Deputy President, young people are the future pillars of society. However, young people nowadays encounter many difficulties and challenges in pursuing studies and seeking employment. They have to go through keen competition to enter a university, and it is not easy to find a good job even after graduation from university. Moving up the social ladder has become a remote target for them.
According to a study, the plight of young people is mainly related to economic development. Like many European countries and the United States, the economic development of Hong Kong has reached a mature stage in which the growth in the number of jobs has slowed and good jobs are becoming harder to get. As young people lack work experience, it is naturally more difficult for them to find jobs. Even if they manage to find one, the salary is generally low, there is no job security and some people even fail to find any job. Therefore, the unemployment rate of young people is higher than the general unemployment rate. As the number of managerial or professional jobs available is limited, some young people may have to take up jobs which require only secondary education level even after they have graduated from university, for example, clerk, salesperson or worker in the service industry. Under such circumstances, young people may feel that their life goals are too remote for them to attain and it is natural that they will hold grievances against the society.
Therefore, I agree that we have to assist young people in their development on all fronts and help them to resolve problems of pursuing studies and seeking employment and even difficulties in life. However, I think priority should be given to providing young people with a good employment prospect. This will resolve the problems at source. Therefore, the amendment which I have proposed urges the Government to enhance Hong Kong’s competitiveness and promote economic development, so as to provide young people with more high-quality positions.
I think the economic development of Hong Kong has not only reached a mature stage, but has also entered a stage that we have to rest on our own laurels. Since reunification, Hong Kong has been relying on the financial industry and the real estate sector all along. The logistics industry, which was one of the four major traditional pillar industries of Hong Kong, has been shrinking and not much achievement has been made in the development of the emerging industries. However, Hong Kong is increasingly relying on the economic development of the Mainland. Under such circumstances, not only will young people lose upward mobility opportunities, it is also increasingly difficult for people of Hong Kong to earn a living.
I think our economy needs diversified development. Apart from continuing to promote vigorously the emerging new industries where Hong Kong enjoyed clear advantages, efforts have to be made in encouraging overseas investors to invest in Hong Kong. Therefore, I have proposed to drive the development of headquarters economy in my amendment. By driving the development of headquarters economy, I am referring to implementing concessionary measures to encourage foreign investors to establish regional headquarters or offices in Hong Kong. These international enterprises will create jobs in Hong Kong which involve international trade. Such jobs are challenging and involve international vision, which should be highly attractive to young people.
In fact, Hong Kong has been trying to bring in international investors all along, but compared with our competitors, we are not proactive enough. At present, 7 449 companies have set up their regional headquarters or offices in Hong Kong and they have employed 380 000 staff members. These figures are the highest ever recorded in Hong Kong. However, it should be noted that we have recorded the biggest growth in the number of Mainland investors. I think we have to learn from Singapore and implement more concessionary measures to encourage big international enterprises to invest in Hong Kong so as to promote diversified development in international trade. In fact, if we consider the development of Singapore, we will understand that this is an important direction of development.
According to the official information provided by Singapore, among its investors at present, 26 000 are international companies and many of which are world-class international enterprises. The figures also reflected the reasons for the thriving development of Singapore in recent years. In comparison, there is still room for development in Hong Kong. If we can attract more big international enterprises to invest in Hong Kong, it will create tens of thousands of high-quality positions for our young people. This will surely help young people resolve their problems and bring considerable benefits to the economy of Hong Kong. Certainly, there will be many hurdles in bringing in international investors, but if the Government is determined enough, it will be able to resolve any problem.
Apart from creating job opportunities, I think the Government should also assist young people to start their own business. In the past, starting a business was difficult because the rent was too high. However, as Internet shopping is becoming more popular, it is now easier for young people to start their own business and they also have a bigger chance to succeed. As Internet shopping has become a new international trend, many information technology companies within and without China have been vigorously opening up business opportunities in Internet shopping which may replace some of the traditional sales channels in the future. In fact, starting an Internet business not only incurs a relatively low cost, the business opportunities offered are also unlimited. It requires knowledge in information technology and is very suitable for young people. Therefore, the Government should consider providing young people with technical support including support in risk management and information on starting a business. It may even provide loans for start-up business to give young people more room for development.
