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The Chief Executive, Mr C Y Leung, and government Principal Officials attended the Youth Summit 2012 today (November 24) to listen to the views of young people on youth development policy and various social policies.
The Youth Summit is organised every two years by the Home Affairs Bureau and the Commission on Youth. The theme of this year's summit was "Voices of the Youth - Our Ideal...", under which were four sub-themes selected through online voting, namely "Our Ideal Career", "Our Ideal Home", "Our Ideal Education" and "Our Ideal Caring Community".
The Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Tsang Tak-sing, said, "Every aspect of today's summit is led by young people. From the topics of most concern picked by online voting to the in-depth research and discussion, the preparation of sub-group presentations and the production of posters, as well as the nomination of representatives to speak on stage, everything was the result of the hard work of young people."
Mr Tsang noted that the topics discussed at the summit not only matter to young people, but are also among the main concerns of the Government. In formulating relevant policies, the Government hopes to take into consideration the views of young people.
He said the future is up to the young people of today to create. He said he hoped the summit can help demonstrate the importance of mutual respect, inclusiveness and consensus building. He also encouraged young people to continue to contribute, with careful thought and conscientious consideration, their advice for the well-being of society.
The Chairman of the Commission on Youth, Mr Bunny Chan, thanked the young people for their participation and serious discussion, as well as their efforts in working together for a better Hong Kong. He also welcomed young people from the Mainland and Macau taking part in the summit. He said he hoped the event will help foster exchange and interaction among young people from different backgrounds and cultures, inspire thoughts and strengthen the communication, interaction and friendship among the young people of the three places.
Government Principal Officials, namely the Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung; the Secretary for Education, Mr Eddie Ng Hak-kim; the Secretary for Transport and Housing, Professor Anthony Cheung Bing-leung; the Secretary for Development, Mr Paul Chan; and community personalities also attended the summit. They listened to the youth representatives' presentations on the participants' discussions on the four sub-themes, had a discussion session with the young people and answered questions posed by the audience and online.
The Chief Executive attended the summit this afternoon to exchange views with participants on youth development policy and other topics of concern. The young people were eager to express their views and aspirations. The Chief Executive also responded to questions raised by the participants and submitted online.
Youth participants aged 15 to 24 were recruited through the Commission on Youth's website and the 18 District Offices (DOs) of the Home Affairs Department from mid-September to early October. The aim was to have the views of young people from different backgrounds and organisations, including those in school and at work, represented at the summit.
All young people who signed up through the website and the 18 DOs were enrolled as participants and were required to attend a pre-summit workshop in early November. Attendance of the full-day workshop was essential as it allowed youth participants to focus on having direct exchange with guests at today's summit and also presented an opportunity for participants to get to know each other, hold preliminary discussions and enhance their understanding of the sub-themes. In addition, communication and report writing training was provided to help them better prepare for the presentations given today. After attending the workshop, the participants continued to further explore the topics in groups in the following two weeks to get ready for the summit.
Youth Ambassadors were recruited to assist in preparatory work and lead participants to gather information and hold in-depth discussions in groups. Young people from the Mainland and Macau were also recruited to join the summit through universities in the two places.
Views collected at the summit will be submitted to relevant government bureaus for reference and follow-up. The Government will also continue to gauge the views of young people on social policies via different channels, and organise activities such as Youth Exchange Sessions to let young people have direct exchange with government representatives on issues of concern to the youth.
Ends/Saturday, November 24, 2012
Issued at HKT 18:21
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