The "I Pledge·Youth Ambassador of the Year 2015 Award Presentation Ceremony" was held at the Customs Headquarters Building today (December 19). The activity, jointly organised by the Customs and Excise Department (C&ED) and the Intellectual Property Department (IPD) in the past 10 years, was committed to enhancing public awareness of respect and protection of intellectual property rights (IPR) and setting up role models for young people to fight against infringement.
The ceremony was officiated by the Commissioner of Customs and Excise, Mr Roy Tang and the Director of Intellectual Property, Ms Ada Leung. Over 200 Youth Ambassadors, members of the Intellectual Property Right Protection Alliance and "I Pledge" members participated in this activity.
At the ceremony, Mr Tang said that to further combat Internet IPR crime, the C&ED had launched a new monitoring system, SocNet, since July 2015 to empower investigation of IPR infringing activities on social network platform. The system proved to be effective. However, IPR infringement could not be stopped solely by law enforcement. The support and effort of the public to refuse infringing acts was indeed more important. The theme of this year was "Continue our decade's dedication to protect creativity". Mr Tang was very grateful for the unfailing support from the 13 Youth Uniform Organisations (YUGs) and the intellectual property industry, and also the actions taken by the members of the Youth Ambassodor Scheme (YAS) and "I Pledge" in dedicating themselves to fighting IPR infringing activities and further promoting the awareness of IPR protection to their classmates, friends and relatives.
Ms Ada Leung said that the IPD was committed to raising public awareness of IPR protection and organising different creative activities in collaboration with different organisations, such as the C&ED, intellectual property industry and youth organizations to enhance youngsters' interest and respect for original works and IPR through understanding, learning and application. This was the tenth year the "I Pledge" Campaign and the YAS organised activities jointly. Both the IPD and the C&ED would continue to work hand in hand for enhancing public awareness and respect for IPR.
The officiating guests presented three group prizes and 13 individual prizes under the YAS to the YUGs and their members to commend their active participation during the year. In addition, prizes were presented to winners of the "4-Panel Comics" Competition aiming to encourage youngsters to continue their creative work and to strengthen their awareness for IPR protection. Besides, the important messages of IPR protection were shared among participants through sand painting and singing performances. Specifically, the theme song of "I Pledge·Youth Ambassador" was released for the first time in public and performed by the winners of the "I Pledge·Youth Ambassador" Singing Contest and others in the ceremony. This theme song is specially created to promote the importance of IPR protection amongst youngsters through a light-hearted tune.
The "I Pledge" Campaign was launched by the IPD in 1999 for promoting awareness and respect for IPR. It has attracted more than 10 000 members who pledged not to buy or use pirated or counterfeit goods, and to show respect for IPR on the internet. In the past few years, "I Pledge" Campaign had organised various activities for its members, such as original band live performances, film events, comics and design competitions.
The YAS was initiated by the C&ED in 2006. It has been strongly supported by the intellectual property industry. The Scheme aims to foster youths' respect for IPR and promote the importance of IPR protection. This year, the Scheme organized a series of training and educational activities including music composing and lyrics writing workshop, 4-panel comics workshop and competition. In addition, the Scheme also joined hands with the "I Pledge" Campaign in organizing a film show, a singing contest, and exchange activities between youths in Hong Kong and Guangdong Province.
Ends/Saturday, December 19, 2015
