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Timmy Sung

Young people scored 74.5 out of 100 in a wide-ranging study designed to gauge their level of competitiveness, the first of its kind in the city
The Shue Yan University study of people aged 15 to 24 found that those who were in employment and who had done voluntary work, housework and were regular savers generally scored higher than their peers.
The same applied to working youngsters who regular travelled independently rather than joining tours, as they scored higher in areas such as international perspective, thinking skills and team work.
But it found that senior secondary school pupils needed to brush up some of their skills. They scored lower in areas of work experience and resilience.
As for tertiary students, they achieved lower scores in areas of professional competence and work experience.
The working youngsters, meanwhile, did not do so well when it came to using foreign languages, and their levels of resilience were questioned.
The Commission on Youth, which commissioned the study, said the findings would not be used to measure a person's success or failure, and neither would the results be used to draw conclusions on an individual's life.
It said the purpose of the exercise was only to "clarify" the concept of youth competitiveness.
"Since no other relevant data are available for comparison and analysis at this point of time, it is hard to determine the development trend of youth competitiveness," the report said, adding that it could provide data for the government to develop suitable public policies and understand youth competiveness.
Although a direct comparison could not be drawn, the report said the competiveness of Hong Kong youth "should not be bad" when looked at in a global context, since Hong Kong ranked high in international indices on competitiveness.
To maintain competitiveness, young people should strive to improve themselves and learn from the different situations and challenges they encountered in their development process, the commission said.
The university's Business, Economic and Public Policy Research Centre, which carried out the study, polled a total of 4,253 young people for four months from October 2013.
After the young people filled in the questionnaires, researchers converted the data into numbers on a scale of 1 to 100 based on the seven indicators, including adaptability to future change, basic skills competence and supporting the environment.


Hong Kong youngsters tested to see how competitive they are

Two young volunteers assist a visually impaired woman during a special bird-watching tour at the Inspiration Lake. The Shue Yan University study of people aged 15 to 24 found that those who were in employment and who had done voluntary work, housework and were regular savers generally scored higher level of competitiveness than their peers. Photo: SCMP

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Hong Kong

Volunteers, savers and independent travellers score highly in a test of competitiveness


Hong Kong youngsters tested to see how competitive they are

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Volunteers, savers and independent travellers score highly in a test of competitiveness

Volunteers, savers and independent travellers score highly in a test of competitiveness