Conference on ‘ Strengthening Hong Kong ’ s Families ’ ‘ Embracing a Holistic Approach: Towards Synergy and Co-operation ’

Families in Hong Kong  Family has been the fundamental building block for society, carrying the natural responsibility of caring, protecting, and supporting its members  Harmony keeps a family united, and the happy and healthy families are the foundation of a harmonious society  During difficult times, the society relies even more on families to give strengths to members to cope with different challenges and overcome crises  Hong Kong has undergone rapid socio-economic changes, which have brought along stresses and challenges to the families in Hong Kong, structures and functions of families have changed significantly  New and complex family problems are on the rise, where causes are often multi-faceted, a holistic approach is essential in dealing with the needs of each individual in the family

Youth as a Member of Family  What we do for our youth today is an investment for social stability and development  Family is a vital component for the physical, emotional and intellectual development of a person, family serves as the provider of the most natural and nurturing environment for the growth and development for the youth  The recent financial tsunami exposes the flaws in our economic structure and forces us to reflect on our role in the long run, and the youth in our society is going to be our most valuable asset in redefining Hong Kong as the Asian world city  Promoting family friendly policies is of the best interests for the youth, this will have far reaching effects in ensuring the well-being of our future generations

Youth in Family Policy Making  Given the complexity and ever changing nature of our society nowadays, the youth is affected by diverse elements, namely family, school, peers, community, media, and global issues  Definition of family is also evolving, there are growing numbers of families without children, single-parents, foster parents, and those who live partly across the border  Nevertheless, it is self-evident when one considers that by virtue of their birth, all individuals are youth and part of a family at one time  Most family policies have an profound impact on youth, eg. family allowance, social assistance, parenting and child care policies, marriage separation, divorce, custody and child support, family planning, housing allowance, maternal family and child help services  How our future generations are going to become largely depends on a comprehensive long term family policy framework

Cross- Sectoral Integration  In order to develop a comprehensive long term family policy framework, a coordinated effort is needed, with an emphasis on cross-sectoral integration  Promoting family life quality is a top priority, currently different bureaus, many commissions and bodies are working on aspects of family life education, a basic question is how the related effort can be integrated, leading to a concerted approach across the Government and the community  Integrating family life education into a structured formal curriculum is another important issue, through a condensed and focal program in schools, students and parents alike can learn the essential basic knowledge and skills in family life education

Goals and Challenges Ahead  Objectives of family policies should focus on preserving the strengths and enhancing the functioning of families, gearing them with resilience to cope with challenges from the wider community and from within the family, and educating them with competence to handle different kinds of situations  One of the guiding principles for such policies would be to strive for self reliance and mutual support within the community, early identification of problems and timely intervention are also critical  Though in execution, to what degree the Government would intrude and intervene with the private life and intimate emotion of the family would be a sensitive issue, any social policy should aim to support, not substitute the family