Hong Kong’s youth policy has been ineffective for many years, and the city has been besieged by wind and rain. When President Xi Jinping visited Hong Kong a few days ago, he expressed concern regarding the development of youth: “If youth thrive, Hong Kong will thrive; if youth develop, Hong Kong will develop; if youth have a future, Hong Kong will have a future.” The development is pessimistic, and nearly 20% of them plan to emigrate to find a new way within 10 years. Regarding the introduction of the new government team and screening out the old mediocrity, the respondents hope that the new government will give priority to solving the housing problem, and at the same time listen to the voices of young people and repair the relationship between the two sides.
The “Youth Innovation and Research Bank” set up by the Youth Research Centre of the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups interviewed 1,054 young people aged 15 to 34 in May. The survey shows that 46.9% of the respondents are pessimistic regarding the future development of Hong Kong, while only 17.5% are optimistic regarding the future. 48.7% of the young people surveyed estimated that they would stay in Hong Kong in 10 years, while 19.6% said they would settle down at home and abroad. Respondents most expect Hong Kong to be a free capital, prosperous, stable and livable city in 10 years’ time; the core values that Hong Kong can implement the most are freedom, democracy and the rule of law.
Housing shortage is the most worrying thing regarding ignoring opinions
The survey also pointed out that 66.5% of the respondents believed that the housing shortage problem was the most urgent need to deal with. Regarding the youth work of the new government, 45% expect the authorities to solve the youth housing problem, and secondly, they expect the authorities to listen to the voices of young people and mend relations, accounting for 35.3% and 27.5% respectively. And 66.6% of the surveyed youth do not think the government trusts the youth, and 63.6% even admit that they do not trust the government. To sum up, the interviewed Hong Kong youth believe that Hong Kong lacks a common goal and is in an unclear situation, which makes it difficult to see the future. The government needs to establish a vision and lead society out of the fog.
Hong Kong youth are troubled by housing problems. Some recent university graduates interviewed shared that their parents are eager for her or her spouse to own a property in the future to improve their living conditions. She believes that buying a home is a reassurance for a secure life. However, due to the high property prices in Hong Kong, it will be difficult to realize the dream of two old people in the foreseeable future. The pressure and worry she bears are difficult to describe in words. Another interviewed middle school student rented a village house with her parents. Her parents often worried regarding “no house to live in” next month, which made her feel helpless and hoped that the authorities would take concrete measures to solve the youth housing issue.
Hope the new team will take the lead in building mutual trust
Lin Jinghui, Convenor of the “Governance” category of the Youth Innovation and Research Bank, said that the turmoil and epidemic in the past few years have caused a lack of mutual trust in society. The new government should seize the newly established opportunity to bring new hope to the society. Regarding the newly-established Home Affairs and Youth Affairs Bureau following the government’s reorganization, Ye Zicong, a member of this group, believes that the promotion of youth affairs to the policy bureau level is a new milestone in history. Trust, youth build confidence in personal development prospects, and belief in a better Hong Kong.
Hope to allow young people to participate in expressing opinions
As for the new government’s formulation of “Key Performance Indicators” (KPIs) for civil servants, the Youth Innovation Research Institute recommends that the authorities invite young people to participate in the formulation and review work, and synthesize and adopt young people’s constructive and practical opinions on areas that are closely related to young people. Young people set goals together, accept results together, and make the performance measurement of the authorities more “grounded”.
