Meet Alvin:
Hello ! My name is Alvin and I'm a high school student studying in Hong Kong. I'm passionate about music and science, and often like to combine my two interests to promote social justice. I advocate the integration of young people with disabilities, as I believe that integrating students with special needs will create a more diverse future generation. Scientific studies have shown that music greatly facilitates communication for people with special needs. That's why I founded March to Your Beat, a musical initiative aimed at creating an inclusive youth community.
Recently, I teamed up with other young people, Aden Wong, Alpha Ngai and Natalie Chan, to form the Coalition for Disabilities Inclusion, as part of a presentation at the World Economic Forum. An inclusive society is the vision to which we all aspire. I would like to thank KIDsforSDGs from for their ongoing support in the development of our organizations.
What was the first moment of enlightenment that encouraged you to take action for the society in which you live?
When I was still in elementary school, I grew up with students with special needs. We were good friends and studied in the same classes. But as I grew older, I noticed that these students were no longer in my classes, as they began to fall behind academically and have social difficulties. I felt that if this trend continued, the students in difficulty would drift further and further away from us. That's why I decided to create March to Your Beat, an initiative that strives to rebuild an inclusive youth community through music.
What projects are you currently working on? What challenges are you and your organization facing today?
In 2020, I founded March to Your Beat, which started out as a one-man music therapy business. I began drumming with special-needs youngsters in my school, as well as in local organizations. After a few months, I began to doubt whether my small-scale initiative could catalyze change in Hong Kong. That's when I realized that music therapy alone couldn't make a huge impact. To facilitate the expansion of March to Your Beat, I've recruited other young people, each specializing in a different form of therapy, such as counseling and occupational therapy, to collaborate on this initiative, in the hope of accelerating the impact and reaching more people.
What don't adults understand about young people? What's the most common misconception they have about young people?
The first idea that comes to mind for many adults when they think of young people is that they are inexperienced. In fact, as a young person, I agree with this idea. As young people, we don't have the experience of adults when it comes to spearheading global change. However, young people are the adults of tomorrow, and it's essential that they get involved from an early age. Young people's lack of experience of global action could be compensated for by adult support. At the same time, young people can bring a fresh perspective to innovation that many adults may lack. Intergenerational support between adults and young people is essential to foster the emergence of a bright and promising future generation.
What advice would you give to young people who want to make a positive impact? How should they start?
Service begins at home. My advice is that before we even think about making a global impact, we must first make an impact on our family and friends. Actions as simple as recycling waste at home are already a step forward in protecting our ecosystem. Participating in a community fundraiser is already a significant step towards reducing inequalities. Our global champions of children's literacy must have previous experience of teaching English to their closest peers. As part of my initiative, I started by helping students with special needs in my school before extending my impact regionally. My advice is that we should all start by making small, tangible changes in our immediate community before changing the world.
Copyright: Alvin Wong; image courtesy of Alvin Wong: Alvin Wong
