Hong Kong youth adviser calls on political leaders to listen to new generation

The city’s top adviser on youth policies has called on political leaders to empathise with and listen to the younger generation before formulating policies related to them.

Speaking a week ahead of Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying’s policy address, Lau Ming-wai, chairman of the Commission on Youth, also said he disagreed with the view that the desire for universal suffrage could be placated by better social mobility, stressing the two were separate issues.

Leung, who it is widely believed will seek re-election next year, is least popular among the city’s younger demographic, according to regular polls conducted by local universities.

“Our political leaders or politicians … are typically 50 or 55 plus. They themselves need to go and sit down and listen to young people,” Lau said.

The challenges posed to the younger generation in this era are very different from those in the past, Lau said. While young people of previous generations had few options after graduation, their counterparts now can decide between career paths “more complicated than the London Tube”, he said.

“Listening entails a high degree of empathy. It absolutely does not mean you must agree with young people. But I think we need to do more listening.”