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Hong Kong Youth Advertisement Competition 香港青年廣告短片大賽

The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts is our partner for the Hong Kong Youth Advertisement Competition (香港青年廣告短片大賽).We have the full support of The Association of Accredited Advertising Agents of Hong Kong and the generous sponsorship of Coca-Cola China Ltd, McDonald's Restaurants (Hong Kong) Ltd, Levi Strauss (Hong Kong) Ltd and Yahoo! Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. Groups of secondary and tertiary students and other young people under 30 are welcome to enter the competition and make a 30-60 second commercial. Training sessions on the making of commercials will be provided for applicants. We are hoping that the competition will cultivate creative thinking among youth, equipping them with skills in advertisement production as well as facilitating their understanding and interest in advertising techniques and culture. Application deadline: 30 November 2005. Click here for more details of the event:

www.u21.org.hj/youthnet/ads_film.html

or call us at 28319183 for enquires.

Building a harmonious society

With sponsorship from the Commission on Youth and The Board of Management of the Chinese Permanent Cemeteries, the Federation's Jockey Club Hung Hom Youth S.P.O.T. is organizing a series of activities as part of a scheme entitled「融」「義」之旅 — 社會共融計劃 . The scheme will run from now till August 2006 and is designed to improve understanding and tolerance among different ethnic groups. Students in Secondary 3 or above, plus tertiary students are welcome to join the scheme and participate in training workshops, meetings with ethnic minority groups, low-income families and hospital patients. Services and activities for such disadvantaged groups are in the interests of all concerned. Click here for more information on the scheme:

www.u21.org.hk/main/promotion/volunteer6

Mentorship project for poor students

With a sum of HK$850,000 from the Community Investment and Inclusion Fund, the Federation is launching a 2-year mentorship project, 創富工程-生活豐盛師友計劃,in three secondary schools in Shamshuipo, Tuen Mun and Yuen Long districts. We have recruited mentors as life coaches for students from low-income families, helping them to strengthen their life skills and widen their horizons. Activities will also be organized so that the students and their families will maximize the potential of the community resources available to them and build up a supportive network. Subsequently, they will be encouraged to contribute to the welfare of their community by offering voluntary services.

Astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng

China's acclaimed astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng
will be joining HKFYG next week for a short talk and dialogue session.
Target group: Young Professionals
Date: Tuesday 29 November
Time: 11:00am to 12 noon
Venue: Space Museum
To enroll: Click here…

Here at the Federation we are absolutely convinced that volunteerism is excellent for all the community and we are about to celebrate its positive effects. "To Serve with Love" Music Marathon, coming up on Saturday 3 December in Hong Kong Park, will be an all-day extravaganza with singers, celebrities and several thousand young volunteers sharing their music and personal volunteering experience. The music itself will also reflect the theme of the day and a major appeal is underway for volunteers of all ages to pledge service hours.

The Heart to Heart volunteer project, has already taken off with over 60 companies and nearly 150 schools signed up. They will be given awards at the marathon and young Federation volunteers will receive the recognition they deserve. The figures say it all: over 90,000 registered members gave almost 600,000 hours of service last year. They are truly Hong Kong's pride.

Chief Secretary, Rafael Hui Si-yan, GBS JP, will be the Guest of Honour at the Music Marathon which is supported by the Social Welfare Department, the Leisure & Cultural Services Department, RTHK and RoadShow with generous sponsorship from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust.
All who want to sign a pledge for just 10 hours' volunteering please call VNET's hotline, 2169 0032 any time till 3 December. Call the same number to register your school or company for Heart to Heart.

Federation News

Awards Ceremony for 2nd Oregon Scientific Sports Scholarship

Friday 25 November 2005 at 7:00-7:45p.m. Plaza Conference Centre, 35/F, Central Plaza

Officiating Guests: Ms. Olivia Chan, Assistant Director (Leisure Services)
Dr. Raymond Chan, DBA, JP, Oregon Scientific Group Chairman & CEO
Mr. Wong Tak Sum, Advanced Coach, Windsurfing Association of HK
Dr. Rosanna Wong, Executive Director, HKFYG

WTO Ministerial: recruitment of volunteers

253 volunteers aged 16-35, with a Form 6 or higher education level, have been recruited by the Federation's Youth Volunteer Network (VNET) for the Hong Kong WTO Ministerial Conference. The meeting is scheduled for 13-18 December and a 2-day training session for the volunteers is being provided by us and the organizer of the event, this weekend, 26-27 November.


Feature Story 

A design flair for youth: Barrie Ho and the Kin Sang Youth SPOT

Barrie Ho, the acclaimed Hong Kong interior designer, has a marvellously creative fusion design style and both his philosophy and vision are clearly on display at the Federation's Kin Sang Youth S.P.O.T. in Tuen Mun.

He was at the heart of the redevelopment there and his work for us has just received public recognition in the form of the 2005 gold medal APIDA (Asia Pacific Interior Design Award). Congratulations and thanks to Barrie.

We have been talking to him about his work and the concept behind the renovated Youth SPOT. It is in an old-style public housing estate where youth centres often have the reputation of being the place where the neighbourhood's less desirable elements hang out. That was the root of Barrie's first problem because the entrance was round the side of the building - well out of sight. That was an image we did not want.

