A new 'constituency' without representation in the Legislative Council or the Election Committee has called on Donald Tsang Yam-kuen to heed its views. Environmental and public health concerns topped the issues that children, aged between eight and 17, want the new chief executive to address. These include the problems of air pollution, the reclamation of land in Victoria Harbour and second-hand smoking. As part of a photographic competition organised by the Hong Kong Committee for Unicef, 334 primary and secondary school students submitted more than 3,000 photographs taken in April and May to represent their perspectives on life and social issues. The largest proportion of the photographs - 36 per cent - had social themes, while about 25 per cent had personal or family themes. Chan Kin-man, associate professor of sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, said even though the photographs were taken before Mr Tsang became chief executive, the children knew he would land the top post. Captions calling on the government to halt reclamation work and water pollution accompanied photographs of reclamation projects, while pictures of a beautiful park were submitted to urge the government to 'green' Hong Kong. One poignant shot of an elderly homeless person requested more help for old people. A picture of a tram came with a plea for magnetic trains. In one picture, a boy covered his mouth while an adult puffed on a cigarette, the caption calling for a smoke-free Hong Kong. Several pictures depicted stories of feeling alone, or frustration at not being able to play often enough. A few also represented the dark thoughts children can have - one shot looking down from a high-rise building asked how it must feel to drop from such a height. UN Children's Fund advocacy and development co-ordinator Rosanna Chan called on the government to establish a permanent platform for children's opinions to affect policymaking. Unicef intends to send the photos and academic analysis to Mr Tsang's office, the Environmental Protection Department and the Education and Manpower Bureau.
