Brain Game: If you could add one compulsory subject in Hong Kong schools, what would it be and why?

A subject that gives students a better understanding of themselves. According to research conducted by the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, more than 42 per cent of senior secondary students don’t have a dream. A person without a dream is like a ship sailing without a compass. 
Teaching students to understand themselves better can help them discover their strengths and weaknesses. Then they’ll have more confidence, motivation, and a clear direction in life.

Self-defence, because we live in a dangerous world. This would be useful when you’re in a situation where you need to protect yourself. 
You could argue that physical education is good enough but PE only shows you how to stay fit and healthy through exercise. PE teachers don’t teach any kind of self-defence so we definitely need to have such lessons. 

It would be a time-management class. Nowadays, many students are addicted to their smartphones and other kinds of electronic entertainment. They sleep late because they cannot balance their studies with playing video games, for example. This is bad for their health, both mentally and physically.
A time-management class will help students prioritise their activities and learn that “first things come first”. This will ensure they lead a healthy and efficient lifestyle.

Money management, surely. As an adult, being suddenly in charge of your own finances can be stressful. This class would teach students the basic skills for a financially secure life. They would be taught budgeting, saving, investing, and managing debt. This knowledge would lay a foundation for students to develop good habits later in life and avoid many of the mistakes that lead to lifelong financial struggles. 

I would add sign language to our curriculum because not many people know how to communicate with those who have hearing problems. It would be very helpful if we start to learn sign language when we are young. This would instil compassion in us and teach us to treat the less-fortunate with respect. Then we can have a fair and just society.
What’s more, it would be quite cool to use sign language with your sibling when you are not allowed to talk at dinner.

A subject that teaches tolerance to students. Fights happen when people can’t accept differences. For example, take the Black Lives Matter protests in the US. This is a result of discrimination against Black people.

People should be taught the importance of tolerance from a young age. Children are sensitive to their surroundings, so the morals they learn during this “golden age” are long-lasting. Then they will grow up to be responsible citizens and treat others fairly.

Cooking. I know a lot of students who expressed an interest in cooking. But they usually ended up taking other subjects because schools weren’t able to provide cookery courses. Therefore, introducing cookery classes would be a big boost for aspiring chefs as well as students who want to learn how to prepare their own dishes instead of bothering their parents or eating out all the time.

Farming. Most of our food is imported, so people don’t understand the difficulty of growing it. It requires a lot of time and effort. 
If farming is made a compulsory subject, we’ll understand how to grow crops with our limited resources. This way, Hongkongers would learn to cherish their food and not waste it. 
We may even come up with new ways to increase productivity, and help end food shortages.