt so much from them, both in dancing or in
self-awareness.

“Feeling young at heart and having fire

in my body gives me the biggest drive
to teach youth people to dance. I keep
reminding myself to reassure them.
Always to tell them how good they are,
to reinforce all their efforts rather than
[only] performances.” Frankie Lui

40 Youth Hong Kong December 2010


My dance teachers have been my life teachers. Not only did they
teach me how to perform on stage they also kept asking me, “What
are you doing there? Who are you? “Why do you perform? Is it just
for yourself or are you trying to attract attention?”
Those questions meant a lot to me as I was growing up and I have
asked myself the same questions many times. As a teenager, they
were transformative and helped me realize how I really felt about
performing. I understand now that I don’t dance just to please the
audience. I also dance for myself. I dance because I am. •
Arts & culture
Youth Dance with HKFYG
The Hong Kong Youth Dance (HKYD) troupe, formed in 2008, is
at the core of youth dancing at the Federation. Another example is
Project Dancing which runs at the Jockey Club Farm Road Youth
SPOT.
A group of about 30 young dancers formed HKYD about three
years ago. They have been perfecting techniques of Modern
Dance, Hip Hop and Jazz under the tutelage of choreographer,
Andy Wong, as Sugar Chan relates. He is now forming two new
groups from the original HKYD and both will start performing in
2011. HKYD will grow considerably as a result. The two groups of
dancers will perform by invitation or to entertain underprivileged and
handicapped people in the community.
The bigger group is known as Dancing Angels. It was first formed
by Andy in 2005 and will have a complement of 70 dancers aged
between 17 and 40 by January 2011. Members from various
professions are invited to join and they perform mainly Modern
Dance.
The second group are the HKYD Ambassadors Recruitment of
budding dancers aged 14-25 is taking place now. Their focus will be
Hip Hop and Jazz.
Contact Michelle Ho, tel 2395 5753
Web http://hkyd.hkfyg.org.hk
December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 41
Arts & culture

Project Dancing: an integral programme for youth

The aim of this project at HKFYG’s Jockey Club Farm Road Youth SPOT
is to cultivate youth development by integrating professional dance training
with life-planning, career development, volunteer services, competition
and performance. Project Dancing was established in 2008 and has grown
from a small group with 10 members to four groups with a total of over 40
members. The dancers perform at schools and functions open to the public.
They say...

“Dancing helps me build up my self-confidence. It gives me

lost of energy. All my worries go away. It’s so relaxing. I love
dancing. I love the stage. I can dance anywhere, anytime. If
you haven’t danced, you haven’t lived! Trust me, try it!”
Lillian

“I really feel dancing has a magic power. When I’m troubled

dancing can make me forget my problems. If I see myself in
the mirror when I dance, I think I see the real me.” Po-lam
“When I was young, I was always desperate to learn to
dance. I am often sick and it makes me feel stronger. I’m so
happy to have the chance to dance.” Maisy
Contact Terrence Zee, tel 2715 0424
Joint School Dance Competition
The Joint School Dance Competition has been run
by the Federation with sponsorship from You.C1000
for the last three years. It takes place in the summer
and in 2010, 77 secondary school dance teams
took part. Instructors from some of Hong Kong’s
famous dancing schools served as judges.
Web http://dance.hkfyg.org.hk

42 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Arts & culture

Dance for your life Flash Dance

Dance is also a feature of outreach work at HKFYG. Window, a former drug A big HKFYG dance project involved 100
abuser, teaches teenagers break dancing for an HKFYG outreach project designed young volunteer dancers recruited as Flash
to help young offenders to reintegrate. It is called Project Shine. Window says Dance Ambassadors. Called the Flash
break dancing for him is like life itself, the best form of self-expression. Dance Project, it was co-organized by the
Federation at the invitation of the Hong
“We now have a sports centre for break dancing. Before it was Kong Arts Development Council and was
built, we danced in the open. I understand what these teens think a highlight of the 2010 Hong Kong Dance
since I have been through it all myself. Break dance lets them Festival. They were given free training by
express their true selves.” Window a team of choreographers in Hip Hop, Jazz
Funk and Modern Dance. They performed
For more on Project Shine, see the story of Wing on page 8. in eight different venues throughout Hong
Kong, from August to November, culminating
in the opening performance at the launch of
Operation Santa Claus on the G/F piazza of
the HSBC headquarters in Queen’s Road
Central. The shows were televised by TVB
and RTHK.

