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| 2008 budget: measures for youth |
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This year's budget contains sustainable, decisive moves in the right direction for youth. These can be seen in pilot schemes for job creation and employment support for the young and the creation of district cyber centres for information technology facilities and training. Much more, as always, remains to be done, for Hong Kong's young people. We need your help to push forward further initiatives with our partners. |
Contact Bonnie to discuss partnership projects for youth, tel 3755 7101.
Contact the Youth Employment Network, tel 3113 7999 with enquiries about youth job creation and support.
Visit www.budget.gov.hk/2008/eng/speech.html for the full budget document and sections 135 and 145 which deal with these two pilot schemes.
See What's New below for the HKFYG poll on young people's expectations of the 2008 budget and their expressed concern for the elderly. |
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| Dragon Foundation Seminar |
Date and Time 7 March, 4:30 pm-6pm
Venue 10/F, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Building, 21 Pak Fuk Road, North Point, Hong Kong
Topic Globalization and the Hong Kong Citizen
Guest speaker Professor Ting Wai from Baptist University
Contact Snowie tel 2811 2779 for more information or visit www.dragonfoundation.net |
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| Standard Chartered HK English Public Speaking Contest 2008 |
7 March 7pm-9pm Training & Briefing Senior Form Division
8 March 3pm-5pm Training & Briefing Junior Form Division
Venue Auditorium, The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Building, 21 Pak Fuk Road, North Point, Hong Kong
10-20 March Preliminary Rounds
Venue Leadership 21, The Center, 99 Queen's Rd Central & HKFYG Headquarters Building
29 March 7pm - 9pm Semi-Finals Leadership 21, The Center
12 April 10am-1pm Grand Finals and Award Ceremony
Venue Hong Kong Academy of Medicine, Pao Yue Kong Auditorium, Lim Por Yen Lecture Theatre, Run Run Shaw Auditorium
Contact Stephanie tel 21690255 for more information or visit www.leadership21.org |
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| Dialogue session on the 2008 budget with Financial Secretary |
Date and Time 17 March, 5:30pm-7pm
Venue Academy of Medicine
Audience 1,000 young people
Contact Iris at 3755 7107 for more information |
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| Donations for snowstorm victims in HKFYG appeal |
| HKFYG's participation in the Hong Kong Red Cross donation programme raised over HK$112,500 between 18 and 23 February for rebuilding homes and public facilities in Hunan and Hubei. |
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| Youth's Expectations of the 2008/09 Budget |
The survey, Youth Poll Series no 170, of 504 young people aged 18-34 was conducted between 18 January and 5 February 2008.
Overall, more than half (57.7%) of the respondents hoped that the government would use the accumulated surplus to solve long-term social problems such as those of an aging population and poverty. Around one-quarter (26.5%) thought that education needed a bigger budget, 26.2% specified medical and health and 24.3% said the surplus should be spent on social welfare.
Concerning one-off measures, over half (56.6%) thought that the elderly should benefit most. The majority agreed with the introduction of tax allowance schemes for medical insurance (83.4%) and the mandatory provident fund (73.1%).
A quarter of the respondents thought that public opinion was the most influential in formulating the budget. They considered the second most important influence to be either the mass media (19.1%) or the views of the business sector (19.1%). More than half (51.9%) of the respondents took the view that the government would respond more positively if put under more pressure.
An average of 60.2 points out of 100 were given by respondents as a rating of the performance of new Financial Secretary John Tsang. Over half (58.7%) were optimistic about Hong Kong's economy for the coming year. Although 55.6% thought they had benefited from improvements in the economy, nearly 44.0% disagreed.
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| LEAD Creative Workshops with Cyberport |
With the partnership and support from The Arcade, Cyberport, LEAD will provide a 9-day event, "LEAD Creative Workshops at The Arcade, Cyberport", for families, primary and secondary school students. Participants will create Easter-related projects with electronics, technology, engineering, art and design. The event will kick off at 12:30 pm on 8 March at The Arcade, Cyberport. Mr. Henry Chai, Southern District Councilor, will be the Guest of Honour.
