Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak speaks to Straight Talk's Eugene Chan, Jan 10, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak is on Straight Talk this week. 

In her blueprint, one of the initiatives is to provide youth hostels to tackle not just the housing issue among Hong Kong’s youth, but by demanding tenants to serve the community, it also provides a chance to equip youth with the ability to meet future challenges. She also said we must not just ask or tell young people to take up chances in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, but entice them and show them what's there.

Check out the full transcript of TVB’s Straight Talk host Dr Eugene Chan’s interview with Alice Mak.

Chan: Good evening! This is Eugene Chan on Straight Talk. Our guest this evening is the Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, Alice Mak. Mak is well-acquainted with district and community affairs, having served as Legislative Councilor for 10 years, and six terms on Kwai Ching District Council before joining the government. This evening, our question to her is: how can we empower Hong Kong youth to succeed in the Greater Bay Area? Welcome, Alice!

Mak: Hello, Eugene!

Chan: Alice, you have been in the LegCo for 10 years, and now you're on the opposite side, opposite side to be receiving questions. And it's nearly six months. So, how do you find it so far?

Mak: Well, thanks to my team, I can adapt to my new post in a very short time, and very efficiently. I have a very great team in the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau. All my teammates are so dedicated and devoted to youth matters, and also district affairs matter. So, we work very well. So, I think the experience earned from serving the Legislative Council is also very important. The valuable experience enables me to keep in contact with all walks of life. And I can have a very efficient communication with people from all walks of life. And this is very valuable and important, especially, you know, my bureau is handling many issues on youth matters and district affairs. So, we need to gauge the pulse of the community efficiently. And my past experience is really an asset to me,

Chan: Yes, not only to you but also for Hong Kong, because you have, like ears to the ground because you have been there on the front line for many years. President Xi said that Hong Kong will prosper only when our youth, young people thrive. Hong Kong will develop only when the young people achieve well-rounded development. And also, Hong Kong will have a bright future only when our young people have good career prospects. But we must face reality. I mean, our young people have been disgruntled, and they have taken the frustrations to the streets over the last few years. They have surprised many Hong Kong people as well as international community. And definitely some of the riots have really disappointed, both our national and Hong Kong leaders. So, you are now being tasked to kind of rebuild the society, especially with the youth. How confident are you? And how ready are you?

Mak: Well, my confidence comes from my confidence in the youth. I'm sure that young people in Hong Kong are very talented. They have many potentials, yet to be discovered and polished. So, my work is to provide them with the platform to develop and to polish their potentials. And I'm sure with a suitable platform, our young people will achieve what they want, and their objectives and targets will be accomplished. Doing youth work is not easy. It's not just for Hong Kong. I have been in touch with other youth ministers in other countries. And this is a general phenomenon in many cities like Hong Kong, we have to face the challenge of how to efficiently communicate with our young people, how to let the young people understand what the government is doing or planning to do, and what have we done to help them. So how to build an efficient communication and network with our young people is very important.

Chan: Secretary, I mean the CE John Lee's election manifesto, it's very clear that youth is one of his major works he wants to achieve and he has actually elevated... Well, I mean the previous bureau being home affairs, which would become Home and Youth Affairs Bureau that shows the importance and I believe you also have appointed a commissioner in youth development. So, with more people and more emphasis or more focused on the youth work would it bring more red tape, would it lead to more meetings and actually not... the actual work being done?

Mak: Well, I'm thankful that the Chief Executive has shown his determination on youth work, and this gives me great support. So, we have a great team in the government, all our principal officials are very concerned about youth matters. So, when they formulate their policies in their bureaus, they will also have a youth perspective. And we have a CE there, and also CS core coordination. So, we have great gain support from other bureaus in doing our youth work. So, this is not just the issue that is done by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau, but all bureaus, across the all bureaus,

Chan: Right, Alice. I also read that you had over 170 consultations with the youth and I know that they... with your personality, they will be more than willing to tell them how they feel. So how are they feeling right now? Maybe some of them. How unhappy are they with the government? Or are they very happy with what's happening in Hong Kong? What is your first-hand feeling after you've been there for 170 consultations?

Mak: Well, oh, it is not easy to communicate with young people, not because they have any feelings about the government, but mostly because they have their own studies, they have faced many challenges. So, it is not easy to start the communication. But once the communication has started, I find it very, in fact, I do quite enjoy joining those consultations sessions talking with young people. After a talk, I usually find that the young people are more than willing to share with us their feelings. And they are more than... they always give us proposals and tell us what we can do more for them. So, this is a very frank, communication. And very frank talk with young people. After the talk, I always think that we have built out the good communication which we count on these communications for our future work.

