Last week's Dragons in China * exceeded all expectations. Young Chinese delegates came to Beijing from many parts of the world to participate. 1200 from the Mainland, over 200 from Hong Kong plus representatives from Southeast Asia, Taiwan and Macau, from Europe, Australia, Canada and the US. Financial Secretary Mr Henry Tang, joined by Dr Patrick Ho and Ms Shelley Lee from the Home Affairs Bureau officiated at the opening ceremony. Delegates benefited from insights offered by prominent Mainland, overseas and local Hong Kong Chinese speakers as well as from the rich opportunities for networking.

Visits to Peking and Tsinghua Universities, Renmin University of China and the China Agricultural University gave them the chance to hear leading academics speak and to meet local students and National Day saw the whole party joining in the celebrations in Tienanmen Square. Perhaps what delighted them most was the opportunity to meet national leaders. What more valuable exposure could there be for Hong Kong youth. All in all, a grand success that bodes well for the future.

*Dragons in China: The First World Chinese Youth Forum, Beijing, 28th-29th September, 2004

Undergrads meet China's leaders
A proud group of eight Hong Kong university students met one of China's national leaders in Beijing last week. Touched by the encouragement they were given and the attention paid to their opinions by such a senior member of government, the meeting was declared an overwhelmingly positive experience, both inspiring and motivating.

"From now on, wherever I am – at a lecture or in tutorial – my goal won't be mere personal enrichment but will be focused on equipping myself for my mission - to work for the enrichment of my country and its society."
Members of the group

From the University of Hong Kong
Ho Yui-chi, Cedric Poon, Valentina Wong, Alex Hui

From the Chinese University of Hong Kong

Diane Tai,Kwong ching-ching, Li Kwok-leung, Echo Yuen

Slim chance

Between March and May 2004, the Hong Kong Paediatric Foundation and the Boys' and Girls' Clubs Association carried out a survey1 to investigate young people's attitudes to slimming and other health habits. During the same period a local school catering company also surveyed students on slimness. Both had a sample group of over 2000 9-15 year olds and both came up with the same answers. The first survey showed that over 34% believed staying slim equalled being healthy. More than 50% felt they would look better if they could lose weight even though 87% weighed the average or less for their age, a figure most North Americans would die for. The second survey showed that 30% think they are too fat and 44% have taken action to change their body shape. Paediatricians rightly express concern since eating disorders are a serious problem in Hong Kong and affected adolescent females here have multiplied 50-fold in the last decade. Unfortunately slimming foods are often to reduce weight instead of better diet and exercise. Boys under 15 should exercise for 40-60 minutes daily and girls for 30-40 minutes but what gets top score for leisure? Watching TV, sleeping and surfing the net. For more on that see the next article.

1, http://www.bgca.org.hk/bgca/html/tchi/home.html to read the report.
2, The fittest generation- student weight management: a survey conducted for Hong Kong Gourmet Ltd, a subsidiary of Vitasoy International Holdings Ltd.
3, Department of Health, HKSAR: Health status of women in Hong Kong, 2002.

Internet risks revealed

The Tung Wah Group of Hospitals commissioned a survey* this summer on parents’ attitudes to the effect of the Internet on their children. The average time these parents observed their children on the net was 2.85 hours a day. Contrast this with a report from the Hong Kong Family Welfare Society conducted last April among secondary students who said their average was 4 hours a day. Then compare figures collected by Against Child Abuse Ltd this spring showing that there are 12-15 year-olds here who spend up to a staggering 21 hours online a day. Seems the parents aren't always aware of reality. Inspite of the evident mismatch 16% of parents in the Tung Wah survey were prepared to admit they thought their children were addicted while 31.3% thought that Internet use at home was excessive, (over 4 hours a day). 65.6% of the parents said that they did not have enough know-how themselves to teach their children either the risks of indiscriminate surfing or the benefits of the Internet and the study recommends basic computer and Internet literacy training so they can keep abreast, a view endorsed this week by the Director of Against Child Abuse.
*Centre for Social Policy Studies, Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University:“Parental Perception on (sic) Children's Internet Use”, June 2002. Click to see the report

http://www.polyu-csps.com/conference/21062004/TWGH_presentation_18_june.ppt

Students on patriotism

How do Hong Kong young people feel about their nation? The Hok Yau Club recently interviewed 3,605 of them in 80 local secondary schools and found that 62.1% considered themselves patriotic, up by 7.7% on last year. But figures vary and the Vice-chairman of the Hong Kong Civic Association* recently expressed dismay at the lack of national pride among our youth. Indeed the latest survey at the San King Integrated Children & Youth Service Centre showed very different results with only 30% of the secondary students polled feeling love for the motherland. The Hok Yau Club then asked their respondents to compare civic standards here with those on the Mainland and found that the latter are seen as less polite and less knowledgeable. As far as attitudes to democracy, freedom and equality are concerned, on a scale of 1-6 (6 = full marks) mainland youths get under 4 compared to the Hongkongers' scores of 5 to 5.3. What to do? The Hok Yau Club suggests improving "national education" and communication between the two groups and a representative of the Education & Manpower Bureau*, explaining the host of activities the Bureau organized to mark National Day last week, said it was in response to the sudden increase in demand for national education but also a sign of, "pragmatism in action".
*Ms Ho Suk-wan, Vice-chairman, Hong Kong Civic Association and Mr Cheung Wing-hung, chief curriculum development officer in moral and civic education of the EMB, both quoted in the South China Morning Post, 5th October 2004, C5.