Confessions of a Hong Kong underage drinker: vodka, jello shots, heavy make-up and a fake ID – after all, she’s only 14

With ample allowances and fake IDs, and ignorant of the dangers of heavy drinking, international-school pupils spend their Friday nights barhopping and clubbing in Lan Kwai Fong. It’s a growing trend, a support group says

Reading Time:5 minutes

An increasing number of Hong Kong teenagers are drinking in nightclubs. Photo: Shutterstock

Published: 7:45pm, 31 Aug 2017Updated: 8:02pm, 31 Aug 2017

In the dim light of the nightclub, 14-year-old Hongkonger Lily downs a line of four vodka shots as her friends, whooping and cheering, record her feat to post on Snapchat. In a video, she’s seen downing the last shot and grinning before pulling her friends onto the dance floor.

Lily, an international-school student, says it was a “typical Friday night” for her and her schoolmates. Although the legal age for alcohol consumption in Hong Kong is 18, she regards herself as a regular in the Lan Kwai Fong bar and nightclub area of Hong Kong’s Central district. Weekly party nights – drinking, smoking and hooking up – are popular among students her age, says Lily, who requests anonymity for herself and her school, fearing she may be identified.

Teens don’t realise the potential dangers of getting drunk in clubs. Photo: Shutterstock

In research conducted by Hong Kong Polytechnic University last year, the average age at which respondents had their first alcoholic drink was 10.9 years. Thirty-eight per cent of 840 Form Three students from six secondary schools were found to have consumed alcohol. Students with friends who drank alcohol were 33 times more likely to drink themselves than those without such friends.

Doctors say sustained alcohol consumption can harm teenagers’ central nervous systems at an important stage of their development and leave them with permanent brain damage, potentially impairing their learning abilities.

Hong Kong must pay more attention to underage drinking problem

Although Lily says she is aware of the consequences, she has convinced herself that the culture of drinking and clubbing among international-school students has benefits.

“It’s not like your only goal is to get drunk,” she says. “You get to make a lot more friends and familiarise yourself with people that you may not be comfortable with at first. It also allows you to have more experience about drinking, so you know exactly what your limit is and what to watch out for.