Generation why
A lack of drive and ambition among youngsters is threatening the city's entrepreneurial spirit. But educators are fighting back, writes Nazvi Careem
Kent Tong Ting-hung has one year left for his business administration degree at Hong Kong Shue Yan University and he is already an entrepreneur.
Joining forces with another student, from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), Tong launched Buzz Code, an online marketing and media production company, last year.
"We believe we have the ability but only lack experience, so we started the business while still in university," says Tong, 22.
Tong's daring venture into the perilous world of start-ups should be another glowing example of entrepreneurial spirit among Hong Kong's youth. But according to some academics, Tong and his business partner rarities in a city known for its enterprise. The reality, they say, is that the latest generation of youngsters lack drive and ambition when it comes to starting their own businesses. Most are happy to trudge through life working for others.
The issue was initially raised by Professor Joseph Sung Jao-yiu, vice-chancellor of Chinese University, who lamented in a blog post in February that the young entrepreneurs who helped build Hong Kong's thriving economy over the decades were fast disappearing.
Sung wrote: "We are losing our entrepreneurial spirit in Hong Kong. I don't know when and how it happened. I have talked to our final-year students about their plan after graduation and heard: 'We want to have a good job with stable income and a steadily ascending path'.