Top adviser advocates more youth policies in HK
Updated: 2014-12-12 07:35
By Joseph Li in Hong Kong(HK Edition)
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Because many illegal "Occupy Central" protesters were students and young people, more must be done to ensure they are instilled with the correct values, Bunny Chan Chung-bun said.
Chan, chairman of Commission on Youth, an advisory body, hopes the government will refine some of its policies to help the young. This could also assist them climbing the social ladder.
He hopes the government will now refine its education, employment and housing policies. This is to instill correct values such as mutual respect and accommodation of different views in young people. This could also enhance their upward social mobility through economic development.
It is also necessary to open more platforms for disseminating government policy objectives among the citizens. The government should appoint young people to sit on advisory bodies, he said.
Chan believes more must be done to promote the "One Country, Two Systems" policy and implementation of the Basic Law. Chinese history should be re-introduced as a compulsory subject for junior secondary classes, he advised.
With regard to the Liberal Studies, the Education Bureau should design teaching materials and provide training for teachers. It should also incorporate contemporary Chinese history into the curriculum.
Speaking to China Daily on the eve of the clearance of the protest zone in Admiralty, Chan said the occupation originated from disputes over constitutional reform.
Some politicians had advocated "genuine universal suffrage" by trying to intimidate the central and Hong Kong governments. They had also undermined the Basic Law and relevant decisions of the National People's Congress Standing Committee (NPCSC).
It was pitiful that certain academics contemptuously defied the law, Chan said.
Those politicians had deliberately stirred up controversy to gain political capital, he contended. To attract young people they claimed the "Occupy" movement was peaceful. But it was violent and included the illegal storming of police cordons and government property, Chan noted.
"We have seen rash protesters filled with sorrow and passion. Incited and misled by politicians, they pursue 'genuine universal suffrage' but it is dangerous to ignore other people's opinions," said Chan.
Chan said the worst damage the "Occupy Central" movement had done was to the rule of law. It had also hurt Hong Kong's economy and people's livelihoods.
"I have talked to young occupiers at our focus group meetings. I asked them whether they believe the form of universal suffrage in the US is perfect. Actually, the US adopts a kind of indirect election via electoral votes for the presidential election to balance the interests of the states. George W. Bush became president (in the 2000 election) because he won the litigation not because he got more votes than Al Gore, his opponent at the time.
"Some argue the NPCSC decision violates the Sino-British Joint Declaration. I told them the joint declaration never mentioned universal suffrage. It only says the Chief Executive will be returned by consultation or election. Asked if they have read the joint declaration, they replied 'no' because they just heard what others said.
"They deny the lack of upward social mobility is the cause of their discontent. They claim they have lofty ideals, which are no more than 'genuine universal suffrage' and public nomination."
On upward social mobility, Chan believes Hong Kong is not alone in facing the challenges of globalization and digitalization.
"Young people should better equip themselves to encounter the challenges," he advised.
"There is no single silver bullet that solves all the youth-related problems," he pointed out. Chan suggested the government re-examine and prioritize the housing, education, training and employment policies in the long term to meet these challenges.
Chan appreciates Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's efforts to increase land and housing supply. But he said it would take years for property prices to drop after housing developments are completed.
While the young bemoan high property prices, they contradict themselves by opposing the conversion of greenbelt land and farmlands, reclamation and the development of the northeast New Territories, for housing purposes.
"There must always be give and take in life. They should learn to look at things from different angles and from other people's position," he commented.
joseph@chinadailyhk.com
(HK Edition 12/12/2014 page2)