First Royal Commonwealth Society conference in Hong Kong to bring together Singapore, Malaysia and 10 other countries to tackle youth discontent
- Commonwealth is not just about tradition and history, society chairman says, but about young people and the future
The NGO tasked with promoting the values of the Commonwealth and improving lives in its member states is holding its first Asian conference in Hong Kong this month, with a focus on issues affecting young people.
The Royal Commonwealth Society will welcome 45 delegates from 12 countries including Singapore, Malaysia and India.
Discussions are planned on education, skills and employment, which Peter Mann, chairman of the society’s Hong Kong branch, said were highly relevant to the city.
“A lot of graduates find it difficult to find employment. There are doubts about the exam-based education system and [the absence of] creative industries,” Mann said.
“We want young people from Hong Kong to meet [those] from other places, so they can compare their situations and see what can be done to improve.”
Mann said many people associated the Commonwealth with “the history and traditions that older people would care about”, but the grouping now served as a vital platform for cross-cultural interaction among youngsters, especially “in these dark days [with] nationalism rising”.
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“The youth are our future. We want to get more young people involved in the debate,” he said.
The conference organiser was paying travel and accommodation fees for all forum attendees aged under 30, he added.
The four-day event starts on March 14 and will cover a wide range of topics including environmental protection, cybercrime and trade among Commonwealth countries.
The society was founded in 1868 and covers 53 nations. It has been organising international forums every two years. This year’s event, the first in Asia, will mark the modern Commonwealth’s 70th anniversary.
According to Mann, Hong Kong was chosen as the host because “it’s geographically central in Asia, and is also a world city with a lot of cultural diversity”.
The society’s Hong Kong branch was set up in 1983 and now has about 600 members, among whom half are non-ethnic Chinese. The conference is aiming to promote tolerance and further understanding of different races, religions and nationalities, according to Mann, through discussion of issues such as terrorism and peace-building in Asia.
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Mann said Hongkongers still had a thing or two to learn about open-mindedness when it came to minorities.
“[A lack of tolerance] is because some people don’t understand, don’t know enough about minorities,” he said. “We hope to help Hong Kong people realise that diversity is actually a strength.”
The conference will feature seminars and group-sharing sessions as well as speakers from Hong Kong and the consuls general for Pakistan, Canada, Australia and South Africa.
Delegates will get a chance to visit Tai O fishing village and the Tian Tan Buddha on Lantau Island, and attend a party on a city tram.
Applications to join the conference can be made at rcshk.com.