Chan: Alice, I want to ask you because you were on the frontline. You were also at the LegCo, where your job is listening to people, communicating with people. But now you being the administrator, being at the policy bureau secretary, and I'm sure if some of us want to meet you for meeting, it's going to take months before we can align the time. So how can you continue these years on the grounds sort of approach in the next few years? Because I'm sure all these matters are ever evolving? How will you do it?

Mak: Well, this is not just done... all these are not just done by me. I have a great team. So, it's teamwork, we have a very good division of labour. We have… each of us share the same mission or missions. So, with my great team, I'm sure we can do more. And for myself, I really value the communication with young people so sorry, I've put top priority talking with young people so if you want to set up a meeting with me maybe you have to wait before I meet with the young people first. 

Chan: Maybe I'll bring young people to meet you. 

Mak: Oh, sure maybe.

Chan: Right Alice, we know that you have a blueprint that has come out. It's the first one after the handover, you have over 160 initiatives and GBA is one of them. And with the pandemic being controlled now, you can do all these tours and trips over the border. How confident are you by bringing our youth to see what is over the border will make them more encouraged and want to develop within Hong Kong with the GBA? What will be your point?

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak attends the Straight Talk show on TVB, Jan 10, 2023. (PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)

Mak: Before the pandemic in fact, we have been organizing all these exchange programs and visit tours and all these internship programs in GBA. But unfortunately, because of the pandemic, the programs have been suspended. But before the pandemic these programs gained huge support from the young people and all the programs are oversubscribed you know so I think after the pandemic is controlled with the... when we resume the normal communication with our counterparts in the mainland, all these exchange and visits can be resumed. And I hope well when young people they have the chance to step on the cities in the mainland and they can feel the working atmosphere there, and they can understand more about the culture and the working environment in the GBA, they will find the opportunities there. But mind you, we are not arranging all our young people to move to the GBA, what we are doing is to provide them with a platform to understand, to explore, to find the opportunities available, both in GBA, or in Hong Kong or in other cities. So, our objective is to build up a platform for them to explore, to understand to know more. 

Chan: Right, Secretary. Let's go to a break now and viewers don't go away. We'll be right back.

Chan: Welcome back! We have been talking with Alice Mak, about how determined the government is to engage with our youth, and blueprint that has just been released, and how this can empower Hong Kong youth to succeed in the Greater Bay Area. Let’s go on to talk about some of the challenges in this area. 

So Alice, you said that Hong Kong youth issues are very similar to other cities, or even countries. And we know that with the new generation, because of all the hard work by their parents, they are generally more complacent, and they have their own ideas. And if you are going to tell them that you should go to GBA, there is a great future there, there are a lot of work there…the reason why I bring that is I talked to some of my younger colleagues, if you ask them to go to Shenzhen, they said “is it just for a day?” I mean they are not even willing to go more than a day. So how would you… do you agree? And how would you entice them to this great initiative?

Mak: Well, what you said is I think quite general in our society. Because why your colleagues would think that…so resistant to your suggestion because you are the boss and you tell them to find a job or an opportunity in Shenzhen, you tell them because you are the boss. But what we are trying to do is we will let them, as I said, we will build, provide them with a platform and let them explore. And we also will form a youth network for young people to share their own experience among their peers. I think when doing youthwork, the most important thing is we must remember not to tell the young people what to do or what not. We have to provide them with the platform, with the network, and inspire them. Inspiring young people is more important than talking or telling the young people what to do.

Chan: Right. Thank you for the suggestion. I will definitely bring that back to the office. And you know, Hong Kong has a small but the very significant ethnic minority youth population. We had Dr. Rizwan Ullah here last year, and he was saying to me that it is very challenging for these youth to access opportunities in the GBA because of their identity issues. Will your blueprint also look after these ethnic minority as well?

Mak: Sure. Our blueprint is for every young people in Hong Kong, so no matter you are from different ethnic minorities or from any backgrounds, our blueprint is for all young people. So when we talk about the ethnic minority youth, we certainly are aware of their problems and challenges, that is why in the blueprint we have already proposed measures to help EM youth to how to enhance their life planning, so that they know, as I said, they have to explore what opportunities are available for them, both in GBA or in Hong Kong, or in other countries. So we have to… we have been aware of this problem, and the challenges they are facing. So in fact, there are some schools… not some, in fact quite many schools, they have organized such visits and programs for EM students, especially for them, so that they can explore and understand more about the  developments of GBA because we all know that opportunities are abundant in GBA. And so we have to let them understand more and know more where the opportunities are. And so these programs are already undergoing, and we will enhance those, as I said, we will enhance those life-planning programs for EM students.