Another important point in my amendment is to urge the Government to attach importance to the balanced development of young people’s physical and mental well-being. Young people of the last generation engaged themselves in more activities in their daily lives as information technology had not been extensively developed back then. They might be passionate about sports or they might enjoy singing karaoke with friends or sightseeing. Anyway, they would not “lock themselves up”. However, with the emergence of the Internet, spending time on the Internet at home has become a favourite activity of young people nowadays and they are not very interested in ordinary social activities any more. As such, young people are becoming weaker in communicating with others and they tend to over-indulge themselves in the virtual network. In addition, the troubles arising from studies and work have also affected the physical and mental health of young people in recent years. Therefore, apart from work and studies, we should also assist young people to develop a healthy lifestyle.
Personally, I consider sports as the best way to maintain a balanced development of one’s physical and mental well-being. Even watching a match in sports will bring a lot of fun. I think the Government should promote sports development and cultivate an interest in sports in young people. For example, the Government can encourage schools and the community to organize more sports competitions or ask schools to offer more training programmes in sports. Furthermore, the Government can also assist sports teams of Hong Kong, whether they are soccer, basketball or volleyball teams, to participate in the more competitive league games held within and without China. Such efforts will help to promote an interest in watching sports games and foster the development of sports teams. In fact, the Government should organize more recreational and cultural activities to encourage young people to develop various interests. However, I will not speak further on these issues, but will leave them for future discussion.
In particular, I hope the Government would attach importance to the development of young people’s physical and mental well-being and one important factor for such development is to teach young people to stay away from drugs. Although the number of cases of drug-taking by young people has decreased in recent years, the efforts made by the community should not be slackened because there is a higher tendency of hidden drug-taking in young people, and they are also taking psychotropic drug which will cause irreversible damage to their physical and mental well-being in the long term. Apart from ruining their own lives, they will use up a lot of resources of society because they have to receive treatment and assistance for the rest of their lives. That will create a heavy burden on society. Therefore, I hope the Action Committee Against Narcotics will continue to strengthen their anti-drug measures and education initiatives in order to protect young people from the harm of drugs.
Apart from the difficulties encountered at work, young people in Hong Kong also have problems in pursuing studies, including the problem concerning sub-degree. As the number of articulation places is insufficient, only about 20% of sub-degree holders can gain admission to degree programmes. In other words, 80% of sub-degree graduates cannot pursue further studies. As we all know, the salary offered to sub-degree holders is very similar to that offered to secondary school graduates. However, the charging of exorbitant fees for sub-degree programmes is a cause of perplexity for students and their parents. Hence, the Government needs to review the entire policy on sub-degree education. On the one hand, the number of articulation places has to be increased, and on the other hand, the quality of sub-degree graduates has to be improved so as to enhance their recognition by society.
Lastly, I think the Government should make efforts to enhance the social status and image of construction and technical personnel to attract young people to join the industry. In a society, there are certainly some young people who are not interested in studies. Acquiring a skill will provide better prospect for these young people. However, society in general has a negative impression of blue-collar workers and so young people are unwilling to join the trade. Recently, the MTR Corporation Limited has put up an advertisement which describes the thoughts of a woman technician. The advertisement has been well-received and has changed people’s perception of technicians. In recent years, efforts have indeed been put in Hong Kong to improve the working conditions of construction workers and gradually enhance the image of technical personnel. Besides, as the wages of these occupations have increased, young people have been attracted to take up these jobs recently. I think the Government should continue with its efforts in this area, so as to attract young people to join these occupations and open up more job opportunities for them.
I so submit.