Thanks to Partners
partners' logos

「伴我成長˙社區顯關愛」
課託計劃

The Federation has received a grant from the Community Investment & Inclusion Fund for the Cheung Wah Youth S.P.O.T. to organize this one-year programme from September onwards. The programme targets Primary 1 to 4 children studying at the HHCKLA Buddhist Chan Shi Wan Primary School in New Territories North. Those who lack adequate family care at home will be provided with babysitters, homework tutors, visits to interesting places and life skills training. We are recruiting housewives, parents, students from The Hong Kong Institute of Education and Form 5 students in the community for training as tutors on the programme. We hope it will help solve the problems faced by these children and give them more exposure to their community so that they feel they belong there.

Project Night Walker

The Federation's Young Night Drifter Team and the Sai Kung & Wong Tai Sin Outreaching Social Work Team organized this Project jointly with Tseung Kwan O Police Station. It provides a platform for frontline policemen and Federation outreach social workers to share information about young people who have been identified as young night drifters and youth-at-risk. An in-house training programme will be organized in May for the policemen, in order to strengthen their understanding of youth problems and the Project will lead to mutual exchange between the frontline policemen and youth workers taking part.

「魔術特工隊」

The Federation's Tsuen Wan & Kwai Chung Outreaching Social Work Team is organizing this project with sponsorship from the Hong Kong Bank Foundation from May-October 2006. The project targets youth-at-risk and involves training workshops for conjuring and voluntary service at kindergartens and homes for the elderly. The aim is to help youth-at-risk develop their talent, recognize their own abilities, build up self-esteem and feel a commitment to the community.

Fundraising Gala Dinner: Thanks to all Grand Prize Sponsors

The Federation is happy to announce that plans for its first-ever fundraising Gala Dinner on 26 May at the Four Seasons Hotel are now gaining momentum. The Gala Dinner has met with a very encouraging response and we are sure it will be a night to remember. Members of Hong Kong's elite and well known celebrities will perform for charity during the evening on the theme, Back to the 60s. We are delighted to say that The Hon York Chow, SBS JP, Secretary for Health, Welfare and Food will be Guest of Honour. A big thank you to all our table patrons whose donations will help us continue developing high quality, versatile services for Hong Kong youth. A raffle will take place at the dinner and our sincere thanks go to all Grand Prize sponsors for their generosity. Click here for a list of prize sponsors.

Be a champion Hong Kong-Macao Student Tour 2006

This sports training programme is jointly organized by the Training Bureau of the State Sports General Administration of China (國家體育總局訓練局) and Fesco Overseas Association (外企海外聯誼會) and has sponsorship from Qi and the RHYTHM Foundation. 30 students from low-income families will be sponsored to take part in this year's study tour in July and August and the Federation has been asked by the organizers to help with their selection. Accepted students will receive free training in their chosen sport in Beijing. Putonghua classes and sightseeing activities will be arranged for them. We also hope the students will gain exposure by participating in activities related to the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympics. Application deadline: 15 May. For inquiries, please contact Ms Lau (YE): 2561 6149.

Summer Youth Programme brochure Summer Programme,
Summer Themes

HKFYG is organizing 3,000 activities this year to help youngsters relax and enjoy their vacation. Last year, nearly 35,000 enrolled and we expect even more this year when the programme has an extra fresh new look with four sets of themed workshops highlighting creativity, multimedia, the performing arts and sports.

English classes are the most popular, followed by arts & crafts, then magic. There is puppetry, shadow play and paper cuts at one end of the spectrum with golf, fencing and archery at the other. We keep the fees for classes to the absolute minimum but volunteer instructors and sponsors make a huge difference and allow underprivileged children a chance they would otherwise be deprived of.

With your collaboration we organize volunteer programmes in the community. With your expertise we offer tutoring in languages and sports. With your sponsorship there will be new activities, prizes and excitement which will make a long, hot, boring school holiday a time for exploring new horizons or beginning a fascinating lifetime's interest beyond the wildest dreams of poor children.

Be a summer partner. Contact: Apple or Katy at 3579 4560 or visit http://www.u21.org.hk/syp06/
Programme enrolment day: Sunday 14 May.

Coming of Age Ceremony
The ceremony, on 4 May in The Jockey Club Auditorium at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, was a great success with over 800 18-year olds who took part. For them it marked an important rite of passage in a significant way that they will always remember. The Hon Wong Yan Lung, Secretary for Justice and Mr Peng Qinghua, Deputy Coming of Age Ceremony
Director of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR attended the ceremony as Guests of Honour.
Feature Story

Public policy: views from youth

Once young people start thinking about public policy on issues like environmental protection, city planning and health insurance they can come up with some very interesting ideas. Bright youngsters recognize the need to speak up and competitions like HKFYG's annual Hong Kong Public Policy Award stimulate them into doing the homework needed to make practical proposals.

One such example came from the award-winning team from the Diocesan Girls' School this year. They chose to look at the perennial problem of waste disposal in Hong Kong and proposed a different kind of recycling.

"Plastic bottles are our target," said Cheryl. "The recycling bins near my home are often full of empty bottles. Some of them are poor quality but others, like shampoo bottles, are often in good shape and could be re-used."

Vera continued, "Customers could be offered incentives such as lower prices to take their empties back to the shops and get them re-filled by machine....and a few disincentives, like litter crime volunteer squads who go around the city on the lookout for litterbugs."   DGS team


"Hong Kong people generate 1.4 kilogrammes of rubbish every day," exclaimed Grace. "Schoolchildren should know that. It would make a big difference to their habits. It costs HK$4 billion a year to deal with it. Government should be spending some of that on education, videos and commercials to persuade kids that there is a better way. Then the meagre 20% of Hong Kong's population who do anything about recycling might grow."

