Young drug abusers deserve second chance
The chief executive and the pan-democrats do not often find themselves in the same camp. Their agreement over a proposal to locate a residential rehabilitation school for young drug abusers in Mui Wo reflects understandable concerns for the welfare of the teenage students. Donald Tsang Yam-kuen has appealed to residents of the Lantau Island community to 'embrace these young people with love and give them a second chance'. The democrats are seeking cross-party support for a petition calling on people to accept the school.
These sentiments were prompted by extraordinary scenes at a public meeting at the weekend that has made the issue a big talking point. Some local residents abused students from the rehabilitation school, leaving them visibly distressed. Such behaviour at a meeting called by the Home Affairs Department to hear both sides of the story and try to bring the sides closer together is unacceptable. Thankfully, other residents openly demonstrated their compassion, and a spokesman for Mui Wo Rural Committee later issued a public apology.
The students are in need of school premises to help them build a good future and become upstanding members of society. They deserve sympathy and support. That said, Mui Wo residents have some justification for feeling their views have not received the attention they deserve. The reason they feel strongly goes beyond general opposition to the idea of a drug rehabilitation centre. The row centres on the future of the New Territories Heung Yee Kuk Southern District Secondary School, closed two years ago against local opposition because of falling enrolments. Christian Zheng Sheng College, which runs the drug rehabilitation school, first applied in 2006 to take over the premises to relieve overcrowding at its present site. Mui Wo school has also applied to use the site. The Education Department supports the college's proposal and Secretary for Security Ambrose Lee Siu-kwong, whose bureau is co-ordinating the issue, has appealed to residents to support it.
Many Mui Wo residents still harbour a sense of injustice at the loss of the secondary school and are affronted at the suggestion that it should now be used to house drug abusers. Officials should have been aware of this and consulted the residents earlier. There was always going to be a need for sensitive, patient persuasion.
The 'not in my backyard' syndrome cannot, however, be allowed to prevail. Certainly, appeals to Mui Wo residents to be more civic-minded carry a whiff of hypocrisy. Mui Wo is far from the only community to reject activities seen as conveying negative perceptions unhelpful to property values and development. Sadly, no other locality is extending a welcoming hand to the college.
Ideally, officials and the college should consider alternative sites less likely to spark such opposition, but that is easier said than done. The Heung Yee Kuk has now suggested a primary school site at Kwai Chung, described as possibly a good option because it is 'quite remote' and few people live there. A site that puts the students 'out of sight, out of mind' is not in the spirit of the chief executive's sentiments, or helpful to rehabilitating them into the community.
The college is helping students turn their lives around. They deserve a fair second chance of being accepted into the community. Because they represent a growing youth drug problem, it is in the best interests of the community that they get it. It is not too late for the government to try to bring the two sides together by making every effort to reassure residents about their concerns.
