After speaking with a dozen of Hong Kong young people, I grew sympathy for them, not because of their bravery for standing up against the police nor their strong belief system, but because I, pretty young myself, have learned from many mistakes that it takes time to see a fuller and clearer picture.

Some say the ultimate goal for young people in Hong Kong is to have universal suffrage. However, the big question – what if they make the wrong choice? And how can they make it right when petrol bombs and iron rods are becoming their best friends? And some wrongs just cannot be easily fixed or be fixed at all, David Wong, Hong Kong deputy for the National People's Congress told me.

It is becoming increasingly important for the young and the government to get on the same page. Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (SAR) Chief Executive Carrie Lam just conducted the first Community Dialogue on Thursday evening, a mechanism she proposed in early September during her televised announcement to withdraw the controversial fugitive bill.

Carrie Lam's first community dialogue

Over 100 Hong Kong residents attended the first community dialogue Thursday evening. A stringent security check procedure had been in place for the venue the Queen Elizabeth Stadium, a reasonable precaution to keep peace inside.

As the chief executive said, the dialogue platform aims to "find a way out for Hong Kong." A total of 30 participants got the chance to speak for three minutes each at the dialogue Thursday evening. There were some nasty and tricky comments, and it seemed like people were all over the place when raising questions at Lam.

These questions could be easily put into two big categories: First, livelihood problems such as education, housing and economic outlook; second, political issues – alleged police brutality, restructuring the police force, and government decisions.

A big portion of the questions focused on political issues, of which I was not surprised because Professor Liu Pak-wai from the Chinese University of Hong Kong had predicted this one day earlier.

"I think it (the Community Dialogue) will ease the sentiment a bit. I don't think it will solve the problem. Here we have to do a lot more. It cannot be just one," Liu said.

"They probably need to do thirty or forty. I think she (Carry Lam) has more problems to face and there will be more political issues, the current demonstrations, unrest and all that demands of the demonstrators. It will probably double the list, I think. Some may be more curious about other policies such as public housing, and maybe healthcare." 

However, can tackling political issues help solve those livelihood problems? I personally doubt it, and I need bigger brains to comment on this.

"The public in Hong Kong are really concerned about things like housing and land supply. Also, livelihood issues – the prospect for young people and so on. (It is) really about economic, housing and livelihood issues," said David Wong.

Wong added that since people voluntarily signed up for the dialogue, there could be a big portion of radicals and what they would ask for may not be what an ordinary Hong Kong resident has in mind.

A million-dollar home on a 2,000-dollar payroll

Land is sacred in Hong Kong, a small city with some 7.5 million people, one of the highest population densities in the world. The average home price in Hong Kong is about 1 million U.S. dollars, while the average salary is 2,000 U.S. dollars a month. Some scholars believe that since the Hong Kong SAR government has a healthy fiscal reserve, the government, in fact, should set up special funds to help young people to have decent accommodation.

Professor Liu proposed that the government sets up a fund of 25 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 3 billion U.S. dollars) a year to help create about 10,000 slots every year for eligible households to have an interest-free mortgage, an amount he believes the Hong Kong SAR government can pay easily.

However, another pressing issue – where to build those houses? Land shortage has burdened both the private housing and public housing markets, and it takes time for the government to find lands for new properties. But Wong is still optimistic as long as the government shows its will.

"I do think the government has to show its will in tackling this problem by increasing land supply through various means including land reclamation and opening up more land in the New Territories. As long as there is hope for the people to see the end of the tunnel," said Wong.

What do Hong Kong residents really want?

Here is the million-dollar jackpot question – what can really make Hong Kong residents happy? After talking with those young and those big brains, I feel there is a disconnection. The young seem to have a legitimate demand for a better life, but they cannot pinpoint what they want. I've tried so many times, asking if meeting all their demands would make them happy. And they always turned mute.

For the grown-ups and better-versed, they seem to have a better picture of what's happening in Hong Kong and what's ahead. But they hardly gain trust from the young unless they also dress in black and put on a mask.

Hong Kong is bracing for a 17th straight weekend of protests, and it is hard to see how things will end. But as the first Community Dialogue between Carrie Lam and the residents ended in a relatively peaceful manner, just as Lam said, one single session of dialogue will not bring immediate results, but the peaceful exchange marks a big step forward.

(An Kun filmed the interviews.)