70% HK youngsters found their social influence lower than foreignersOver 60% still have hope in HK’s society 10 years from now with

higher youth influence

With the increased exposure of Hong Kong youth’s reaction to society, their social influence has become a new focus of public discussion. However, there has been relatively little discussion regarding how they view their own impact, aspiration towards Hong Kong’s society ten years from now, and how they compare themselves with other youngsters in Hong Kong.

AIESEC Hong Kong, local chapter of the world’s largest youth-run organisation AIESEC, has released the results of a survey about Hong Kong youth’s view on their social influence and aspiration towards the future of our city on 19 January (Saturday) at its “Youth Impact Forum”. The survey was conducted earlier this month, and has interviewed 420 local university students and recent graduates aged between 18 and 25.

According to AIESEC Hong Kong’s findings from the survey, nearly 70% of the respondents regarded that Hong Kong’s youth today have weaker influence as compared to their counterparts from other developed cities like Singapore, London and New York, and this is mainly due to the lack of social responsibility (40%) and global mindset (31%). Meanwhile, over 60% of the respondents answered that Hong Kong’s youth ten years from now would have stronger social influence than themselves today, and 60% of the respondents told AIESEC that they find hope in Hong Kong’s society ten years from now, indicating the respondents’ wish towards the social status of Hong Kong youth in the future despite its relatively weaker position as compared with other developed cities. As commented by Mr Qven Wong, President of AIESEC Hong Kong, “Hong Kong young people should actively participate in voluntary and community service in order to increase their own social responsibility. They should also participate in overseas exchange and internships to experience the cultural difference themselves.”

The survey has also found that for those who found hope in Hong Kong’s society ten years from now, “economic stability” (41%) and “good living environment” (32%) were regarded as the main attributes of Hong Kong’s future. As for those who did not find hope in our society ten years from now, “undemocratic political system” and “social inequality” were treated as the main reason. Commenting on the diverse opinion of youngsters towards Hong Kong’s future, Wong said, “this shows that our university students’ independent thinking capacity is not to be ignored. With the free flow of information in society, many different views could easily be developed in society.“

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The survey shows that nearly 75% of the respondents found that local youngsters do not possess “the most important quality” for the ideal Hong Kong youth. Nearly 40% of them chose “realising dreams”, and 30% chose “showing care for society” as the most important quality. On a merrier note, there were only as few as 3% of the respondents choosing “enjoying life” as their most important quality. In general, our youngsters do value such traditional concepts as caring for society and achieving goals higher than their more materialistic pursuits.

“The survey shows that our local youngsters find certain discrepancies of their social status and performance from the ideal picture,” Wong said, commenting on the survey results, “AIESEC is formed by university and young graduates, and as the world’s largest youth-run organisation, we understand the voice from our youth. The younger generation of Hong Kong is aware of its position when compared with those from other metropolitan cities. We are confident about the potentials of our youngsters, and believe that if they could proactively train up their leadership skills and broaden their global mindset, they could eventually have their youth voice heard in the local and global arena, and have their social impact greatly increased,

“We support young people to accumulate overseas working experience, so that they could continue to enhance their global citizenship from the solid foundation of Hong Kong as a world city. In addition, we encourage youngsters to participate more in community service and leadership training opportunities, in order to increase their social competitiveness,” said Wong.

AIESEC offers over 20,000 overseas internship opportunities for its members around the world through its network in 113 countries/territories. Last year, over 200 local university students have interned in tens of countries including the US, Germany, Poland, Brazil, Kenya, Dubai, Turkey, Singapore and so on through AIESEC Hong Kong; some 60 foreign youngsters have also came to Hong Kong for internships through the organisation. Artem Milkov, a Russian Canadian who interns at the Hong Kong branch of UBS through AIESEC, commented that “Hong Kong youngsters are much more devoted to success and versatile than my fellows back home.” Shinji Ueyama, Japanese and also interning at UBS, pointed out that the Hong Kong society is much more internationalised than other Asian cities, and there are plenty of opportunities for youngsters to encounter foreign culture. Till Kraemer, a German who graduated from Oxford University is now working at Intercultural Education, a social enterprise established by an AIESEC alumnus. He told us that while he found Hong Kong youngsters rather smart, they were generally lacking cross-cultural sensitivity and awareness to global affairs.

Vien Wong Wai-ying, who established the youth group Laughfull with several AIESEC fellows after her graduation from the University of Hong Kong last year, was confident about Hong Kong’s future. She remarked that if different sectors of our society could be inclusive of one another and reduce fights, our youngsters’ or even the entire Hong Kong’s influence could rise. Karen Cheung Ka-lun, also from the University of Hong Kong, has interned in Turkey for a non-governmental organisation. She commented that Hong Kong’s society is full of possibilities and has the capacity for youngsters to fully develop their interests, so young people should treasure the opportunities given by society.

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The AIESEC Youth Impact Forum was also joined by Ms Lai Yan-chi, Awardee of Ten Outstanding Young Persons 2012 and President of FM Theatre Power, Mr Stephen Leung, Country Manager of Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Mr Stanley Ng, President of Junior Chamber International Hong Kong 2012 and Mr Hamilton Le, Conference Manager of Euromoney and President of AIESEC Hong Kong 2011-12.

For media enquiries, please contact the following media representatives of AIESEC in Hong Kong:

Kelvin Li Crystal YeungTel: (852) 6173-2971Email: kelvin.li@aiesec.net

Tel: (852) 9366-4680Email: crystal.yeung@aiesec.net

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