News

The Make A Video Contest, co-organized by ifva, Hong Kong Arts Centre and fully supported by Hang Seng Bank for this year, received over 160 submissions from local secondary students, of which some are from ethnic minority groups, or with physical and hearing disabilities. The Young Creative Award, The Most Representative Video Story Award, The Most Influential Video Award and The Best One-minute Video Award were presented to winners of Junior Secondary School and Senior Secondary School categories.

“These videos are not only life stories of the young contestants, but also windows for parents and public to look into the deep thoughts of our young generation,” said Professor Nirmala Rao, Council Member of UNICEF HK. “While many people consider adolescence as a period of growing independence, these videos remind us that love and care from parents are still very important to our children, and quality parent-child communication continues to play a very important role for their life development.”

15-year-old Shum Ming-chun won The Young Creative Award of Senior Secondary School Category with Inner Us – a video dedicated to his busy mom who has no choice but work day and night to earn money as an insurance oker. “Mom, what I need is not your money. It is your love and care,” said the son in the video, selling a ‘Beautiful Life Fund’ investment plan to his mom.

Shum felt he could use this video as a starting point to improve the relationship with his mother, and call for parents to spend more time with their children instead of focusing on materialistic things that will not ing happiness in the long term. “Video is a good medium to convey a message. It is less embarrassing than talking in person.”

17-year-old Zeng Xian-ting shared her viewpoints on social labelling of parents through Blindfold. “Many people complain about ‘monster parents’ but can we think about the reasons behind? Parents are affected by social norms. They are blindfolded with the distorted values that fame and fortune are key criteria to be considered successful – with a wish that their children can grow up happily, they push their children to achieve the success that are defined by the society.”

With the full support from Hang Seng Bank this year, UNICEF HK announces a plan to sustain the Make A Video project with a youth documentary to promote the spirit of listening to the voices of youth. Adam Wong Sau-ping, the Creative Advisor and Judge of the project will join hands with selected contestants to produce the documentary by providing direct guidance and support. “Young people experience different challenges as they grow up. I wish to help them create videos to express their views on their most concerned issues. At the same time, I will follow and film their creation process. Together with in-depth interviews, I believe this documentary will help the society understand the situation and needs of youngsters nowadays.”