"Site constraints are always a problem. Not only was there a hidden entrance but also the rigidity of heavy beams and columns that marred the interior. Despite them we were determined to find a way to attract young people and keep them coming back."

The solution was to blend functional issues with aesthetic requirements.

" I wanted to create a metaphor for youth, seeking the sort of flexibility where activity spaces could revolve freely around central, spinal features. These elements had to meld the transformable and multi-functional and never be boring"

How did he do it?

What you see at Kin Sang are curvilinear forms in the walls, ceilings and moveable panels. These create the effect of an indefinite vanishing point. The actual finite space seems to change as a result. There are mobile panels that gradually retreat around gentle corners. The eye is drawn up and out by the stretched canopy effect of ceilings that rise asymmetrically and disappear along with all the ugly ducting they hide. The whole emphasis is on continuity, space and visibility, with a clean, clear lines.

 

Mr Barrie Ho

 

HKFYG Kin Sang Youth S.P.O.T.

 

HKFYG Kin Sang Youth S.P.O.T.

 

 

HKFYG Kin Sang Youth S.P.O.T.

"By reflecting the best of the modern urban environment in the overall design concept I was looking for what young people like and identify with -modernity blended with functionality. There is both unity and harmony, with concealed lighting, folding doors and an outdoor cafe look in the meeting areas, just like those you see at side-walk cafes."

Wood panelling and Barrie's custom-designed furniture blend natural wood finishes and man-made fabrics. The overall effect is a wonderfully pleasing mix of ingenious, space-saving features and an open perspective that gives the illusion of far more room than there actually is.

He has also encapsulated Hong Kong design culture at Kin Sang. Everything in Hong Kong has to fit into small spaces and that familiar feature of our everyday lives is reflected in the way he has used each square centimeter economically.

"Those fold-away desks for example. I got the idea from the Ladder Street hawker stalls. By day there's nothing there, just a tiny blank door. But at night they fold right out, opening up into a work and display place with protection from the elements. The rice cooker is another example of the same sort of thing. It was an ingenious Japanese invention. Naturally, a German who has grown up on a diet of potatoes would never have thought of it. All design and inventions are contextual to your environment, your everyday life, and this is one element that designers around the world should embrace." Hawker Store

There are other Youth SPOTs where we hope Barrie's design flair will be on display in due course. We can only be grateful, admire and encourage young people to make the best of them.

'I am saying to young people, 'Your future is in your own hands. It's transformable and flexible just like this place. In the end, what it turns out to be is entirely up to you."

Facts & Figures

Under-age binge-drinking in Hong Kong

According to a large scale Department of Health study* conducted between September 2003 and May 2004, 14.4% of the young people in Hong Kong aged 15+ qualify as binge drinkers. What makes these young people abuse alcohol? There are two main reasons. One is peer-pressure to drink. The other is its wide availability. Bottles of hard liquor, wine and beer are on sale in hundreds of stores and there is no legal age restriction on alcohol sales in shops although many retail outlets have a policy of only selling to over 18s.

 

 

Binge-drinking

In the US, binge drinking is the most serious problem on most campuses and a 1999 Harvard University study** of 119 colleges revealed that 44% had been binge drinking in the previous fortnight, with 51% of the men students surveyed taking more than 5 drinks in a row while 40% of the women had more than 4 successive drinks in a session. A 1997 study*** of drinking behaviour on the Mainland found that most students of both genders drank but surprisingly few resulting problems were discovered.
*http://www.hkmenshealth.com/eng/newsroom/newsroom_01-06-2005.asp?period=2005_2 [accessed 19 November 2005]
**www.cspinet.org/booze/collfact1.htm
***Engs, Ruth C et al (1997) Substance Use and Misuse 32 (4) 495-506

 

Pressure to perform: a survey from the student's perspective

The Yang Memorial Methodist Social Service has released results of a survey on the psychological state of Hong Kong secondary school students. Between November 2004 and June this year, 1,678 secondary school students in 7 schools in Yau Tsim Mong District were interviewed. They were asked how they felt about perceived pressures experienced at school and in general, and how they affected self esteem.

Stressed Student

The students reported pressure not only to perform well in the academic sphere but also in extra-curricular activities and interpersonal relationships. 35% of the students regarded good academic results as the most important aspect of their lives. More than 20% felt unhappy or even experienced self-loathing because they did not get on well with their classmates. 40% said their school provided neither a tranquil nor a comfortable environment for them. Even worse, 20% of the students had suicidal thoughts in the past.

Although 70% of the students saw their teachers as friends, more than half of them said they would not turn to teachers for help if they had problems. The survey also showed that the immense pressure felt by some of them was partly a result of their vulnerability and emotional over-reaction. The report suggested that schools should devise an evaluation mechanism to review academic workloads and the other pressures faced by students. Moreover, it says that training in inter-personal skills and coping strategies should be provided for students at school in order to help them build self-esteem, cope with stress better, think more positively and improve their problem-solving ability.
*Wen Wei Pao 14 November 2005

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