Model Legislative Council
Outstanding Young‘Legislators’ Commended

Business and Professionals Alliance for Hong Kong welcomes new blood with open arms. BPA launched its first internship program this summer. Over a dozen of interns joined the big family of BPA and get to experience the team spirit as well as the work atmosphere.

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With vigour and vitality, our young interns became the fresh blood of BPA

On 5 July 2013, the sharing day for the interns provided not only an opportunity to visit the Legislative Council, but also parliamentary experience such as mock council debates for them.

Implementing waste charging has become a talk of the town due to the recent proposal for extending the landfills. The summer interns role played as legislators from different constituencies and started a heated debate on the motion in the Education Activities Room. After separate voting, the president declared that the motion was passed by majority vote of ‘legislators’ from both Geographical and Functional Constituencies.

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The ‘legislators’ were well prepared for the motion and had a heated debate

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Dr. Lo Wai-kwok appreciated the performance of the interns. He also encouraged them to care more about society and participate actively in politics

There were ‘Best Performance Award’ and the ‘Most Promising Legislator Award’ for those outstanding interns. Dr. Lo Wai-kwok, vice chairman of BPA,presented the awards and shared with the interns about his Legco work. He said he was thrilled with their performance. He also encouraged students to care more about society and participate actively in politics. A ‘legislator’ who opposed waste charging expressed that the issue was similar to fining the use of offensive language, which would encounter difficulties in implementation. Dr. Lo said the point of view inspired him a lot and would consider proposing a motion to fine the case of offensive language when appropriate.

Yuen Kin-hang, awardee of the Most Promising Legislator, expressed that although it was a mock debate, it gave him practical experience and valuable opportunities to gather information. Chan Man-ying felt that being a legislator was not an easy job as every bill involved lots of consequential work.

Apart from the legislative process, the executive branch is another integral part of the Government. Another highlight of the day was the sharing session conducted by Mr. Kevin Ho, CEO of BPA, introducing policy formulation process. Since 1972, he served the Government and held various important positions. He therefore possessed rich administrative and managerial experience. In the 2-hour sharing session, interns showed strong interest in becoming a civil servant. Mr. Ho generously imparted his skills and experience to the interns. Their active participation contributed to the success of the event.

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Mr. Kevin Ho urged the youths to pursue lifelong learning and to serve Hong Kong as a civil servant

In the summer internship programme, interns will be given opportunities to visit the districts to better understand people’s needs. They will also organise various events and be responsible for coordination, promotion and design duties. Mr. Andrew Leung, chairman of BPA welcomed the young interns and hoped the whole series of training and events will nurture future politicians for Hong Kong.