Web http://csu.hkfyg.org.hk/chi/flash.html

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 43

Travel

Welcoming the New Year with lights: Diwali

by Anaita Tejpal

Diwali means “Festival of Lights” and it celebrates the triumph of good over evil. Although it is an Indian
festival, its spirit is embraced across the world. In Hong Kong, a culturally diverse place with people from all
sorts of backgrounds, Diwali is celebrated by people of varying nationalities, with Diwali parties in numerous
restaurants and Bollywood songs in many homes.

Diwali traditionally marks the return of Lord Rama, and goddesses Sita and Lakshmi, to the kingdom of Ayodhya
which was illuminated in celebration. Today, homes are lit with small clay lamps, new clothes are bought and sweets
are distributed to neighbours. Diwali is a time of sharing gifts, spreading happiness, and bringing smiles to faces.

Celebration, a time of joy, happiness and enjoyment

Photos by Mystic Musings, San Sharma (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Everyone looks forward to Diwali, or Deepavali. It is the Hindu New

Year when people get together to celebrate culture and heritage.
Students across Hong Kong embrace diversity by getting involved in
cultural activities. One example is the annual Diwali Ball at West Island
School.

The Diwali Ball is an entirely student-led event which involved more

than 150 performers this year. They danced Bollywood numbers for
an audience of 350 people, taking pride in being a part of the show
and showcasing both talent and culture. It was a night when families
came together, both to socialize and celebrate the achievements of
their daughters and sons. Students of all age groups, nationalities and
backgrounds gave up their time to rehearse for months in order to make
the show both successful and memorable.

Raising awareness of Indian culture and traditions

Each year a concept is chosen and this year it was the Indian version year until I was 9, I find myself missing the delicious, sweet Indian
of the game show, “Who wants to be a Millionaire?” which is known in mithais and the sound of firecrackers which fills the air.
India as “Kaun Banega Crorepati?”. Entirely scripted, directed and stage-
managed by students, the show was about the achievements of a family Despite the fact that Hong Kong embraces cultural diversity, I do still
participating in the game, but it was also intended to raise awareness of miss the distinct feeling of Diwali that I remember in India. Dancing
Indian culture and traditions by the nature of the questions asked. to the Bollywood beat and eating Indian delicacies are a good substitute
and definitely an enjoyable way to celebrate, but for me the true
Cultural diversity is a prominent feature of Hong Kong and people Diwali scene can only be experienced in the streets of India, amongst
support their peers by celebrating with them. During the Indian New individuals bustling with energy, singing and dancing.
Year, they dine out together in Indian restaurants or attend a Diwali-
themed party. Diwali is extremely important for Indians across the Nevertheless, Diwali is the celebration of lights. It marks the start of a
world and by wearing Indian clothes or greeting friends on Facebook, new and prosperous year. Even if firecrackers do not shoot across the
one can show appreciation for their culture. sky, bright candlelight decorates every Indian household. Buy yourself
some traditional Indian clothes and make sure to celebrate festivities
For me, Diwali is extremely important. I celebrate my culture and and the amazing culture of your friends. Embrace diversity. It is all
background, I wear Indian clothes and I participate in cultural rituals around you. •
with my family. Having lived in India and celebrated Diwali there every

44 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Travel

The Chinese experience:

Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong
by Au Ka-lam

Singapore is a multiethnic society with a multicultural atmosphere unlike

Hong Kong. I went to markets with my aunt, where we chatted with
local people and with the entire family I went to food centres where we
ate Peranakan food, a melting pot of Chinese, Malayan and Indonesian.
It was all a great opportunity to experience life like a real Singaporean.

Taiwan was different

again. In Taipei,
Taichung and
Kaohsiung I saw typical
commercial downtown
areas. But the small
villages brimmed
over with peace and
the hospitality of the
Taiwanese people. In
some ways it seemed like visiting mainland China. People looked like
I believe that life is to be enjoyed, and travel helps us appreciate it. We
same. Roads and buildings seemed similar, but you knew that really they
experience different cultures, meet lovely people and try out tasty foods.
were quite different.
There are so many ways to enjoy travel and make life more meaningful
at the same time.
Costume and communication
Clothes and language reveal other aspects of cultural difference that
Shopping and eating
you can see when you travel. Although Hong Kong people are usually
In Singapore, for example, where I spent two weeks at my uncle’s home,
smartly turned out, the young Taiwanese are sometimes described as
I went to many famous places like Little India, Chinatown and Katong.
being even more stylish whereas Singaporeans tend to be casual.

