Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng announced during the 7th Community Safety Youth Leadership Project and 12th Junior Anti-crime Pioneers Programme opening ceremony at the Macau Polytechnic University (MPU) campus in Zape yesterday that 259 participants have graduated from the previous two crime prevention training programmes.
The ceremony was attended by Education and Youth Development Bureau (DSEDJ) Acting Deputy Director Cheong Man Fai, Chinese Youth Advancement Association (CYAA) Chairman Chan Hong, Macao Catholic Schools Association (MCSA) Principal and Councillor Iu Pek Fong, and representatives from various local educational institutions, social organisations and youth organisations.
According to Sit, the programmes were organised to assist the government in raising legal awareness and cultivating a sense of national identity and social responsibility among youngsters. Crime prevention courses and publicity campaigns, community service, and visitation activities to the Macau Handover Gifts Museum and Coloane Prison were among the training activities.
The two programmes have trained more than 2,900 participants over the years, Sit reported. This year, 100 students from seven higher education institutions and 300 students from 39 secondary schools participated in the programmes.
During his speech, Sit emphasised that as the environment that young people are growing up in nowadays is becoming increasingly “complex” with youngsters becoming more susceptible to misinformation and disinformation, as well as all kinds of crime on the internet, the government and the Judiciary Police aim to create better conditions for Macau’s next generation, and thus the introduction of the two training programmes aiming to foster youths who will contribute to the “construction of a powerful nation” and “national rejuvenation” in the future.
Sit said that through the two programmes, youths not only strengthen regional and national security, but also deliver a positive social impact as they become “role models to their peers” as patriotic, responsible and exemplary citizens who understand the core values of the motherland and Macau, and give back to society.
According to a PJ statement, the two training programmes align with the government’s “Macau Youth Policy”. The objectives include fostering the professional development of young people, “cultivating young people’s devotion to the motherland” and assisting them “in using their strengths to contribute to the development of Macau and the country”, according to a statement on the World Health Organisation (WHO) website about the “Macao Youth Policy 2021-2030” plan.
To launch this year’s programmes, the new batch of trainees swore an oath, witnessed by PJ officers to abide by the law, work in unity to serve society, raise crime prevention awareness and promote positive youth development.
During yesterday’s ceremony, students from the two programmes performed a lion dance, along with another traditional Chinese dance to promote Chinese culture.
Judiciary Police (PJ) Director Sit Chong Meng delivers a speech during yesterday’s kick-off ceremony on the Macao Polytechnic University (MPU) campus in Zape. – Photo: Leong Ian Kio