Click for more details or contact Ms. May Chan on 3106 0600. |
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Internet Green Charter supported by
over 200 schools |
The seminar on internet behaviour and discussion on course material for online self discipline took place in the HKFYG Building on Saturday 1 March 2008 with participants from schools and youth centres. Over 200 schools have signed the charter. Thanks to Microsoft for sponsoring a full page advertisement in Mingpao. Other supporting organizations include The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Committee on Home-School Co-operation, the Internet Society Hong Kong and Hong Kong Internet Service Providers Association
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Read more on online safety in Youth Concerns. |
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| Leaders to Leaders Lectures Series 2008 |
Leadership 21 has organized a series of nine lectures for the coming year with prominent people in the community. The series is run in partnership with the University of Hong Kong and will be held in the Rayson Huang Theatre from February to May 2008. Speakers include prominent people in the performing arts, academia and the commercial sector. Click here for the list of speakers.
Visit www.leadership21.hk for more details or contact Corinna Kwok, tel 2169 0255. |
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| Youth Arts Festival: Art is Empowerment |
| A large-scale Youth Arts Festival will be held from April to September this year, benefitting approximately 4,000 young people whose lives are normally deprived of cultural stimulus and enjoyment. The objective is to show them the scintillating world of the arts as an accessible channel for self-expression. The initiative matches the Hong Kong-wide effort to bring joy to Tin Shui Wai's people and give them a totally new sense of identity. We have received sponsorship from Sony Corporation of Hong Kong Ltd for this project. Please contact Bonnie, 3755 7101 if you would also like to be a partner. |
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| Two new benefits for u21 youthnet members |
Kappa Trading International Ltd is offering u21 youthnet members a 15% discount* if they shop in Apart outlets or online from now till 31 December 2008. For further information and the shop addresses visit http://www.apart.com.hk/index.php
*excluding products at a discount in seasonal sales |
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| Femme Boutique VIP Club |
Free VIP Club membership for all u21 youthnet members is available now at any of their shops till 31 March 2008. Femme Boutique customers normally need to make purchases of over HK$2,000 to become members. Special shopping discounts and the latest news about the boutique are among the priveleges.
For further information and shop addresses visit http://www.femme-group.com/members.html or tel 2394 3493.
For more information about both offers contact Marian, tel 3755 7088 |
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| Online safety for youth |
The Internet has infinite potential. It is a wonderful tool for discovery and information as long as young people use it properly. However, it's easy for young people to get lost while surfing the web and this may sometimes be dangerous.
The Federation's Internet Green Charter* is for secondary and primary schools throughout Hong Kong to use as the basis of a code of behaviour that minimises risk and emphasizes safety. It advocates:
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Protection of freedom of speech and self-expression online |
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Respect for copyright on literature, audio and visual material, and software |
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Keeping guard against breaches of personal data security |
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Maintaining high standards of security with both firewall and virus protection and never attempting to access or damage another person's computer records |
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Never cheating or giving false information online |
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Deleting any indecent or obscene material sent to you or obtained accidentally |
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Being wary of online communication with people you have not met and never arranging to meet online acquaintances for the first time alone |
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Being self-disciplined online to avoid social withdrawal and internet addiction |
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*Click here for the Chinese version of the HKFYG charter and the full-page advertisement in Mingpao kindly sponsored by Microsoft.
In the UK, the Information Commissioner's Office has posted safety tips for teens at http://www.ico.gov.uk/upload/documents/
pressreleases/2007/social_networking_press_release.pdf
Some internet safety tips for parents from http://www.isafe.org/channels/sub.php?ch=op&sub_id=media_tips are:
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Always keep your child's computer in an open area |
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Communicate about computer use and talk about online dangers |
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Become a part of your child's online experience. |
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Respect your child's privacy |
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Regularly review computer files on your home computer |
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Teach your child responsible use of online resources |
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Educate yourself about the internet |
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Talk to other parents about your experiences |
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Tell your child that responsible adults do not purse relationships with minors |
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| *Taken from an i-SAFE America survey of students nationwide. |
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| Statistics on internet safety from overseas |
| According to surveys *in the US and UK, there has been: |
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a decrease from 19% to 13% in unwanted sexual solicitation online |
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an increase from 25% to 34% in unwanted exposure to sexual material |
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an increase from 6% to 9% in online harassment, bullying or other offensive behaviour |
*http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Youth_Internet_Safety_Survey (1999 and 2006, 1500 internet users aged 10-17) US Department of Justice's Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention and University of New Hampshire's Crimes Against Children Research Center
Other recent statistics on teen behaviour online:
http://anonymster.com/protect-yourself-kids-porn-websites/ and http://anonymster.com/how-to-protect-your-kids-online/ |
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