A Call to Care; A Call to Help
How precious life is! In less time than it might have taken us to enjoy our Christmas dinner with families and friends, tidal waves and tsunamis, caused by an earthquake, washed through nearly ten countries, leaving in its wake death and destruction.

We have all seen the horrific pictures on our television screens and in our newspapers; we have all heard the harrowing tales of loss and survival. Some of the areas that were hit are places where we have spent our leisure time. They are places that are familiar and they are places that some of us can even call home.

The desire to help is overwhelming among young people of The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups. On the 28th December, they held a press conference to call on their peers and all in the community to show their care, to offer their help and volunteer in whatever way they can. The Federation will also partner international relief agency, World Vision, in a collection drive of resources. Donation boxes will be placed at all the Youth S.P.O.Ts. Youth volunteers will also be mobilized to help World Vision collect donations.

A life education programme for young people will be organized on the afternoon of 30th December and some survivors of the tsunami tragedy will be invited to share their experience and insights. We believe that such a sharing brings to the forefront how closely our world is interlinked and how important it is to have a local, as well as global perspective.

We in Hong Kong have so much to be thankful for. Let us treasure our families and friends and all that we have. Let us show our caring nature by getting involved. Should you have any questions or queries about how to volunteer or how to make a donation, please get in touch with Ms.Wu Pui Wah at 2169 0032 or Mr.James Mok at 21690255.

How precious life is, indeed! Donation Channels

Bonaqua - adventure for life
What makes this event so popular? It isn't just the sports, it's the spirit. Team spirit. The essence of the competition is to show young people how much co-operation matters, not just to win races but to succeed as caring people.

The essence of this competition is to show young people how much co-operation matters, not just to win races but to be really caring people. For Kit, from Ma Kam Ming Charitable Foundation Ma Chan Duen Hey Memorial College, co-operation was definitely the most important thing, not least because without it one of the team would never have made the finish line. He got stuck in the mud! Kit and the other two hauled and hauled and finally got him out. On they ran, shoes like lead with the sticky stuff, but the team prevailed.

The sentiment was echoed by Lau Lee-sze, girl leader of Ng Yuk Secondary School's champion mixed team. This school has come first two years in a row yet she and her team mates barely knew each other before they started training. Lau had to learn interpersonal communication skills to bring the team together into a cohesive whole. On reflection, she said: The most important thing of all was not winning but the friendship and camaraderie that have come with pulling together. I am not normally a very out-going person but I see now how this experience gave me the confidence to do many new things I would not normally tackle.

Lau's teacher, Mr Ma, has coached his school's team to top placing twice now. We asked him what his secret was. He was happy to tell us how beneficial the entire event had been for his students. He thought it was well organized and fair to all, involving a good mix of physical challenge and cognitive skills, but fundamentally its special bonus was that it stimulated natural co-operation among the team as a whole. He selected his team members with this in mind and their response was fantastic: They co-operated wonderfully, encouraging one another when things got tough, overcoming discomforts and pain for the benefit of the team as a whole. They literally kept each other going.

Kin of the champion boys team from Mongkok Workers Children's School, is a natural leader selected as such by his PE teacher. Kin knew how important his role was - not just on behalf of his own team but when the guest team, all proven athletes, got lost on the trail. Even if it might mean sacrificing time, Kin and his team helped the visitors to find their way…and they had due reward by beating them to the finish.

2nd Runner up team leader Jacky Leung, a seasoned competitor who took part in 2003 with the CCC Hoh Fuk Tong College team, shared his experience with classmates at school after the event and he thinks that next year there will be many more volunteers. His team attended every training session that the Federation arranged over the months. All the training and equipment was provided free of charge - a great incentive. Jacky said: We were very keyed up and really wanted to win, since our mixed team came in 4th last year; but we know that the most important thing for success is team work…

In contrast, the boys of the 1st Runner up team from French International trained on their own. As with other teams, commitments elsewhere made it difficult to travel to some of the training venues. But for success they say they also relied on friendship and team spirit: We knew each other well, said Valentin, and could rely on each other. That's why we formed the team, not because we were the fittest boys in the school.

