Lone student on Hong Kong suicide prevention committee blasts report
Criticisms that her views were disregarded come as officials seek to engage young people in policymaking
When Althea Suen Hiu-nam, then president of the University of Hong Kong’s student union, received a phone call from the Education Bureau inviting her to the committee on prevention of student suicides, little did she know the outcome would deviate far from her expectations.
From 2013 to last year, 71 pupils and students aged between 10 and 30 killed themselves, prompting the government to set up the ad hoc committee to tackle the issue in March last year.
But Suen, 21, was the only youth member in the 21-member committee. She accused pro-establishment forces of dominating the discourse and disregarding her views.
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“Several times, as I gave my first-person account about flaws in the education system, other committee members dismissed my views as unscientific or not evidence-based,” the final-year social work student claimed.
