Y You Volunteer
By Mio Chen, Vinson Liu, Rex Chan and Cindy Lee

Volunteering indicates altruistic activities which are intended to promote the goodness or improve the quality of human life. Voluntary activities have become one of the most respected social acts, attracting participation of many citizens including Y kids.

There has been a considerable increase in voluntary job participation of youngsters aged between 13 and 25 in recent years. According to the Hong Kong Volunteer Movement (HKVM) statistics, the number of volunteers in this age group in Hong Kong almost doubled from 240,000 in 2005 to 469,000 in 2012. Travis Lai, a youth leader of Bosco Youth Service Network (Bosco Youth), a Catholic voluntary group in Macau, who is also a Human Resource major student at UM, pointed out that a similar trend is also witnessed in Macau. "More and more youth took on voluntary jobs." Lai said. "Peer pressure plays an important role in the process."

In addition, this group of youngsters forms the main force of the voluntary movement. According to the latest statistics released by the HKVM, the Y generation (age 13-25) accounts for 44% of the total number of volunteers in Hong Kong in 2012. Other age groups showed a lower proportion.

The phenomenon is understandable. Hom Lee, a Mandarin volunteer member, explained that Y kids have natural advantages compared with other age groups. "Frankly speaking, doing a voluntary job is a relief from study and work for Y kids.... We don't have much stress like those adults who need to earn their living and we can better understand the joy of helping others." She also said that physical status is another reason for the higher portion of youth participation in voluntary work.

"Schools and religion also contribute a lot in promoting voluntary jobs to Y kids in Hong Kong and Macau," Lai suggested. "Most schools, especially religious schools, encourage their students to participate in the activities." This statement is supported by the statistics of HKVM which indicate that schools and community organizations have become the main source of the voluntary movement. Schools take up a quarter of the voluntary jobs in Hong Kong. As Y kids are mostly in schools, they contribute more to the voluntary movement than other age groups.

Y we need to be a volunteer?

Daniel Zhou, a student of University of Macau (UM) is a recipient of 2012 Top 10 Youth Volunteers of Macau Award by the Macau government. He now works in the voluntary team of Bosco Youth and this is the fifth year of his volunteering. His voluntary team generally provides entertainment activities for Macau kids, especially for those who are disabled, mentally handicapped, or suffer from infantile autisms. In addition, he also joined a voluntary group in helping children in underdeveloped areas like Vietnam.

Zhou himself was one of the beneficiaries of Bosco Youth. Influenced by the spirit of voluntary activities in his childhood, he has devoted himself to voluntary work. He explained that all voluntary groups were determined to promote the humanitarian spirit to everyone in the world and the participation of Y generation is increasingly important. "Materialism is more and more popular around the world," said Zhou. "Even certain public organizations like hospitals and schools have become commercial. Voluntary work brings love to the general public, helping them to adjust  from their misleading values. As Y kids would be the next leading generation of society, their participation in voluntary work is irreplaceable." He believed that when Y kids participate in voluntary work, they would be imparted with  the spirit of love and humanity which would be passed on to others they serve.

Furthermore, many Y volunteers hold the opinion that the Y generation should participate more in voluntary work instead of being a home boy or home girl in a world of globalization and digitalization. Vinic Leong, another volunteer, is concerned with the home-bound problem of youths very much. "Many Y kids, especially boys, are addicted to computer games," Leong commented. "I personally regard the act of playing online games as meaningless and players receive nothing in return."

Lee also agreed with Leong's idea. "The voluntary work would strengthen volunteers' communication skills as well as a good chance for interpersonal bonding. That's what we, the Y kids, lack. Voluntary jobs can help us to overcome our weaknesses like shyness, nervousness and being tongue-tied." Lee said that a voluntary experience is of great significance for Y kids. "With the influence of mass media and social media, we have lost many precious things. The Y generation should focus more on voluntary jobs. It can widen our social life, make us fully utilize our spare time after school, and also provide help to the  neediest in society."

Zhou emphasized that that voluntary jobs bring a unique happiness to participants. "I do enjoy voluntary work because I receive abundant love in the process," Zhou said with a smile. "Whilst the joy of material treasure comes easy, it goes easy at  the same time. A spiritual fulfillment is eternal though it comes slowly." He also called for more Y youths to join the large family of volunteers because they would find their true self in the activities.

Y voluntary work and leadership

Both Hong Kong and Macau governments have paid  high attention to the voluntary participation issue. Youngsters of generation Y are the focus.

Many activities like the Macau Summer Volunteer Program are aimed at training future volunteers and calling more teenagers to join volunteer communities. Hundreds of Y kids were influenced by the activities and many of them have become professional volunteers.

The Hong Kong government has made the voluntary contribution one of the most important parts of future leadership. For example,Hong Kong 200, an activity of cultivating future Hong Kong leaders, makes the voluntary work  a core part in its leadership training.
 
Given the situation, we believe there would be more Y participants in voluntary jobs in the near future.