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Thanks
to Partners
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Narnia
Charity Screening
The
Federation is proud to say that the charity screening of
Disney's latest epic, The Chronicles of Narnia:
The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe, on the evening
of Friday 20 January 2006 at UA Cinema in Pacific Place,
was a great
success. We are very grateful to Intercontinental
Film Distributors (H.K.) Ltd, for the privilege
of showing the film before its official release here during
the Lunar New Year. There
was almost a full house and we are much indebted to our major
sponsors, Capital China, Dr Eleanor Wong, Ronald
Lu & Partners
(HK) Ltd, Mr Koo Ming Kown, Shui On Group, Daiwa Associate
Holdings Ltd, Mr Edward Kwan Pak-chung and Korn/Ferry International
(HK) Ltd which came at a crucial time for raising
funds for the development of services for youth at risk.
We would also
like to thank corporate sponsors who supported us through
donations in-kind, namely Northwest Airlines, the
Chinese Christian Literature Council Ltd, Hong Kong Book
Centre, Kiehl’s, Sailing Boat Catering Mangaement Limited,
Synergy Engineering & Productions
(HK) Ltd, McDonald’s Restaurant (Hong Kong) Ltd, Nestle
Breakfast Cereals and Jusco.
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Music Charity Dinner
The Federation held its first ever Music
Charity Dinner at the Hong Kong Country Club on 17 January to much fanfare.
The Jabberwocks from Brown University in the US and The Hong
Kong Melody Makers (the Federation's choir) gave guests a
unique music experience with their a cappella choruses. We
were pleased to have The Hon. Frederick Ma and Mrs Sally
Wong-leung as Guests of Honour. Sincere thanks go to our
generous table patrons who helped fund-raise so that we could
bring the Jabberwocks to Hong Kong for this black tie event,
while raising money to help disadvantaged children participate
in after-school programmes. Click here to see a list of the
table patrons to whom we owe thanks. We are also grateful
to Canon, who kindly donated photo paper
and ink and loaned us printers and digital cameras for taking
photos during
the evening. Lastly, we would like to thank our sponsor,
Bamboo Garden Icy-Crispy Dragon Beard Candy for
their donations in-kind.
Acknowledgements:
We would like to express heartfelt thanks to the following
patrons for their generous support of the Music Charity
Dinner on 17 January 2006. Click here to see the
full list...
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Hongkong
Bank Foundation: prime sponsor of "Live Positive, Love
Ourselves."
The
2006/07 project organized by the Federation's School
Social Work Unit enjoys major financial backing
from The Hongkong Bank Foundation. Subsidiary
marketing support is offered by the Networking
Company Ltd and in-kind,
prize sponsorship comes from Wisekids.
The project encourages primary and secondary students and
targeted youth activity
centres to enter videos and dramas of their own making
in a competition with a vote on the web. Winning productions
will be used in educational packages to promote the concept
of positivity.
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Seminar
on Youth Entrepreneurship
On
18 January, 180 young business start-ups attended the Seminar
on Youth Entrepreneurship at the Hong Kong
Central Library, co-organized by the Federation and the Support
and Consultation Centre for SMEs (SUCCESS). The
seminar introduced participants to the support available
to business start-ups from the government and youth work
organizations. Young entrepreneurs from various industries
also shared with participants their experience and insights
on starting a business. |
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「你有我講理」一人一故事劇場計劃
With
sponsorship from the Citigroup Success Fund, the Federation's
Youth Support Scheme is organizing
the ' 「你有我講理」一人一故事劇場計劃 project
between December 2005 and March 2006. Teenagers aged 12-17
who are covered by the Police Superintendents' Discretionary
Scheme in Tuen Mun or Tsuen Wan are encouraged to join. The
aim is to encourage them to reflect on life’s problems and
voice their opinions through drama groups. Moreover, we want
to help them develop a sense of belonging to their community
by involving them in voluntary service with the elderly in
their district. |
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Kung
Hei Fat Choi - may the Year of the Dog bring peace,
good health and prosperity
Musical
talent creates sheer enjoyment,
for performers and listeners alike. Young people have
a special gift for giving such enjoyment by displaying
the creative fruits of their imagination. Last week,
the Jabberwocks from Brown University and the Federation's
own Hong Kong Melody Makers all gave song, sharing
with those who heard them an utterly joyful and inventive
musical experience.We live in an increasingly
competitive world, where the pressures on children to succeed are becoming
greater day by day. But when musical skills are nurtured, the young gain
in self confidence and motivation. They need to be allowed to express
themselves and in music they can find a creative outlet that is its own
inspiration. See this week's Feature Story for more.
"Imagination
is the beginning of creation."
George Bernard Shaw
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Feature
Story
Cool
a capella: a session with the Jabberwocks
All 17 of Jabberwocks charged down the aisle and onto the
stage at St Paul's Co-educational School hall. They took a
bow and the music began. Voices with emotional, even spiritual
overtones soared. They stamped their feet to the beat set by
musical director Sam, while Graham filled in a skillful purely
vocal rhythm section. One after another the soloists stepped
up and held the hall spellbound. First Aaron and Grambo, then
Mike and Jon. This was really good stuff for a 9a.m. assembly.
How do they make it work?
"First
we choose our songs by voting on them," said
Sam with his big, warm smile. Sam conducts as well as singing.
He's
into jazz and pop, church music and traditional melodies and
is the leader of the band in many ways.
"There's
scope for many different genres but we actually want our
songs to be difficult. There are a lot of a capella groups
out there. It can get boring. We are after challenge."
Mike, the group's business manager continued, "Our singing
is all about concentration. We're ambitious. Half a dozen of
us do the arrangements. We focus on pop music because it's
the sound of our age."