However, youth in Singapore and Taiwan both have

an advantage over Hong Kong where language is
concerned. Singaporeans are more fluent in English
than Hong Kong youth and Taiwanese speak better
Putonghua. Travel makes you realize how important it is
to speak languages well.

Home and away

There is no doubt that Singapore, Taiwan and Hong
Photo by Sengkang (Wikimedia Commons)

Kong all have their advantages. People can enjoy a life of

peace and prosperity in any of them. But without having
visited all three, I wouldn’t know how fantastic the world
is, or be so grateful to live in Hong Kong, even if it does
have more serious air pollution than the others. Travel
widens our horizons. Above all, it shows us we should
cherish and treasure what we have. •

Note West Island School is part of the English Schools Foundation which caters to a diverse range of students.

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 45

Feature In the loop
Dress to impress!
Why does looking good matter so much, especially for young people, and
most of all for girls? Is fashion the driver? Does being fashionable make
you feel self-confident? One of the in-crowd? We asked a couple of young
ladies, and this is what they said.
Fascination and obsession
Walking round a crowded Hong Kong
shopping mall with people all dressed up is
fascinating. The other day for example, I was
out with my best friend and we were gazing
at one beautifully dressed girl after another,
when she said, “I’m going to buy the latest
Gucci handbag soon and a Marc Jacob dress
for the party.” “Are you insane?” was my
immediate response. “It’s gonna cost you a
fortune!” Yet, she went on mumbling about
the design and ignored me altogether. It just
goes to show how obsessed the majority
teenagers are in Hong Kong when it comes to
fashion and shopping.
There’s no question that keeping track of
the latest trends has become a priority for
Hong Kong teens. The textile industries can
make the most of this. Teenagers like to just
buy what they fancy. That means they boost
46 Youth Hong Kong December 2010
by Asia Bibi
demand and the suppliers respond, so that’s
good for the economy!
Savvy choice, fitting in
Brand-name goods are pricey but you can
often get something similar and cheaper in
the local shops. Keeping up with fashion also
helps teenagers fit in with their peers, as they
mostly want to buy similar clothes and other
things. If they don’t, they usually feel left out
and that can lower self-esteem. If you want to
keep on hanging out with peers, you have to
dress accordingly.
 
Inevitably, “Made in China” products make
life for Hong Kong youth easier. You can buy
“look-alikes” of big brand names easily here So why exactly does one crave to look the best?
and satisfy your passion for new fashion at Celebrities play an important part. They are
a fraction of the price. Although teenagers some of our role models. Some fashion trends
are more likely to recognize the look of a in Hong Kong show that there is an obsession
certain brand, they are less likely to be status- with things Japanese here. Young people are
conscious about the price, so they are quite always talking about learning Japanese, travelling
happy to have a copy. to Japan and having bangs and cute dresses
like the ones Japanese models and TV stars are
e-fashion shopping option wearing. Following the trend plays a crucial part.
Long gone are the days when everyone used
to walk the streets for hours to shop. While To make the dream of owning these products
some still prefer traditional shopping, online a reality, most teenagers choose to shop in
shopping has given shoppers another way to places like Mongkok where the small packed
fill their wardrobes with must-have items. Not stores, cheap prices and variety of clothing
only is “e-shopping” convenient but it can to choose from makes the experience
be done from another part of the world. Of worthwhile. Indoor shoppers never have to
course you can always bargain too, and that’s leave disappointed. There are so many options
certainly an option for less well-off young in Hong Kong it’s impossible to list them all.
people. The list would be never-ending.
 Feature

Mirror mirror on the wall
So, is this enthusiasm and passion for fashion
really worth all the effort you have to make?
It may boost your self-esteem there is a price
you have to pay for being fashionable. We all
are made differently, with different shapes
and sizes, so what looks good on one may not
look good on another. Many teenagers start
suffering from eating disorders, either because
they eat less than is healthy for them or
because they eat unhealthy food. Not eating
enough, just to make sure you can fit into that
dress, surely isn’t a wise decision, but peer
pressure is so high that some teenagers feel
forced into such habits. Personally I believe
that you should wear what makes you feel
confident. Be who you are and wear what you
are, if you look like someone else then who
needs you? •
And who says beauty is all
about sizes, “Beauty is in the
eye of the beholder”.

