Hong Kong minister dismisses concerns that the city’s youth are ‘lying flat’

Hong Kong’s youth minister has dismissed concerns that young people are “lying flat”, after an outgoing lawmaker voiced worries that the city’s limited development options have caused them to lose hope.

Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs Alice Mak Mei-kuen said on Sunday that her bureau’s youth engagement schemes had seen a doubling in the number of applicants, reflecting the effectiveness of the government’s initiatives to support young people.

Her remarks came days after social welfare sector lawmaker Tik Chi-yuen, who had earlier announced he would not seek re-election, wrote in an article that many young people “had given up hopes for the future”, as they “could not see the connection between hard work and a bright future”, citing high property prices, stagnant social mobility and shrinking avenues for public engagement.

“When a young person’s voice is not heard and diligence is not paid back, while he sees no future, what would he choose? The answer is lying flat, giving up or leaving for another place,” he said in the article published in a newspaper.

“Lie flat” is a Chinese slang term to describe people who give up on ambition and do only the bare minimum to get by.

Mak dismissed such claims during a radio programme on Sunday, accusing Tik of being “unfair” to young people.