The girls from DGS were joint champions in the secondary school division. Their competition came from a team of five head prefects.

Echoing Vera's sentiments, their spokesperson Martin from Kwun Tong Maryknoll School insisted, "Young people need to know about existing government policy. Once you learn a bit it opens up your horizons. That's when you want to suggest improvements."

  Non-stop team

Martin was very excited about his team's ideas for multifunctional community centres.

"There are so few quiet, green places where Hong Kong people can take a break, especially in the heart of urban areas like Mongkok and Wanchai. We want to convince government to construct multi-purpose community buildings there."

He went on to describe his vision, "...music performance areas equipped with instruments for hire and places for dance and drama, an exhibition gallery where local people can put their work on display; libraries with cafes to encourage readers to stay, an underground market and an air-conditioned sports centre. There should be private space and public space with a peaceful garden in open air shade on the ground floor..."

 

Eden Project

Private space

Martin compared this vision with the inspiration behind such centres as the Eden Project in Cornwall, Federation Square in Melbourne and Millennium Park in Chicago.

"We think that the Southorn Playground redevelopment in Wanchai could use ideas from some of these fantastic public places. Hong Kong needs something like that."

Squall, Ester, Grace and Eddy from HKU were equally enthusiastic about their proposal for preventive healthcare which won them the championship in the Young Adults class.

"Lack of a long-term policy that changes people's behaviour is needed to achieve sustainable public health. Effective dissemination of health information is also crucial."

"Our duty as citizens of Hong Kong is to contribute to solving policy problems," said team leader, Squall. "Competitions like this offer opportunities for those

  HKU team

who aspire to careers in policy formulation the chance to actively contribute. This means we can show the public that youth are capable of generating creative, feasible policy proposals."

For more information on the Hong Kong Public Policy Innovation Award: Strategies for Sustainable Development in Hong Kong contact leadership21@hkfyg.org.hk

Federation News
Hong Kong Student Science Project Competition: Initial Judging
Date: Saturday 13 May 2006
Time: 9am-5pm
Venue: Exhibition Gallery, Hong Kong Central Library
Number of teams enrolled: 109
Visit www.hksspc.gov.hk for more information
 
Dragon Foundation presents " A Million for the Dragon" Charity Sale
Date: Saturday 13 May 2006
Time: 10:00am-4:30pm
Venue: Humphrey and Chatham Rooms, Conrad Hotel
Visit http://www.dragonfoundation.net/charitysale/ for more information
 
Odyssey of the Mind World Finals Commissioning Ceremony
Date: Friday 19 May 2006
Time: 4pm
Venue: Theatre of the Joint Professional Center, G/F, The Center
The 7 winning teams from this year's Hong Kong Odyssey of the Mind local competitions will represent Hong Kong at the 2006 World Champions in U.S.A. starting on 22 May.
Facts & Figures
Telecoms, freedom and control on the Mainland

There have been spectacular increases in the use of telecommunications on the Mainland. The number of internet users has risen by 75%, to 111m, since late 2002. Only the US has more users than this. Over 50% of all internet users in China have broadband – up from just 6.6% in 2002. All internet use is policed and approximately 30,000 online monitors and overseas companies such as Yahoo and Google have been criticized for censorship.*

Telecoms

Users of instant messaging services on the Mainland have more than doubled to 87m and blogs, largely unknown 3 years ago, are up to 30m. In late 2005 there were 393m mobile phone accounts in China. That is more than any other country in the world, but over half of the accounts are not registered in anybody's name. This means that they can be used easily by criminals or dissidents without being traceable by the police.

The other problem is internet addiction. Of the 16.8m "netizens" in China aged 13-35, 2.4m or 13% are addicted according to a national survey conducted in August 2005.** Another 13% said they were prone to cyber addiction. 42% of the total are hooked on online games. There are calls for more regulation and legislation as a result.

*The Economist 29 April 2006 p29
**South China Morning Post 8 April 2006 E6

Federation poll on student stress

A survey conducted by the Federation in March this year reported on stress levels in Form 5 and Form 7. 40.9% of the 938 students who are taking either HKCEE or A level exams this year said they were highly stressed and 39% admitted to being under pressure because of exams. Approximately 25% of these said that the stress was self-induced, as a result of their own expectations.

Stress levels: students
Commenting on the report, HKFYG youth counsellors say that although options for school-leavers have widened considerably with the introduction of work experience schemes, pre-associate degree courses and a range of vocational training, most still want to follow the more traditional academic route via A level exams and into tertiary education although 11.9% were apprehensive about their chances.
For further information contact the Youth Counselling Service, tel 2395 0161, 27883433 or 27883444

For further information contact the Youth Counselling Service, tel 2395 0161, 27883433 or 27883444

Core Service Highlight
Leisure, Cultural & Sports Services

Taking part in musical events, the performing arts and energetic sports is great fun as well as being educational. We believe wholeheartedly that leisure, culture and sport are an important part of growing up as well-rounded, cultured young people. For example, there are workshops in the performing arts for youth-at risk as well as themed activities in the summer programme, Dance, magic, art and drawing all feature. As for sports, there are golf, fencing, rugby, baseball, fencing, hockey and archery courses this summer. During the school year there is the Bonaqua multisport competition and a range of activities organized by the Federation's camps in the New Territories, Stanley and the Outlying Islands. Participation encourages a positive, out-going attitude to life, building self-confidence and team spirit.

For details of the summer programme, visit www.u21.org.hk/syp061
For general information on the Federation's core Leisure, Cultural & Sports Services, tel 2395 5759.