Give young more opportunities, urges Council of Social Service chief

The government should come up with a more comprehensive youth policy and diversify the economy to help young people spread their wings, says the head of the Council of Social Service.

Chua Hoi-wai, chief executive of the council, said there was a lack of overall planning and leadership on youth policy. He did, however, acknowledge that Financial Secretary John Tsang Chun-wah had announced measures to address housing problems and encourage start-ups in his recent budget.

Chua was addressing teenage members of the Boys' Brigade at Polytechnic University in Hung Hom yesterday.

The council is a non-governmental organisation that acts as a bridge between social service NGOs and the government.

"The Commission on Youth is under the Home Affairs Bureau. But a lot of resources go to education and welfare authorities. It is yet another department which oversees economic development … Hong Kong does not have a comprehensive youth development strategy," he said.

The teenagers told Chua about the challenges they faced in pursuing their goals. One of them said Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying's policy address in January had focused too much on housing and had ignored other issues facing the young.