A survey on the participation of young people in the recent district council elections revealed increasing political awareness and social responsibility among Hong Kong youth.

"They are mature and rational, as most of them made their decisions based on a candidate's platform, community-service history, and party affiliation," Lam Keung, a social work supervisor, said yesterday at the Caritas Community Centre, which conducted the survey.

According to the survey, 77.3 per cent of people between 18 and 40 regard exercising their civic duty as the most important reason to vote.

Only 11.3 per cent said they were motivated by the mass protest on July 1st.

Lam said young people were not agitated by a single political event or slogan; rather, they have developed their opinions on public affairs throughout the years.

The survey found that 85.2 per cent of young voters looked to the candidates' political platforms as a deciding factor, while 74.7 per cent considered the candidates' past portfolios and 61 per cent referred to their political backgrounds.

Survey participants included 750 people aged 18 to 40 in seven constituencies in which pro-government incumbents with long community-service experience were challenged by younger candidates backed by the "democratic" camp.

Of the seven constituencies, three were won by young candidates from the "democratic" camp, while four incumbents from the Democratic Alliance for the Betterment of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Progressive Alliance were re-elected.

The four young candidates that lost in the election had no solid track record of community service.

This proves that people were rational in casting their votes, as they sought the right candidates to look after their interests and welfare, Lam said.

The survey studied the viewpoints of young voters from four perspectives: what motivated them to vote; what they considered in choosing candidates; what they expected from future constitutional development; and what they expected to be discussed at district council meetings concerning non-district affairs.

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