Guests at the forum expressed worries about the lack of initiative and readiness of the Y generation, normally referred to as people born between 1977 and the start of the current millennium.

According to Vocational Training Council chairman Andrew Leung, people of the Y generation are nothing less than flowers grown in greenhouses that cannot endure even the slightest difficulty. They will resign from their jobs once they encounter any hard work, he commented.

Equally, he was upset by the attitude of some parents who protect their children too much. No matter whether they are rich or poor, some parents tell their children to quit their job if they don't like it because the parents don't need their income to support the family.

Leung, who owns a textile manufacturing business, said Hong Kong's industrial sector needs to hire a lot of staff, but unfortunately graduates are unwilling to work in factories like the generation before them.

He called on young people to set their sights broader and look north of the border as the local economy will integrate with the mainland economy in the long run. Though they will get higher wages in Hong Kong, the cost of living in the mainland is much cheaper. And as China is almost unperturbed by the financial crisis, he reckoned the larger mainland market provides greater room for economic development and job prospects in the long run.

On the subject of young people's lack of mobility, Mimi Cunningham, director of human resources and sustainability at The Hong Kong Jockey Club, said she had seen parents accompanying their children to attend job interviews.

Royce Yuen, who is also chairman of The Association of Accredited Advertising Agencies of Hong Kong, said he had heard parents opposing their children's decision to join the advertising sector as they preferred them to join large companies or the financial industry.

Jacky Kwan, chairman of Bamboo Professional Nursing Services, grumbled that some of the university graduates they had recruited were far from mature and behaved like "babies". Although the company tried to take care of new staff as far as possible, some resigned soon after taking up the jobs, citing hard work and pressure as the main reasons.

In analyzing the lack of mobility among young people, Professor Francis Lui attributed the problem to the huge number of 'only child' born in the past two decades. Although they are generally more clever, they are weak in communication, social and planning skills, as well as being self-conceited.

Many young people, including some of his students, do not have the right mindset for work and are not employable, Lui said.

But it is still worthwhile for them to go out to find work and learn more about the world even though they will inevitably come across difficulties, he said.

Secretary for Labour and Welfare Matthew Cheung agreed that the Y generation today lack the power of resilience to cope with adversities, saying that young people born in the 1980s were brought up with Filipino domestic helpers and were over-protected.

The financial tsunami has come as a wake-up call to remind the young people that they need to equip themselves suitably, persevere, work hard and display greater self-reliance during this difficult period.

Given that the Hong Kong economy will sooner or later integrate with the mainland economy, Cheung asked young people to adopt a "mainland mindset" and look towards emerging mainland cities that will become China's economic growth engines.

Cheung also advised the young people to enhance their competitive edge by mastering proficiency in English and Putonghua.

The mainland section of the Internship Programme for University Graduates provides good opportunities for the university graduates to familiarize themselves with China's economic development and national affairs.

"Even money can't buy such invaluable experience," Cheung stressed.

(HK Edition 07/10/2009 page4)