They knew of nothing like this kind of event in France and said it worked extremely well here because so many schools from a relatively small geographical area could easily come together for the competition, Hong Kong's landscape is truly ideal for a multisport event and the HKFYG Jockey Club Sai Kung Outdoor Training Camp is a perfect venue. They were happy with their result but on reflection Hugo was adamant, it was the good atmosphere and the mutual aid offered by all participants if anybody was injured that mattered most.

It is well known that overcoming difficulties and hardships together is a fundamental part of learning to value teamwork, helping one another and offering a helping hand willingly, even if sometimes that means losing something by the standards of the more material world. In the long run the gains are far greater. Bravo Bonaquists.

3+3+4: liberating teaching and minds

Two secondary students enrolled in the Federation's Leadership 21 courses gave us their views on the curriculum changes proposed for senior secondary education. Ringo Cheung of La Salle College said:
Hong Kong students are very career-oriented so I think the new vocational electives are a good idea and Liberal Studies will encourage them to be more creative.

The educational goals of liberal studies are new - citizenship, developing a moral compass, common sense, a healthy lifestyle and interdisciplinary critical thinking. Lydia Ng of Good Hope School also welcomed the idea.
I have been to school in Australia as well as Hong Kong and there is a big difference. Liberal Studies should broaden Hong Kong students' minds. I don't think the students will have any problem adapting but the teachers are very unfamiliar with project based learning here.

A shift in teaching methods and the introduction of new subjects will mean intensive re-training for some teachers and the implementation date for the reforms has not yet been set although the proposed date is 2008. The plan has an initial budget of HK$6.7 billion and the public consultation period will end in mid January.

Secretary for Health, Welfare & Food, York Chow has now confirmed that legislation to ban smoking in any place of work, including bars and restaurants, will be tabled in 2005. This means that Hong Kong could be added to a growing list of developed countries in Asia, including Australia, New Zealand and South Korea that have taken similar action and could give the lead to Mainland China where one of every three cigarettes consumed worldwide is smoked and about 3,000 people die every day because of smoking. Among youths, about a third of mainland male teens smoke and nearly 8% of females. Smoking will kill about a third of all young Chinese men under 30 years old.

Meanwhile Hong Kong's tertiary institutions have come under fire for accepting research funds from tobacco companies. In several Asian countries these companies are among the top 10 advertisers and after the entry of foreign multinational tobacco firms into Japan, the Republic of Korea and Thailand, both young and female smoking rose significantly. Hong Kong academia is not alone in taking money from the tobacco industry. Both Cambridge and the University of Nottingham have done so in the last decade.

About 780 restaurants are already on the Hong Kong's Smoke-free Eating Out Guide published last March. We hope that the bars will follow suit. Evidence shows that around 50% of those who start smoking in adolescent years go on to smoke for 15 to 20 years and many of them pick up the habit in bars where they are most heavily influenced by peer pressure and tobacco advertising.

Joy for 2005

What with the Grand Cello Ensemble at the airport on December 23, the bid for the world's biggest recorder orchestra on December 27 and the record breaking hula hoopers on December 12, this month in Hong Kong was set to make its way into the records in more ways than one. Taiwan used to hold the prize for simultaneous hula hooping until over 2300 primary school students from 16 schools spun their way past at the Polytechnic University's sports court. The Hang Seng Bank joint project with the Hong Kong Philharmonic Orchestra has given 7000 children from 100 Hong Kong primary and secondary schools a chance to break the simultaneous recorder playing record. Congratulations to them all.

We hope that 2005 will turn out to be a record-breaking year in many ways and would like to take this opportunity of wishing you, dear readers, all the very best in the New Year.