Hong Kong Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor and other officials attend a press conference on the fight against the epidemic
After the Hong Kong government’s high-handed crackdown on the anti-amendment movement and the introduction of a national security law for Hong Kong, young people in Hong Kong are more skeptical of the government and its measures. A survey sponsored by the Hong Kong government department found that 87% of high school students (equal to lycée in France) surveyed said they had no confidence in the Hong Kong government, and another 70% said they did not trust passers-by on the street, a significant increase of nearly double the 40% in a similar survey in 2019. Scholars believe that this is a warning sign, calling on the authorities to be tolerant and let young people speak out, otherwise it may cause a major outbreak.
In addition, the civil society group “Youth New World” questionnaire survey of more than 400 young people found that nearly 90% of respondents were dissatisfied with the Hong Kong government’s performance in fighting the epidemic, based on doubts, 40% of the respondents indicated that they were not willing to be vaccinated against Wuhan pneumonia (a Chinese communist virus), and less than 10% were willing to be vaccinated. When asked about their confidence in the future, less than 10% said they were confident, which is worrying.
The study, sponsored by the Hong Kong Government Office of Policy Innovation and Co-ordination, included interviews with 250 high school students at the Jockey Club School of Public health and Primary Care of the Chinese University of Hong Kong during last year’s epidemic to find out their level of trust in the Hong Kong government and society. Assistant Professor Lai Ho Yan, who led the study, revealed some of the results on a radio program yesterday (3) morning, saying that 87% of the students had no confidence in the Hong Kong government, and another 70% did not trust the people on the street.
She described this as a wake-up call, calling on the Hong Kong government, social workers, principals and other people should not see young people as a problem, but as partners and assets, even if some of the young people’s proposals are not practical, adults should also be respected and tolerated, so that young people have a level playing field to speak out.
Lin Yixing, head of the Department of Social Work and Social Administration at the University of Hong Kong, who attended the same program, also pointed out that the survey results show that the Hong Kong government is facing huge challenges in governance, and young people lack mutual trust with the government, and there is no equal opportunity for discussion, so that the “gunpowder” accumulated in the past year has not been attempted to “defuse”, and worried that if the “gunpowder” is not removed, it may lead to a major outbreak in the future. He called on politicians to be more broad-minded in accommodating different views, otherwise it would be difficult to rebuild mutual trust.
Mr. Ip Kin-yuen, vice president of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers’ Union, said that the Hong Kong government has ignored the demands of the public, and its administration is highly politicized and unfair, so secondary school students have lost confidence in it. He cited the example that‧in last year’s anti-amendment movement, the Hong Kong government blamed the young people and imposed a trial, which worsened the relationship between the two. As for the great increase in distrust of high school students towards the general public, it may be related to the social tearing in the past year or so, many of them are worried about the disadvantages caused by expressing different political views, and the initiative to solve the problem lies with the government.
As of the end of October last year, a total of 10,148 people were arrested by the police in the anti-amendment campaign, of which 17% were young people under the age of 18, the proportion of students arrested was as high as 40% of the total number of young people and students prosecuted accounted for 24% of the age group to which they belonged.
Recent Comments