Chan: Right. Secretary, at the start of your term, you promised that your policies will help our young people to overcome 4 areas: education, employment, entrepreneurship, and home buying, which are the areas highlighted by President Xi. So how does the blueprint give them the directions, and actually help them in these 4 areas? I mean what will happen in the next few years? I am sure it takes time. What would you do to make sure all the young people will have development in those 4 areas that I have just mentioned? 

Mak: Well, in the blueprint there are more than 160 measures, some are proposed by other bureaus. We all aim to tackle these 4 problems for our youth. Among these 4, I think how to accommodate the housing problem for young people is the most challenge because it is not just for young people. I think you will agree, in fact housing problem is the major concern of all Hong Kong people, disregard of your age and background. But fortunately, we have a team in the Housing Bureau, and if you look at the policy address, there are many measures in how to relieve the housing problems and catering for housing needs in Hong Kong. And as my colleagues in the Housing Bureau has already mentioned, they are confident that housing problems can be solved in 10 years’ time. But during these 10 years, what we will do, we will provide youth hostel for our young people, so that they can have their own place. And youth hostel, in fact there is a program more than catering for the housing needs of young people, we will encourage young people living in the youth hostel to commit certain hours for community service. Our aim is to provide them with opportunities to serve the community, that is to enhance the sense of belonging to the society.

Chan: Right. Secretary, since you are on the issue of the youth hostel scheme, I want to ask you because I am sure many viewers, like myself, have read in newspapers that we will have like 7 projects on this, and they will only provide about 3,400 places. And how far is it going to solve our youth accommodation, even in the upcoming 10 years? And we know that our youth population is over 2 million people. I mean is it just a gesture or is it just something to show the community hopefully everybody would chip in and help this serious issue ahead?

Mak: Well, this is not just a gesture. In fact this is a sign to show our determination in helping young people to cope with their housing needs. But as I said, youth hostel problem is more than housing program. We hope to encourage young people living in the youth hostels to engage in other social services. Our whole objective, our whole plan is to equip our young people for them to face challenges from their growth because you know, young people at different ages, they may face different challenges. So how to equip them with the potentials to tackle all the challenges ahead is very important. So youth hostel program is not just a housing program, it is a program to help our young people to equip themselves. And also, as we have taken the initiative to launch programs to cater for housing needs of our young people, we hope that other stakeholders in the community will do the same.

Chan: Since you mentioned that is not just a housing issue, because I am sure one of the reasons why we provide them hostel is to help them to accumulate savings for future, maybe a purchase of any investment or even other aspirations. Will your bureau have any other plans to help them to kind of accumulate the savings that, I am sure, all of them would want?

Mak: Well, accumulate saving is one thing. But as I said, accumulate experience in serving the community and empowering them to… with the ability to cope with any challenges in the future is most important.

Chan: Right. Secretary, someone has described all the policies are like placing an old wine in a new bottle, saying that the bureau has failed to address the serious sort of rivalry between the community and the youth, especially what has happened in 2019, something I brought up in the first half of the show. What will be your reply?

Mak: As I said, this blueprint is for all young people in Hong Kong, so I think we have… you see, we have 3 models on our blueprint. It is to inspire, support, and embrace. So we embrace or believe all our young people. And what we are trying to do is to formulate a new platform for communicating with young people efficiently.

Chan: Yes. So secondary, as you know, you come to “Straight Talk”, I am going to ask you a very direct question. I have been talking to some of your government colleagues, or even some of the political leaders. They said to me that many of the 160 initiatives involve work done by other bureaus, but some also argue for you, saying that your bureau will do the key work of coordinating. So how will you collaborate with all the different government departments? Because we know government is a huge machine, it is easier said than done, how will you actually get this to work because a lot of your initiatives are based on cooperation? How will you do that? 

Mak: Well, this is not easy. But as our team, as I said, CE has the determination and CE is helping us to coordinate. And the most important of all: all our principal officials share the same mission and vision. We are all dedicated to help our young people in Hong Kong, so I am sure with this determination, we can tackle any problems and challenges ahead. We will work together to help our young people in Hong Kong.

Chan: Right. Thank you, Alice, for coming. Thank you! And Secretary Mak has highlighted the importance of engaging our youth as they are a core pillar of Hong Kong’s future. There will be many challenges and bottlenecks, but with the government’s determination, we can be confident that at our next interview with Mak, she will be able to update us with the bureau’s progress in youth development. Have a good week and good night!