DRAFT SPEECH BY HON STEPHEN, CHEONG, OBE, JP LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL -/11 MAY 1988
Motion Debate on the Report on Youth Policy
MR. CHEONG:
Sir
The future of Hong Kong has been uppermost in our minds
ever since the start of the Sino-British negotiations. Many
important and at times heated debates in connection with our future
have taken place in this Chamber over the past few years.
Yet,
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looking back and pondering over what has transpired, somehow I
Laving cannot help but,
t/have a nagging feeling that we might have fallen into the trap of concentrating too much on just one factor,
namely, the development and evolution of our future political
system. Have we not run the risk of losing sight of the importance
of other factors that are of equal significance to our future?
Many parents would say that they are living not only for
themselves but more importantly for their children. Have we not
repeatedly heard that it is only for their children that they are
taking the plunge to emigrate? Should we not accept that the
future of Hong Kong will be very much the future of our youth?
Hence, this debate on youth policy is indeed timely. For me at.
least, it helps to refocus my mind on an issue that has a crucial
bearing on the future of Hong Kong. In short, if our youth are not
adequately prepared to meet future challenges we, or they, will not
have a future.
What then are the challenges? How do we identify them?
Having identified them, how should Government allocate resources
into establishing programmes designed to help our youth to meet
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