You go as you want?
Insufficient promotion of working holiday brings an illusion to young people
No standard formula for having a great working holiday can be found. Some people may find it very rewarding while some get more lost during the journey. For many of the young people, it is easy to get confused of their lives and tired of the daily routine. Working holiday may be a good way to take a break, but not everyone is suitable to embark the trip at any time.
Information about working holiday can be found online easily, but what the participants have to go through on top of the physical preparation are what really matter. Ejoe Tso Kar-ho, founder and ex-chairman of HKBackpackers, a NGO organized by a group of returnees of backpacking with the mission to share backpacking experiences, believes that the government has not done enough to promote working holiday.
As a backpacker who has been to Australia for working holiday and various East Asian countries, he thinks that working holiday can be a “life coaching experience” and an experiment for the young to know how far they can achieve. However, the government does not have sufficient promotion of the scheme to let young people know what they need for their embarkation.
“A lot of graduates only think about finding a job, but they don’t know what is the meaning of that job and what kind of life they want. They lack the passion. I hope to inspire them to have a reflection on how to expand their life experience,” said Mr Tso.
He has been in charge of a programme called “Put the World in the Backpack” at Hong Kong Polytechnic University for two years. The six classes of the programme aim to assist students to make their dream of backpacking come true and equip themselves with skills necessary for backpacking through sharing from returnees and interactive activities. Working holiday is one of the ways of backpacking.
“Students need guidelines for backpacking, but not rules to follow rigidly. We inform them ways for backpacking such as Workaway, which is work in exchange for free accommodation, and couch surfing, which is to stay with local hosts for cultural exchange without money involving,” he said.
Mr Tso designs different tasks and role playing scenes to analyse whether his students are ready to go for a working holiday.
One misconception about working holiday is that they do not know the deeper meaning. “Cultural exchange is the most important instead of site-visiting. It is essential to get to know the locals, their way of living, their customs, and follow their way of living,” he said.
“You have to put aside the shadow of living in Hong Kong and try to embrace new stuff like a new-born. There are ways that allow you to get deeper into their societies.”
He believes the “five Ws” are important for starting backpacking. Backpackers need to identify why they want this trip, what they want to achieve and gain, when is the suitable time to go, who to go with and how to make it real.
“The process is more important than the results. Some people go traveling to some famous spots like everyone else, but they do not have memories after coming back. Backpacking is based on cultural exchange, to encounter different people and be inspired,” he said.
Commission on Youth and Labour Department have been cooperating with HKBackpackers to hold sharing seminars, but he thinks only sharing is not enough.
“The government’s attitude is confusing. They want to encourage young people to explore more of themselves through this scheme, but on the other hand they do not want too many to go and lose too many elites to other countries as a lot of them may not get back to Hong Kong after their trips,” he said.
He believes that the Hong Kong government does not want this to become a “common experience” that a lot of the young people have to go for like in Taiwan.
“In Taiwan, it is like one of the things on the top ten “bucket list” that almost all graduates have to do. Their government supports it a lot. One reason is to alleviate the unemployment. Some students without clear vision can also go for it,” he said.
According to the statistics of the Australian Government, more than 150,000 young Taiwanese have been to Australia for a working holiday from 2006 to 2015.
Taiwanese accounts for the second highest number of application for working holiday visa in Australia in recent years.
He wants more support for working holiday from the government. “Working holiday is not simply traveling, it is a life coaching experience. It can make students stronger in terms of fighting against risks,” he said.
He believes that working holiday is easy to start. From applying for a visa, purchasing an air-ticket, it may take only three days. The most important thing is to get mentally prepared.
“Plans lag behind changes. They have to get prepared to face unexpected incidents like sudden loss of job, using up of savings and difficulty finding a place to stay,” he added. He believes that participants have to clear their burdens such as the pressure from family and problem with their girlfriend or boyfriend before they go or they can not really gain from the experience.
He hopes an information centre specifically for backpacking can be built since it is hard for potential backpackers to filter information and distinguish which is true.
“More consultation for working holiday can be done. We do not have enough resources to provide a 24-hour hotline. More Hongkongers will appreciate this experience with this centre. A lot of the seminars are only for schools instead of the public. They can set up a similar hotline like Hok Yau Club providing assistance for further education or entering labour force,” he said.
The government has tried to promote working holiday in career fairs and talks at universities but it is still not very popular among students.
Promotional leaflets of working holiday (The green ones in the middle) have been placed at a bookshelf at the career centre at Hong Kong Baptist University.
Rebecca Wong for Commissioner for Labour said the Labour Department is committed to promoting and encouraging the participation in the Working Holiday Scheme by youths from Hong Kong and the partner economies.
She responded that publicity material like pamphlets has been prepared and distributed at places like public venues and Hong Kong Economic and Trade Offices abroad. “We are dedicated to continue our publicity and promotional efforts to facilitate youths from both sides in obtaining the relevant information and to raise their interests in joining the Scheme.
Some other organizations also have organized seminars about working holiday with different themes but many are only one-off events. Hong Kong Working Holiday Youths(HKWHY) is another association similar to HKBackpackers which has constantly held seminars inviting returnees to share guidelines for finding jobs, purchase of vehicles and changes they have been through. Convener Helix Ha Hei-中ok has been cooperating with Labour Party and other district councilors to hold small-scale sharing as well.