The first “Smart Consumption Academy” (SCA) concluded with the Award Presentation Ceremony held today (12 July 2024) at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The SCA is a new educational programme for secondary school students, jointly organised by the Consumer Council and the Education Bureau (EDB) with full support from 27 co-organisers and supporting organisations. The ceremony was officiated by The Hon Alice Mak Mei-kuen, SBS, JP, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs.
Premising upon the successful 24-year run of the Consumer Culture Study Award (CCSA), the SCA continues to instill in secondary school students the essential knowledge about 3 key themes, namely “rational consumption”, “sustainable consumption and green lifestyle,” as well as “consumption and caring for the community”. The programme is designed to foster positive consumption values, empowering students to become “smart” consumers. The programme is divided into 2 phases, with the first one successfully launched in the previous school year. In a brand new and highly flexible format, the programme attracted enthusiastic response, participated by 141 secondary schools and more than 25,000 students, among which 18 schools were engaged in the Council’s educational activities for the first time. Response was very encouraging.
The Hon Alice Mak Mei-kuen said during her speech, “The Consumer Council holds the highest level of public trust among public bodies. I would like to express my gratitude to the Chairman, Members, Chief Executive, and colleagues of the Council for their efforts over the years in providing information to local consumers and cultivating consumer knowledge and awareness. I hope that together we can strive to empower every citizen of Hong Kong, including the youth, to become smart consumers.”
Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing, BBS, MH, JP, Chairman of the Consumer Council, addressed the audience during his welcome speech, “As the inaugural event after the revamp, the SCA owes its success to the support and encouragement from various sectors of society. Given the ever-evolving environment and the influence of new technology on consumption behaviours, the Council has to keep pace with the times and continuously update its consumer education, in a bid to enhance consumer welfare. We will continue to strive and work together with everyone to cultivate a sense of civic responsibility in the next generation, inspiring them to be “smart” consumers.”
The SCA consists of a versatile range of activities to promote essential consumption information to students in a diversified and fun approach. The first phase included 3 competitions namely “My Unique Project Study”, “My Witty Online Quiz” and “My Fun IG Post Creation”.
The finale of “My Witty Online Quiz” took place on 4 July 2024 at the City Gallery of Edinburgh Place in Central. All the finalists were well-versed in the functions of the Consumer Council, rational consumption, and sustainable consumption, and so on ensuring they were well-prepared to compete for the championship. An event highlight video was played during the Ceremony to let the audience relive the intense excitement during the finale.
In the “My Unique Project Study” competition, quite some award-winning projects touched upon themes related to consumption and caring for the community, as well as sustainable consumption. Concerned about the consumption challenges faced by vulnerable groups, a group of awardees employed specially designed glasses and earplugs to simulate the sensory functions of the elderly, so that the wearer could experience the difficulties encountered by senior citizens when they go shopping in their everyday lives. The experience allowed them to reflect on feasible methods for fostering an age-friendly consumption environment. Another award-winning team proposed developing a mobile app tailored for visually impaired individuals, aiming to improve their dining experience. Furthermore, in response to environmental issues, one of the winning teams utilised Artificial Intelligence (AI) to design a smart recycling bin. The bin featured an identification function and is integrated with a mobile app to assess the collection capacity of recycling bins in the community. The goal of this innovative project is to encourage citizens to adopt the habit of separating and recycling waste.
To connect consumption issues with students’ daily lives, the third module “My Fun IG Post Creation” requires students to showcase their photography, drawing and creative writing on Instagram, the social media platform popular among the younger generation. The entries this year came in a vast range of formats, with students creating videos, illustrations and short comics to share their personal consumption experiences and observations on consumption habits in daily life. An exciting highlight of the Ceremony was the live voting of the “Most Influential Post” award, which is the highest honour of the competition. The 3 finalists shortlisted by the professional adjudication panel were voted on by the audience to determine the winner. In addition, 5 audience members were randomly drawn to join an interactive quiz game on-stage, bringing the atmosphere to a climax.
The adjudication of all 3 competitions was conducted with rigour. For “My Unique Project Study” and “My Fun IG Post Creation”, the screening panel and/or final adjudicators consisted of approximately 30 experts in total, including Council Members, the Council’s senior management, and experienced individuals from the educational field. In the finale of “My Witty Online Quiz”, the Council’s Chief Executive, Co-opted Member, and a representative from the EDB were invited as on-site adjudicators.
The first phase of the SCA concluded smoothly under the auspices of the EDB, all participating and supporting organisations. Moving forwards, the “My Best Ambassador Scheme” will be introduced in the second phase of the SCA in the 2025/26 school year. Former winners will be appointed as ambassadors to provide guidance and inspiration to junior students in completing the various activities of the SCA, as a means of passing on the torch.
The Consumer Council launched the SCA in July 2023, replacing the CCSA. The revamp preparatory work commenced subsequent to the establishment of the Working Group on Revamp for Consumer Education for Youth (“Working Group”) in early 2022, and it took 14 months to complete the entire process. The Working Group was chaired by Vice-Chairman of the Council and comprised of 11 education sector professionals. They conducted a thorough review of youth policies, secondary school curriculum, education trends, and referenced educational activities in the community. Additionally, the Council held 6 focus groups with various stakeholders to gather valuable suggestions. As a result, the Working Group decided to adopt a more diverse, interactive and fun approach to promote information on important consumption issues as well as consumer rights to the youth.
Image Captions:
Consumer Council’s Chairman Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing, Vice Chairman Mr Tony Pang Chor-fu, Chairman of the Publicity and Community Relations Mr Victor Lam Hoi-cheung and Chief Executive of the Consumer Council Ms Gilly Wong Fung-han, visit the exhibition area featuring main award-winning entries.
Guests vote for the “Most Influential Post” under “My Fun IG Post Creation” competition.
Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing, Chairman of the Consumer Council, delivers a welcome speech.
The Officiating Guest, The Hon Alice Mak Mei-kuen, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, delivers a speech.
The Officiating Guest, The Hon Alice Mak Mei-kuen, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, representatives of the Consumer Council, co-organiser, participating and supporting organisations posing with the school teachers and students.
The Officiating Guest, The Alice Mak Mei-kuen, Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, presents trophies to the winning teams.
5 audience members were randomly drawn to participate in an exciting quiz game with Mr Tong Pang Chor-fu, Vice-Chairman of the Consumer Council and Ms Gilly Wong Fung-han, Chief Executive of the Consumer Council.
Mr Clement Chan Kam-wing, Chairman of the Consumer Council, presents souvenirs to the adjudicators/screening panelists of each competition.
Winning teams from the junior and senior divisions of “My Unique Project Study” introduce their project highlights to the audience.
Group photo of all the guests, school teachers and students.