NPC deputy believes an 'up-close and personal' approach wins young people's hearts, Willa Wu reports

There are 1,000 ways to approach young people but Andrew Yao Cho-fai, a Hong Kong deputy to the country's top legislature, believes interaction with them - "jie di qi", literally "breathe the local air" - is the best approach.

Yao, a second-term deputy to the National People's Congress, has spent 10 years promoting the development of ties between young people in Hong Kong and the mainland.

Chairing the Hong Kong-Shanghai Economic Development Association, Yao has led groups of about 350 Hong Kong students to Shanghai for six to eight-month internships over the past 10 years.

Sharing his insights in an exclusive interview with China Daily during the two sessions meetings in Beijing, Yao said promotional work on youth development should emphasize "customer experience". It should let young people learn through direct contact - not just tell them what has been going on.

"So bringing the students to meet the mainland's internet celebrities, encouraging them to snatch WeChat red packets and enjoying the mainland's fast and convenient food delivery services, are all my methods for carrying out youth work," Yao explained.

Such interactions are the key for young people to open the door to the mainland, Yao stressed. They would help Hong Kong youths get a glimpse of how mainland people live - especially their peers.

Seeing different lifestyles would arouse curiosity, he ventured. Yao said he had been impressed by the mainland's booming internet economy, which had produced a pool of profit-making business models such as online shopping, self-media and online games.

Once young people found something interesting, they will be willing to dig beneath the surface.

"And our role at this stage is to connect them with insiders in the industry," Yao said.

'Customer experience'

Unlike other routine mainland trips where politicians are the "must visits", Yao's internship program prefers matching Hong Kong students with mainland startup companies.

This reflected Yao's emphasis on "customer experience".

"Students told me that compared with meetings with government officials they are more inclined to talk to young entrepreneurs, getting to know their experience, be it success or failure," Yao said.

"Young entrepreneurs are around the age of the students. They share the same passion for building up their careers as well as doubts and fears of uncertainty," Yao said.

His internship program had helped around 20 to 30 Hong Kong students find mainland jobs so far. Most of the rest had secured jobs in Hong Kong which involved liaising with mainland market.

Make contributions

Apart from "customer experience", it is also vital to "let the students give what they have".

"Our program shows students are not only interested in the promising aspects of the Chinese mainland, but also the fields that call for improvement," Yao said.

He recalled that the program once brought Hong Kong students to visit an elementary school for children from migrant worker families in Shanghai.

At the time, Hong Kong students had played a "one-day teacher" role, briefing the pupils on what happened outside their campus.

At the end of that visit, the pupils told the Hong Kong interns they would also like to enroll in colleges as their "one-day teachers" had showed them the charm of being educated adults.

Closing the visit, the Hong Kong students told Yao that they felt satisfied as they found they could influence others, and contribute to someone's life, he said.

Once they knew they could make a difference, they were more willing to join in.

"So my advice for those who also work on youth development: Don't just organize field visits but create opportunities for young people to play a contributor role, big or small", Yao said. "Those opportunities lie in maybe building houses for local village people or crafting ways for mainland companies to go abroad."

The youth development issue has gained increasing attention since President Xi Jinping's inspection visit to Hong Kong last July. At the time, the president mentioned the word "youth" more than 10 times.

In the work report delivered by the country's top political adviser Yu Zhengsheng on March 5, the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference gave full support to youth-related work in both the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions.

When asked about difficulties in youth work, Yao said there were none. "Spend some time knowing what the young care about most and interact with them using their language, the work is half successful already," he said.

However, Yao is modest about the results of youth work. "I would not have much expectation that the work will change young people's lives. But I am sure that it will leave a mark on their development," he said.

Contact the writer at willa@chinadailyhk.com

Andrew Yao Cho-fai, Hong Kong deputy to the National People's Congress and chairman of the Hong Kong-Shanghai Economic Development Association, poses for a photo in front of the Great Hall of the People during this year's two sessions. Provided to China Daily

(HK Edition 03/20/2018 page7)