Appointments to Youth Development Commission
28.3.2018

The Government announced today (March 28) the establishment of the Youth Development Commission (YDC), chaired by the Chief Secretary for Administration, as well as the appointments of Mr Lau Ming-wai as the Vice-Chairman and 34 non-official and eight ex-officio members of the YDC for a term of two years, from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2020. In her 2017 Policy Address, the Chief Executive announced the establishment of the YDC to enhance policy co-ordination within the Government. This will enable holistic and more effective examination of, and discussion on, issues of concern to young people. The YDC will give specific attention to issues on youth education, career pursuit and home ownership as well as the participation of young people in politics and their engagement in public policy discussion and debate. The existing Commission on Youth (CoY) under the Home Affairs Bureau will also be incorporated into the new, high-level YDC. The YDC will commence operation next month. The Chief Secretary for Administration, Mr Matthew Cheung Kin-chung, said, "Youth development is one of the priority policy areas of the current-term Government. Non-official members of the YDC are highly representative and include community leaders as well as experts and stakeholders involved in youth development work. More than half of them are young members aged 35 or below. The average age of non-official members is 35. I am confident that the YDC would provide valuable advice to the Government on different issues of concern to young people and reflect their views in full." The YDC is the first Government committee with young members appointed through the Pilot Member Self-recommendation Scheme for Youth (the Self-recommendation Scheme). "I am pleased to appoint three young members to the YDC through the Self-recommendation Scheme. These three members went through a very rigorous selection exercise and stood out from 503 qualified applicants. They have demonstrated strong commitment to and abiding passion for serving on the YDC. I look forward to working closely with all YDC members to jointly promote youth development in Hong Kong," Mr Cheung said. Expressing his gratitude to members of the CoY for their remarkable contribution in the past, Mr Cheung emphasised that the Commission had since its establishment provided valuable and pragmatic advice to the Government on youth-related matters, laying a solid foundation for future youth development work. Under the outstanding chairmanship of Mr Lau in recent years, the CoY had effectively assisted the Government in raising public awareness of youth development in Hong Kong through successful implementation of a series of initiatives in this regard. Mr Cheung said he has every confidence that CoY members will continue to support youth development work in different capacities. The terms of reference of the YDC are: (1) to oversee the review, formulation and implementation of youth-related policies, strategies and initiatives; (2) to steer and strengthen collaboration amongst relevant bureaux/departments and other stakeholders on implementation of youth-related policies, strategies and initiatives; (3) to promote cross-sector collaboration in youth work and engage other advisory and statutory bodies on youth development; (4) to engage youths and gauge their views on youth-related policies, strategies and initiatives, including the organisation of the Chief Executive's Youth Summits; and (5) to set up task forces, ad hoc working groups, and other forms of sub-committees to undertake related work as appropriate. Three Task Forces will be set up under the YDC to undertake specific areas of work. The three Task Forces are: (1) Task Force on Youth Exchange and Internship; (2) Task Force on Youth Development Fund and Programmes; and (3) Task Force on Youth Outreach and Engagement. The first meeting of the YDC will be held next month. The membership of the YDC is as follows: Chairman -------- Chief Secretary for Administration Vice-Chairman ------------ Mr Lau Ming-wai Non-official Members --------------------- Mr Mac Chan Ho-ting Dr Chan Po-ling (appointed through the Self-recommendation Scheme) Mr Jonathan Chan Pok-chi Ms Chan Yuen-ting Mr Cheng Chung-man Mr Cheng Hong-wun (appointed through the Self-recommendation Scheme) Mr Alex Fan Hoi-kit Mr Kenneth Fok Kai-kong Mr Leo Ho Cheuk-yin Mr Nicholas Ho Lik-chi Dr Ho Yuk-fan Mr Andy Kwok Wing-leung Ms Louise Kwong Lai-ling Ms Nixie Lam Lam Ms Serena Lau Sze-wan Professor Gabriel Matthew Leung Mr Clarence Leung Wang-ching Mr Kenneth Leung Yuk-wai Dr Kristen Li Mr Duncan Ma Tak-yan Mr Ng Sum-chun (appointed through the Self-recommendation Scheme) Ms Senia Ng Sze-nok Ms Julia Poon Tsui-ying Mr Hendrick Sin Mr Kyrus Siu King-wai Ms Elizabeth Thong Lee-peng Mr Alex Tou Yat-lung Ms Ashley Tse Hiu-hung Mr James Tsui Siu-lung Dr Rizwan Ullah Dr Isaac Yip Pui-lam Mr Yiu Kwok-wai Mr Jeremy Young Chit-on Ms Mary Yu Wah Ex-officio Members --------------------- Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development Secretary for Education Secretary for Food and Health Secretary for Home Affairs Secretary for Innovation and Technology Secretary for Labour and Welfare Secretary for Security Secretary for Transport and Housing Biographical notes on the non-official members are in the annex. Ends/Wednesday, March 28, 2018 Issued at HKT 14:00 NNNN