Democrat group wants security in career, housing prospects in youth policy

Local democrat group New Macau Association (ANM) has cited Hong Kong and Taiwan as examples to prove that Macau should include youth careers and housing prospects, among other issues, in next decade’s youth policies.
Represented by Director-General Icy Kam and Vice Directors-General Sulu Sou and Rocky Chan, the ANM expressed its “disappointment” at a press conference yesterday.
Sou added that the disappointment is mainly related to the fact that a number of existing elements found in the youth policies of this decade have been dropped or trivialized in the proposed policies for next decade.
Sou took the paragraphs related to “critical thinking” – which in Chinese has no direct connotation with the practice – as an example. The Chinese term used by the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, which is the main entity responsible for the consultation, is “the ability to examine and distinguish.”
“After extensive verification, we were finally able to confirm that the Chinese term actually refers to critical thinking,” Sou said. Sou pointed out that the current consultation text should restore vision to the current youth policies, which include: “cultivating a young generation with independent thinking and a critical spirit, as well as innovation and constructive capabilities” and “jointly creating a high-quality humanistic and social environment.”
Chan took the same stance, saying that in order to achieve their vision of enhancing young people’s sense of belonging and participation in society, the government has several responsibilities, namely strengthening young people’s awareness of human rights, and democratic literacy. Drawing a causal link, he added that youth can fully understand their civil rights and the corresponding responsibilities and obligations, and can also attain a deeper understanding of local history, geography, culture, and political, economic and social development.
“As such, the spirit of caring and participating in society can be cultivated and their social identity can gradually be established,” Chan concluded, adding that reform and inclusion are the keys to increasing youths’ care for the society in which they live.
According to a previous study commissioned by the government, most youth in Macau are not members of any youth association. However, the ANM noted the government regularly takes opinions from such associations into account, leaving most young voices unheard.
Kam cited the examples of Hong Kong and Taiwan to demonstrate the inferiority of the local consultation process. For instance, in Taiwan, the youth policy consultation is led by its chief administrative entity.
In Macau, the consultation is led by the education regulator, which has no authority to order the other bureaus to cooperate. Nonetheless, the policies proposed concern more than a dozen of government entities which are not necessarily all under the same secretary.
Furthermore, Kam noted that the youth policies in Hong Kong have focuses on education, career and housing needs, as well as deliberation, debate and participation in politics. These elements are absent in the local consultation text.
The public consultation period on the “Macau Youth Policy (2021-2030)” will end today.