A chance to re-invent your self

by June Leung

Multi-culture and couture
Hong Kong, with its international
environment, is a combination of different
cultures reflected in the way people dress.
Most of the inspiration and ideas come from
Japan, Korea or the west, rather than Hong
Kong itself, which does not have much of a
tradition for local and innovative designs.
the courage and the imagination to use the latest
trends to your advantage and create your own
special look, with your own particular flair.
Really, fashion is a way of re-inventing
yourself. It provides an opportunity to try
something new and change your identity or
mood as you change your look. •

In Hong Kong, being fashionable can be an Fashion is not about spending

expensive business. If people want to keep up
with the latest trends, they have to spend a lot lots of money and looking the
to get imported clothes and just to ensure an same as everyone else. Fashion
ever-changing “look”.
is all about having fun!
Seriously fashionable
Those who are very serious about fashion tend
to buy lots of magazines and study the different
trends. They are also the type of people who buy
only brand name clothes or will even go abroad
to shop. Just to keep up!

However, I believe that what makes a person

fashionable is not simply copying trends and
looking like an advertisement come alive from
a magazine, but inserting your own personality
into what you wear.

Courage, imagination, flair

I think that if you want to be noticed, if you
want to be really fashionable, you need to have

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 47

Kaleidoscope

The founding of the Federation

by George Stokes

George Stokes is a man of compassion and commitment. Still tall and upright despite the 50 years that have
passed since he founded the organization, George has an enduring loyalty to Hong Kong youth. His memories
of the 1960s bring alive once more the resettlement crisis when he was here in his late 30s.

“The 1960s were a most interesting and challenging
time for me. I came to Hong Kong from London at
the invitation of InterChurch Aid, which is now called
Christian Aid. I was given the names of a committee
who would guide me. The help of Peter Tsang, the
Field Secretary, was especially useful, not only because
of language but because he had great understanding
of the Chinese people and history.”
It was World Refugee Year and I saw an exhibition about the difficulties
that people from China were facing in Hong Kong. They had so
little. I wanted to help them. The hillsides were teeming with children
from squatter huts, dressed in snowy white school uniforms, carefully
laundered by desperately poor, labouring parents. All they had were a
bucket, a bar of soap and a standpipe in the street.
“One day an American from a charity arrived. He
said, ‘If I had some money, what would you do with
it?’ We were well-prepared. The plan was right there
in the drawer. We got our camp. That was the start of
the present day Sai Kung camp.”
I am so proud of my part in the work of the Federation. Now it has
grown so large, it meets so many needs in the community, has so many
different activities and such a keen, enthusiastic staff that I am proud
still to be thought of as an honorary member. I celebrated the 45th
anniversary with you. Now, 5 years on, we celebrate the 50th. May the
good work continue for another 50 years.•

“I remember standing in Wanchai as the trams rattled

past feeling alone, illiterate and completely culturally
ignorant. There followed a period of learning about
the place and the people, and discovering the needs
of the young.”

After a time of research and finding people to help we began training

youth leaders and trying to find places where we could open clubs. By
the time I left in 1970, the foundations of the HKFYG were established.
The Federation's 45th anniversary celebration
We drew up plans, unrealistic though they seemed at the time. One idea
was for a camp in the countryside, with canoeing and dinghy sailing. We
knew there was no money for it but we did costings and put them away
in a bottom drawer.

48 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

 Kaleidoscope

Image by Hong Kong Observatory

Hillsides with squatter huts

Photo by Eternal1966 (Flickr/Creative Commons)

Old Wanchai trams

Mr. Stokes at the Federation's 25th anniversary

Clear objectives, solid foundations

In the 1965-66 Annual Report, Mr Stokes wrote that one of the Federation’s
objectives was “to foster the public recognition of and support for youth
The beginnings of the Sai Kung camp (above and below)
group work, youth groups being for young persons of 14 years and upwards
and designed to provide them with character-training and healthy interests,
and to inculcate a sense of responsibility and self-sufficiency.”

One of the other objectives at that time was the promotion of other youth
groups, and this work is still reflected in its English name today. Although
HKFYG no longer has this role, its work of fostering young people,
supporting their healthy, rounded development as well as helping to instill
in them the “sense of responsibility and self-sufficiency”, referred to by Mr
Stokes, continues undimmed. As he said, “The most important thing is that
the foundation we laid 50 years ago is still firm. The details are different but
the ethos is exactly the same.”

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 49

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50 Youth Hong Kong December 2010

December 2010 Youth Hong Kong 51
 By courtesy of FormAsia Books Ltd - Hong Kong

Publisher
The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups 香港青年協會
www.hkfyg.org.hk • www.u21.hk

Address
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 7284 • Fax: 3755 7155
Email: youthhongkong@hkfyg.org.hk • Website: youthhongkong.hkfyg.org.hk
The title of this journal in Chinese is Xiang Gang Qing Nian 香港青年