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The "Hang Seng Bank - Help the Police Fight Youth Crime Competition 2014" was launched today (March 27). Under the theme "Fight Crime Together", the competition is to convey the key messages of combating drug abuse, violence and theft.
Speaking at the launch ceremony, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Tsang Wai-hung, said that although the number of arrested young people aged between 10 and 20 dropped from over 8 000 in 2009 to over 5 000 last year, there were still many youngsters involved in shop and miscellaneous thefts, wounding and serious assault, and serious drug offences.
Mr Tsang hoped that the competition could convey fight crime messages to young people with weaker tenacity and let them know about the serious consequences of committing these crimes to the society, their families, their friends and themselves.
He also hoped that the competition could encourage young people with greater tenacity to assist Police fight crime and nurture their good citizenship.
Also officiating at the ceremony, Vice-Chairman and Chief Executive of Hang Seng Bank (HSB), Ms Rose Lee, said that with youth development as a key element of HSB's corporate responsibility initiatives, the bank was honoured to have cooperated with the Police for 20 years to promote positive values among young people.
She also noted her hope that, regardless of their background or experience, young people participating in the competition would work together to promote anti-crime messages among their friends, fellow students and the wider community.
Introduced in 1975, the biennial competition is one of the major crime prevention programmes organised by the Police and has been sponsored by HSB since 1994.
It aims to raise youngsters' alertness to juvenile crimes and foster a police-community partnership in the fight against youth crime. It attracted a record number of more than 260 000 participants in 2012.
The competition consists of five categories: the Primary Group (Primary 4-6), Junior Group (Form 1-3), Senior Group (Form 4-6), Post-Secondary Group (full time, aged 17 to 25), and the Non-governmental Organisation (NGO) Group (aged 15 to 25, youth service groups and uniformed groups receiving subvention from the Home Affairs Bureau).
Contestants will go through three phases of evaluation comprising a combination of web game, quiz, report on newspaper article, essay writing or project presentation, aptitude test and interview.
Winners will be awarded scholarships and have the opportunity to represent Hong Kong as fight crime ambassadors in an overseas exchange tour in August.
To further promote community engagement, a short promotional video introducing the competition has been uploaded onto the Hong Kong Police YouTube channel¡]www.youtube.com/user/HKPchannel¡^.
Entry forms are available at the Police Public Relations Branch (PPRB), Police Community Relations Offices, Junior Police Call (JPC) clubs and Public Enquiry Service Centres of the Home Affairs Department. The forms can also be downloaded from the JPC website.
The deadline for applications for the Primary Group, Junior Group, Senior Group and Post-Secondary Group is April 25; and that for the NGO Group is May 5.
For enquiries, please contact the PPRB on 2860 6155 or visit the JPC website at www.hkpjpc.org.hk.
Ends/Thursday, March 27, 2014
Issued at HKT 17:59
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