ANNE Marden has made a 30-year career of championing the underdog in Hongkong. So when asked to become the patron of KELY, a group trying to get young people off drugs, she wasted no time in throwing her know-how and wealth of contacts behind the support group for troubled youths.
In a territory bent on smashing records for economic success, Mrs Marden believes young people often get pushed to the side. ''You've got to remember that there are always those people who are going to fall through the net . . . These are the people who need help.'' Frequently neglected by parents caught up in the Hongkong rat race and bored by a lack of things to do, she said young people deserve special attention.
The people that the KELY support group reaches out to - young drug addicts and alcoholics or other youth people caught in a period of crisis - have been pushed aside by a society which often despises the vulnerable, she said.
KELY runs a weekly peer support group, a 24-hour hotline and an educational outreach programme which includes talks on substance abuse and adolescent stress. The group is currently trying to raise $500,000 to cover operating expenses for the next six months.
The group's great strength, Mrs Marden said, was that its counsellors, who include former substance abusers, serve as mentors for other young people in emotional upheaval.
She dismisses critics who claim such role models lead young people to believe it's okay to dabble with drugs because it's easy to kick the habit and join the ranks of reformed addicts.
''Some people felt that this was a dangerous message to young people - that it wasn't too serious a matter if they took drugs as a temporary measure.