The rise and fall of Hong Kong's uniformed youth groups
Hong Kong has seen the rise and fall of several youth groups, some more innocuous than others, writes Jason Wordie
On the face of it, the recently launched Hong Kong Army Cadets Association should be uncontroversial.
Youth cadet groups, after all, have a long local history. Most countries have something similar; in Britain, the University Officer Training Corps is a valuable public relations exercise for – and potential entry point into – the regular armed forces.
When the Royal Hong Kong Regiment (The Volunteers) disbanded, in 1995, the regiment’s Junior Leader Corps (JLC) morphed without problems into the Hong Kong Adventure Corps, which still exists. The group uses government facilities, undertakes adventure training activities, often led by former Volunteers, and its uniform and cap badges retain a distinct “family resemblance” to those of the now-defunct parent regiment.
Other local cadet groups are civilianised legacies of the longdeparted British garrison; Air Cadets and Sea Cadets were connected to the Royal Air Force and Royal Navy, respectively.
But in Hong Kong, where suspicion of the sovereign power has become more pronounced with the passage of time, a new youth group has swiftly assumed sinister undertones.
In this sense, the whole Army Cadet Association exercise echoes the local People’s Liberation Army presence; they’re here, but seldom seen and mostly ignored.
