New Youth Bureau Urged To Mend Ties With Youngsters

A think tank has urged the newly established Home and Youth Affairs Bureau to work on restoring the government’s relations with young people, and explore new ways to communicate with them.

The Hongkong Federation of Youth Groups made the call after it surveyed around 1,000 local youngsters in May, and found that they believe the new government’s top three priorities are solving younger generations’ housing problems, listening to young people and mending ties with them.

Almost 70 percent of the respondents think the SAR government does not trust young people, and 63 percent of them said they don’t trust the government, the survey found.

A spokesman for the group, Alan Yip, said the government should let young people take part in community development.

“I know that the government has been increasing the participation of young people in those advisory committees, I think there are also other channels and opportunities they can provide in the district level or at higher levels for young people to voice out their opinion,” he said.

Yip added that the government can continue to use social media to reach out to young people, and explore other means, such as online forums, to communicate with them.