Hong Kong's ethnic minority students help ICAC to spread anti-corruption message
Nepali, Filipino and Pakistani volunteers help ICAC break the language barrier
Ethnic minority students in Hong Kong will be the main force in promoting the anti-graft message to their peers through the Independent Commission Against Corruption's first attempt to reach out to these groups.
In July, 22 Nepali, Pakistani and Filipino residents aged 15 to 18 signed up to become volunteer guides in an ICAC pilot programme called "Preventive Education for Ethnic Minorities". After one training session, the students took 30 ethnic minority teenagers on a tour of the graft-buster's offices in August.
READ MORE: How the ICAC cleaned up Hong Kong
"Before joining the programme, I wasn't aware of corruption in Hong Kong and I hadn't heard of the ICAC," said Ashi Babar, a 20-year-old Pakistani student helper from Delia Memorial School (Hip Wo). "This was a good learning experience for me and I learned many communication skills."
Babar, who has lived in Hong Kong for six years and speaks Urdu as her first language, was "nervous and excited" when she led the tour and hopes to continue taking part in the programme.
Her schoolmate, 16-year-old Rana Samichhya from Nepal, agreed the experience was rewarding. "I wanted to gain a wider knowledge of society," said Samichhya, who was born and raised in Hong Kong and speaks Nepalese, English and Cantonese. "I now better understood how the ICAC has helped [the city's] development."
READ MORE: ICAC steps up publicity drive against election fraud
Although the tour was given in English, ICAC regional officer Mary Lau Kwok-mei said she believed the students could put their native language skills to good use when the commission reaches out to ethnic minority adults, many of whom do not have good English standards.