The Dragon Foundation's Global Citizenship programme is designed to cultivate talented young leaders, heightening their awareness of an international, worldly outlook. Such an outlook can benefit Hong Kong as a strategic hub and thriving community as well as maximizing individual leadership potential. Bonnie Cheng, doing law at HKU went on the Geneva programme this year:

A person with global vision is one who is knowledgeable and concerned about issues beyond his or her national borders. He/she is aware that many challenges facing humankind today are international in scale and require the concerted effort of all states and other international action if they are to be resolved.

Sylvia Tsang, a nurse in training at HK Poly U who went on the New York study tour, said education is fundamental if youth are to develop this crucial awareness: I believe better education and more exposure are badly needed if young students in Hong Kong are to gain a more open, globalized outlook.

Educational was also emphasised by Vivian Chen, a student of international journalism at Baptist U who went on the Geneva study tour: The school curriculum is the best long term instrument of change in the attitude of youth. Combined with the influence of TV, the internet and travel, it is crucial.

Dixon Tse, another HKU law student who also went to Geneva, thought that curriculum reform was needed before education could achieve such an end:

There was very little in any of my syllabuses to engender an international outlook. On the contrary, we had three years of instruction on national education and the EPA and geography courses didn't help me either. TV works better, as does keeping abreast of current events by reading good papers such as Newsweek.

Similarly, fellow student Jun Kwong, who was with Agnes in New York commented: Youngsters need critical thinking to analyse and understand the relationship between China and the rest of the world. We asked them about the impact of the Global Citizenship programme:

...meeting UN officials in person had a real effect on me, said Vivian, and a Red Cross exhibition about refugees in Africa brought home what international cooperation can do. ...understanding that business and ethics are not mutually exclusive was an important outcome for me, said Agnes, also doing law at HKU. It was the focus of the tour and I now think that CSR can really work for all parties involved.

...the synergy inspired me, said Dixon. I came back wanting to do something practical for less privileged youth so we are having a charity a capella Christmas concert in aid Cambodian schools. ...interacting with people from diverse cultural backgrounds and engaging in a variety of exchange programmes ...these require good interpersonal skills, a broad world view and an appreciation of pluralism said Bonnie.

There is no question that this bright young cohort already has a clear international perspective. Inculcating such an outlook in Hong Kong's youth is a mammoth task but one which HKFYG thinks is an important goal. As Prof Chan Ka-keung, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury said at the annual conference of the Hong Kong Management Association earlier this month:

Expose students to authentic communication experiences. ...our citizens should have a global mindset with a curiosity about the world beyond our city borders...These days business solutions often require a global perspective and international knowledge. In business, as in government, we need people who can think globally and problem-solve locally.

A recent survey* in Hong Kong secondary schools found only a minority of teenagers who really cared or understood the importance of a global, international, outlook. 15% were unable to see the relevance of global vision to their own lives 9% had no idea how to develop better global vision 6.5% were interested in world news 30% thought global vision had some importance

Earlier this year, an SCMP/TNS opinion leader survey** asked over 1000 respondents about the challenges faced by future leaders in Hong Kong. Findings showed that 40% of these decision makers rated government efforts poor when it came to providing an environment conducive to attracting talent and preparing the younger generation for the future.

Language skills, critical, independent thinking, a multicultural learning environment and a global perspective were seen as crucial. Together with knowledge, these were placed among the top 5 factors for a competitive generation. The shortage of language skills in youth is seen as a particularly serious impediment to its potential future growth.***

Proficiency in both Chinese and English, an understanding of western and Chinese culture and international exposure are all keenly sought by international firms operating in the region. The need to respond to this demand was reflected in the recent government decision to increase the quota of international and mainland students at Hong Kong's tertiary institutions to 20% in a bid to foster diversity and global outlook.

The number of foreign students at a country's universities is seen as an indicator of improved global outlook. The numbers in the US and Britain were up again this year.**** In the US, most of the foreign students come from India, followed by China with a surge in numbers from Saudi Arabia (+129%), Vietnam (+31%) and Hong Kong (+9.3%).*****

	in the UK: 51,000 (9,000 from Hong Kong)
	in the US: 67,723

* Church of United Brethren in Christ Whampoa Integrated Children and Youth Service Center survey of 747 secondary students, reported in The Standard and South China Morning Post 5 November 2007
** reported in South China Morning Post 4 June 2007
***Survey of 4,000 HK General Chamber of Commerce members reported in The Standard 16 November 2007
**** Higher Education Statistics Agency http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2hi/uk_news/education/6498619.stm [accessed 19 November 2007]
***** from IIE Open Doors 2007 USINFO.STATE.GOV 13 November 2007 [accessed 19 November 2007