What Hong Kong teens have to say on ways to tackle underage drinking, beyond the new law

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Teens with beer bottles. Retail outlets across Hong Kong, not just restaurants, will soon be prohibited from selling alcoholic beverages to minors. Photo: Image Source/Corbis

Published: 3:00pm, 11 Aug 2018Updated: 10:02pm, 11 Aug 2018

Later this month, Hong Kong will enter a new era in its approach to underage drinking. A new legislation will come into effect, making it illegal to sell alcohol to anyone under 18, covering also retail stores and not just restaurants.

It has been a long time coming. However, a law is only the “end of the beginning”. Much work needs to be done to raise awareness of the challenges our youth face concerning alcohol consumption.

We at KELY Support Group and Support! International Foundation co-organised our first youth conference “Tidal Wave Series” on April 21, bringing together young people aged between 14 and 24 and from different backgrounds. They came up with suggestions on how issues surrounding underage drinking could be more widely understood in Hong Kong society.

Representatives from the Department of Health, professionals from two international liquor companies, parents, school advisers and other stakeholders were actively engaged.

The assembled youth suggested that the government should improve messaging around the illegality of underage drinking by reviewing and restricting alcohol advertisements; strengthening alcohol licensing checks; requiring establishments to conduct ID checks of everyone buying alcohol (not just those they suspect might be underage); and implementing stricter law enforcement around underage drinking.

A staff member of the Hong Kong Sevens checks the ID of a customer purchasing an alcoholic beverage. Photo: SCMP

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