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The Anti-drug Heroes design competition jointly organised by the Narcotics Division of the Security Bureau, the Action Committee Against Narcotics, Yahoo! Hong Kong and the Hongkong Federation of Youth Group, launched last June, has now entered its third phase.
To inspire the creativities of the young contestants and to let them see for themselves the damage of drug abuse, the organisers today (January 30) arranged them to visit two drug treatment and rehabilitation centres, namely the New Life Garden and the Mission Ark, which are operated by the Christian New Life Association. The young contestants met the trainees and listened to their bitter stories.
The young people first visited the New Life Garden in Yuen Long and saw the dormitories for the trainees to get an idea about the environment and activities there. The contestants were very impressed by the trainees' simple and stoic lifestyle. Contestants also visited the farm yard in the New Life Garden where the trainees were working hard. The labour in the farm helps strengthen the trainees' volition.
The young visitors then visited the Mission Ark. They listened to the sharing of two trainees about why they had fallen prey to the drug trap and the factors which motivated them to quit drugs. The contestants then chatted with the trainees in groups and listened to the trainees' description of the irreversible bodily damage caused by drugs, in particular impairment to memory and deficiency in motor co-ordination. The young visitors felt sorry on hearing the trainees' past and realised the serious harms of psychotropic substances.
Rev Cheng Chung-wah of the Christian New Life Association introduced to the visitors a new pilot scheme for short-term treatment entitled "Change" which was launched last year. The pilot scheme was sponsored by the Beat Drugs Fund. The scheme aims at raising the self-confidence and the problem resolving ability of the youth through psychological knowledge, case study, experience sharing, as well as popular adventure programmes like war games and other outdoor activities. It helps them rebuild positive beliefs and values and face life with the correct attitude, thus reducing their dependence on drugs.
The organisers also invited Danny Choi, one of the winners of the "Asian Million Star" singing contest, to join the visit. Apart from participating in the sharing session to listen to the stories of the young drug abusers, Choi sang a song to the applause of the contestants and the trainees and encouraged the rehabilitating trainees to continue staying away from drugs.
The design competition, which runs for a year, comprises a school category and an open category. There are three phases in the competition. The design themes for the three phases are "Anti-drug heroes", "Apparel of the Anti-drug heroes" and "Weapons to combat drugs of the Anti-drug heroes". Aside from submitting the artwork, participants also have to describe the ideas behind their designs. They can upload their design onto the competition website or use the art tools on the website to design their work. A professional designer will incorporate designs with the top votes into a mural containing anti-drug messages. About 120 youngsters will paint the mural. Details of the competition are uploaded to the website (www.mural.com.hk). The public may also visit the website of the Narcotics Division (www.nd.gov.hk) to learn more about the competition.
Ends/Saturday, January 30, 2010
Issued at HKT 18:11
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