Caring companies - counting our blessings
Today's world needs people who care. Through them a modern, caring society expresses its concerns. The Caring Company scheme, launched by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service in 2002, celebrates the success of the partnerships that make effective bridges between companies who care and the welfare sector.

It acknowledges the links that connect us with corporate culture and pays tribute to action taken on behalf of the community. In the past year, the Federation has joined hands with the business world to provide services that range from IT training and mentorships for the underprivileged to multisport challenges and exchange trips for schools, from volunteer services and outreach to youth employment expos and internships.

We are delighted at how much these alliances have achieved. They spread branches of goodwill throughout Hong Kong, blossoming into mutually beneficial relationships where effort matched by equal effort can bear the fruit of corporate social responsibility.

Thank you to all our partner Caring Companies

(in alphabetical order)

Award for u21 youth website www.u21.org.hk our youth website has been selected as one of HK's 10 top healthiest websites. The contest encourages webmasters to create good, sound content which young people can use without any hesitation.
National Lead Agency The Federation will be Hong Kong's National Lead Agency for Global Youth Service Day in mid April when millions of young people across the globe offer their services to the community. In Hong Kong it will be a month-long event when 5,000 volunteers will move into action throughout the city.

Creative fusion: project learning and LEAD
The Federation's LEAD (Leading through Engineering, Art and Design) pilot project, supported by the Innovation & Technology Fund is now well underway. Our partners from the MIT Media Laboratory and The Chinese University of Hong Kong have trained teachers as facilitators and workshops introducing primary and secondary students to LEAD activities have begun.

Ms Leung Lai-mei, Vice Principal at St Paul's Co-educational (Kennedy Road) Primary School and Mr Thomas Mak from St Paul's Co-educational (Macdonnell Road) Primary School talked to us about their own and their students’ initial reactions.

'This is a very stimulating project,' said Ms Leung. 'Not only are the students learning through LEAD - so are we. I learned so much about software at the workshops but I also realized that as a facilitator I must play a different role from that of classic teacher. We were given clear guidelines but not told exactly what to do next. That came as a bit of a surprise. But now I understand and have to follow suit, standing back and letting the children learn by the same process of self discovery.'

Both of our teachers stressed the importance of understanding the learning process that their students would experience later.

'This project lets the students think outside the box,' said Mr Mak. 'That's something which is still very rare in the traditional educational context. It gives them self-confidence because they create something new from scratch, purely of their own design, developing team spirit in the process’.

The concept behind LEAD is to stimulate creative activities that blend art, science, mechanics and robotics through the use of computer software. It is based on project learning - a keystone in the government's educational reforms which recognize the need of today's students for knowledge and skills that will be useful in daily life.

'They were so excited and enthusiastic…asking me for days ahead of their workshops to tell them all about it… they could barely wait for their own hands-on chance to make the robot toys…'

Asked what the difference was between LEAD and other creative project based learning that students might have experienced in the past, Mr Mak said:

'The main distinction is that LEAD requires visuospatial skills. First there is some mind-storming then a practical, mechanical and hands-on approach is brought into play rather than the verbal creative skills that are associated with arts-centred project learning such as drama performances.'

Michael Smith-Welch, Researcher and Collaborator at the MIT Media Laboratory who was a central figure at the students' workshops commented:

'If you're a painter and you mess up one painting then it's a pain to start all over again. LEAD is about learning through an iterative process, which means you can start over as many times as you like with no pain. I think this is the way that designers, film directors and other creators of the future will work.'

The teachers showed one side of their own creative spirit by composing a verse to celebrate LEAD for their students.

Leaders of the future
Engineers of their lives
Adventurers of the unknown
Designers of the world

Fundamental to successful project learning is a theme that begins by capturing a student's imagination and finishes with an end product he or she is proud of. Going by the delight that was so evident both during the creative process and at the culminating moments when the robot toys were put on display after the workshops, there's no question that LEAD is helping to take Hong Kong educators and learners in the right direction.

How to keep Hong Kong people young

Hong Kong has had the lowest birth rate in the world for nearly two years and the annual statistics for 2004 are expected to show a maximum of 0.8 for all women of child-bearing age. The Chief Executive, in his annual policy address released in January, estimated that by 2033 people aged 65 and over would total 25% of the population. Other figures show that only 10,000 more people are born each year than die. This is a very low figure.

Hong Kong is not alone in having a declining population and it is not always bad news. New York has had a steadily dropping population since the 1970s whereas London's has been on a downward trend since the Second World War. Traditionally, children represent riches but in Hong Kong's rapidly evolving society with two wage earning parents, perspectives have changed. The worry, and again it is not only a worry for Hong Kong but for all developed nations, is that as an ageing population becomes increasingly unable to look after itself, so the number of young people in the workforce will not be enough to contribute to the government resources required to look after them.

There are many possible answers to this concern. One is to encourage all people, but especially the young, to start saving for their pensions as early as possible rather than expecting welfare to be provided for them. Another is to encourage fit, healthy older people to stay at work longer.

Looked at this way, we can be less anxious about the decrease in the birth rate. As our overall numbers drop so does the pressure on services. That means educational standards can climb and Hong Kong can experience qualitative growth, exactly what it needs.

Something very unusual was shown by a study released last week by the Centre for Nutritional Studies at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. It reveals a unique feature among our young people but sadly, this time it is not one we can be proud of. The data shows that young men aged between 25 and 34 actually lose cardio- respiratory fitness at a time in their lives when people normally approach their peak.

The study measured aerobic capacity and was done on a sample group of 417 people aged between 20 and 64 in 2004. It contradicts the conventional medical assumption that the younger you are the fitter you are. Instead it shows that men in the age group 35-39, were fitter than those up to fifteen years their junior.

Many of Hong Kong's young men are driven by career goals. They work too long, take too little exercise and do not get enough sleep. Indeed, another study conducted at The Chinese University of Hong Kong recently showed that 20% of our population is sleep deprived and the 20-30 year olds are affected worse than anyone. Sleep deprivation is a common symptom amongst those who work in a highly competitive, demanding work environment. The combination of poor fitness levels and fatigue can be damaging to any individual's well-being but when it happens to our young adults it is an eye-opener, and one all of us should take heed of.