A situation involving students committing suicide in Hong Kong has come to public attention in Macau. The Education and Youth Bureau (DSEJ) recently held a workshop to encourage schools to send students with potential suicidal inclinations to psychologists and counselors.
Cases of student suicide have been increasing in frequency. Twenty-two students in Hong Kong have reportedly killed themselves since last September. More than half of these cases involved high school students. Cheong Pek Ut, consultant senior officer at the Centre of Psycho-pedagogical Support and Special Education of DSEJ, commented that “these reports will affect Macau, particularly by putting pressure on education staff. Macau and Hong Kong are neighboring regions; suicide is infectious.”
In 2014, 11.4 individuals per 100,000 tried to end their own lives in Hong Kong.
According to Cheong, student suicide occurs mainly in September and October, which corresponds to the beginning of the new semester. “When students are afraid to face a new environment, while nobody is there to provide them with help, they may attempt to kill themselves. But pressure from school is not the only reason. The reasons are always a mix of physical, mental, and financial issues,” Cheong said.
During the workshop, DSEJ urged teachers to take the initiative if they notice anything abnormal by, for instance, asking students whether they are planning to commit suicide, as well as entrusting potentially suicidal students to counselors and psychologists. The number of student counselors has been steadily increasing, according to DSEJ. There are currently 225 counselors, each of them supporting 365 students.
Companies encouraged to step into e-commerce business
The Youth Entrepreneurship Incubation Center organized a range of lectures on cross-border e-commerce over the weekend. The founders of several companies were invited to share their experiences, Journal Va Kio reported.
The large market surrounding online shopping in China has encouraged companies to step into the e-commerce business. The blend between traditional trading and online business is a novel way to develop industries, believes Sou Tim Peng, director of the Macau Economic Services. “It’s one of the paths young people, who want to establish their own business, might walk,” said Sou.
Since Macau has been trying to diversify its economy, the government is keeping an eye on the development of e-commerce, encouraging small and medium sized local businesses that are currently based around traditional trading to change to an online format, and hence promote youth entrepreneurship. “The government hopes that through these lectures both companies and young people will gain a deeper understanding of e-commerce, and that we can also speed up the connections between traditional and online trading,” Sou informed.
Since last year, the center has received 570 inquiries, 48 applications asking for free temporary offices, two renewal applications, and a total of 30 enterprises received assistance in setting up new companies operating retail and catering businesses.
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