TNAG-1734-FCO40-2447-Minutes-and-Hansards-of-the-Legislative-Council-of-Hong-Kong-1988 — Page 322

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HONG KONG LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL 11 May 1988

importance of leadership and commitment this commission must provide. What guarantee is there that its advice will be accepted? Furthermore, as matters pertaining to youth can cut across a number of policy areas, will the co-ordinating branch be able, however willing, to encourage co-operation and co-ordination in the implementation of the proposed policy at all times? What if such encouragement is resisted by some key departments in the bureaucratic machinery? I hope those queries are not to be dismissed as expressions of negative cynicism. These are positive efforts to avoid the obstacles intentionally or unintentionally mounted by negative forces that we, non-officials, have all come across in our work within Government.

But it would be quite wrong to think that it is all up to Government. The success hinges on the joint effort of Government and the community. The realisation of goals depends very heavily on the education and training of youth leaders.

Not enough is done, in my opinion, to sharpen common sense and inde- pendence in our young people. It is true that young people nowadays, more than ever, are left on their own, often relied upon by their parents to make major decisions. But how much help are they getting from their families, schools, peers and the community? How many choices are made and decisions taken on knowledge and analysis? How much demand is made on the young to take responsibility seriously and sensibly for themselves and others? How broad and deep is their vision? How far can they see beyond themselves and the world that immediately surrounds them? Some of the answers can already be found in the survey results contained in the report. They are neither surprising nor encouraging.

Surely, one of the most important priorities in the youth policy must be to find a way to teach our young people, not so much what to think, but how to think for themselves and others, by being knowledgeable, objective, logical and rational. Youths with leadership qualities must be recognised and given further opportunities of training and exposure. After all, they, not we, will be the pillars of a Hong Kong which needs to be even more self-reliant than today.

I remember, Sir, when I was a broadcaster, those were the days we worked hard at attracting young people to the box, with only with average success. Nowadays, the influence of television on the young can be felt easily, even without the confirmation of statistics.

There is no doubt that the standard of television production here matches anywhere else in the world in technique and entertainment value. But with the exception of government productions, it fails miserably in living up to the two other key functions and effects of television, that is, to inform and educate. And our young people, who are most susceptible to such influence, stand to lose a great deal. Producers often argue that art, particularly popular art, has to reflect real life so, if in real life young people behave immorally, talk badly, act and