"That
doesn't mean we don't jam too," said Graham, (Grambo)
the voice percussionist. "Scatting, as we call it, is part
of how we generate our own special sound. You sing how you
feel - that’s what the creative side is all about."
"We
think outside the box of conventional music," said
Mike, "we take dissonance and resolve it into harmony."
"That's
where the tension and release lie. That's what makes our
music emotional and that's what getting the audience to respond
is all about," elaborated
Sam. |
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still important.
"However
strong your voice is you need to acquire a musical ear. The
theory of music provides learning tools then imagination
and a love of singing bring it together."
They seemed so confident. It sounded like they'd been singing
since infancy so we asked if they remembered singing their
first song.
"Well
actually I wasn't really very confident about singing till
I got to high school…"
"My father had such a powerful voice it was quite intimidating…"
"I never thought I had the talent…"
These are surprising but encouraging words for budding Hong
Kong singers. How was it, to perform here? For many of the
band, it was the first time before a foreign audience.
"The
Music School in Diamond Hill was stunning," said Sam, "they have the best
auditorium we have ever sung in -
we have
nothing like it at Brown - and the audience of 800 was the
biggest we've ever known."
"They
were fantastic," said Graham. "I showed them how to do beat box* and they
all joined in - hundreds of them -
Americans
would never do that. They're too self conscious. These kids
just wanted to have a go … and I wanted to teach them."
"We
really were not expecting anything like that," said Michael. "After a
month of vacation when we hadn't sung together
this
was really jumping in at the deep end, but it was great, we
all loved it."
"We are really grateful
for this chance to come and sing here - both in public and
with the Hong Kong Melody Makers
at our
workshop. Young folk here are so responsive."
Now we understand why. They responded to the Jabberwocks'
infectious gaiety, their love of music and rhythm. Who wouldn't
have tapped their feet to this captivating sound. But these
young men take their music seriously and have seriously good
results. They deserve every round of applause and every cheer.
Let's hope they come back soon.
*"beat box" means voice percussion
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Federation
News
Mr
Henry Poon Chun-kau, former head of St Paul's Co-educational
Secondary School, has been appointed as Principal of the
new HKFYG Lee Shau Kee College.
This is the Federation's first Direct Subsidy Scheme secondary
school in Tin Shui Wai which will be accepting its first
intake of Secondary One students in September 2006. www.u21.org.hk/main/lee_shau_kee |
| Dragons
in Harmony and Peace is
a new youth exchange programme co-organized by the Federation,
the All-China Youth Federation and the Shanghai Youth
Federation with participation from in Hong Kong,
Taiwan, Macau and Shanghai. A youth forum in Shanghai
on 16 April 2006 will be followed by the raising of a
dragon on the bund and a series of cultural and educational
visits. A call for nominees will be issued soon. |
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Standard Chartered Hong Kong English Public Speaking
Contest 2006,
organized by the Federation and The English Speaking
Union (Hong Kong), is in its third year, with a new name
to reflect our sponsors. Applications from all students
in full time education in Hong Kong are welcome. Deadline: 6
p.m. Friday 10 February Download Application
from, Program
Leaflet |
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Publications
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The
16th issue of the Journal of Youth Studies is just out.
Its key focus is a collection of articles on the subject
of casual drug abuse and its prevention. The focus of the
next issue will be the poverty cycle.
Copies of the Journal, which has a circulation of approximately 1300,
may be ordered from HKFYG's Youth Research Centre, Unit 6-7, G/F,
The Center, 99, Queen's Road Central, Hong Kong, tel: 2575 6666,
email: yr@hkfyg.org.hk |
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Facts
& Figures
Optimists in
Wanchai
Over 70% of students interviewed recently in Wanchai schools are
happy, despite their difficulties. The vast majority (91%) find
their lives and relationships with others meaningful. Girls were
more optimistic than boys in a ratio of 75% to 71% and results
confirmed an earlier study showing that economic factors were not
necessarily relevant.
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| The survey,* conducted jointly by St James'
Settlement and Wan Chai District Council, aimed to advise schools
on means by which they could make their students feel happier. 915
Primary 5 students took part, in 8 schools. They attributed their
sense of well-being to their own temperament and contentment with
school, family and social lives. Survey led
by Associate Prof. Wong Shing-hing, Department of Applied Social
Studies, City University of Hong Kong, 2005, reported in South
China Morning Post 17 January 2006.
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50%
of HK teens consider ending it all
Teenage suicide is a sad, frequent feature of Hong Kong
news and the recent attempt by three girls on Cheung Chau
brought the issue back into focus. Surveys done by the Chinese
University* show that we have double the number who think
of killing themselves than the US. The reasons cited were
exam-related stress, parental pressure to succeed and other
family-related problems.
Suicide is 20% higher in Hong Kong than the global average.
Over 1200 people commit suicide in Hong Kong every year and
it is the leading cause of death in those aged 15-24. This
disturbing news came in a cross-sectional household survey**
by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Centre for Suicide Research
and Prevention. Of 2,219 participants aged 15-59, 12.3% of
the females aged 15-24 said they had thought of suicide in
the past 12 months. This was the highest figure for both
genders in all age groups. Attempted suicide is also the
highest in this group.
A joint survey by Fudan University and the Shanghai Academy
of Education Sciences*** on a sample group of 2,500 middle
school students showed that almost 25% had contemplated suicide
and 6% had made an attempt, albeit a failed one.
* Surveys led
by Prof C. McBride-Chang, 2001-2002 & 2002-2003,
reported in South China Morning Post 18 January 2006
** South China Morning Post 16 June 2005 & 22 September
2005*** http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/2004-10/13/content_382043.htm [accessed 21 November 2005]
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