Message from OHKF President - September 2020

Through the collective efforts of the community, the number of local confirmed Covid-19 cases has dropped significantly. The gradual resumption of normal social and economic activities is an important step towards reviving our sagging economy. At OHKF, our work is unimpeded by the pandemic. We are pressing ahead with our policy research, advocacy, and engagement work, while setting sight on Hong Kong’s post-pandemic long-term development.

Education has always been high on our agenda. In view of the controversies surrounding Liberal Studies and criticisms of major inadequacies in its implementation, we took a deep look into this issue and released our research report on 7 September entitled Liberating Liberal Studies: Cultivating Interdisciplinary Learning, Thinking Skills and Appreciation of Diversity. We made recommendations to improve the curriculum, assessment, teaching materials, teaching process, and articulation. The news media gave the Report a good run, spurring extensive public discussions.

At the 8th ‘INSIGHT FORUM’ webinar, Professor Richard Wong, Philip Wong Kennedy Wong Professor at The University of Hong Kong, gave a talk on ‘Livelihoods, Public Sentiment, and Populism’. He advocated an ‘Affordable Homeownership for All Hong Kong People’ as an urgent antidote to Hong Kong’s severe livelihood and populism problems. Granting Hong Kong public housing renters the option to purchase their units at affordable prices would further Hong Kong’s overall economic development. Please click here for the full replay. The next ‘INSIGHT FORUM’ is scheduled for 29 September, featuring Professor Lawrence J. Lau, Ralph and Claire Landau Professor of Economics, Lau Chor Tak Institute of Global Economics and Finance at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, who will speak on ‘The Impacts of the Social Unrest and the COVID-19 Epidemic on the Hong Kong Economy, and the Way Forward’.

In the ‘Golden Age Summit 2020’, OHKF policy researchers participated as speakers and moderators in multiple sessions to discuss how technology and health system improvements can help the elderly, especially during the pandemic. Prominent speakers who graced the Summit included Dr Lam Ching-choi, Chairman of the Elderly Commission; Dr Charleston Sin, Executive Director of MIT HK Innovation Node; Mr Ricky Wong, Founder of HKTV Mall, as well as many renowned experts from the UK, New Zealand, India, and Singapore.

Our Internship Programme is now in full swing. Recruitment began earlier this month and over 170 applications from 16 tertiary institutions have been received. The Programme has four partner organisations so far, namely Smart City Consortium, Zuni Icosahedron, the Centre of National History Education, and PIE Strategy. We also have six organisations that provide co-working space for the interns, including The Mills Fabrica, HKXTech Startup Platform, CoCoon, TusStar HK, Tencent WeStart (Hong Kong), and Campfire.

The Foundation launched a historical info-segment series ‘Every History Tells a Story’ on TVB  which depicts the development and transformation of Hong Kong since the Qin Dynasty and key historical events from the founding of New China. The series has been adopted by the Education Bureau as recommended learning and teaching materials for primary and secondary schools. To watch replay of the series, please visit here. The third series ‘China Album’ is now on the air on multiple TVB channels. The 42 episodes showcase the precious collections at the China Photo Archives, offering a visual journey through the heartbreak and the triumph of the most turbulent times in our country’s contemporary history. At the end of each episode, audience will savour history’s core teaching in meaningful messages. The themes of the series are also elegantly presented through Professor Ambrose King Yeo-chi’s Chinese calligraphy.  

This year marks the 75th anniversary of China’s victory in the war against Japanese invasion. OHKF’s Academy of Chinese Studies has launched a learning kit entitled 'Second Sino-Japanese War and Japanese Occupation of Hong Kong'. VR technology is used to set up the 'Second Sino-Japanese War' Virtual Exhibition Hall that looks back at life in Hong Kong under Japanese Occupation.

The Hong Kong Chronicles project is making huge strides with the first volume, Overview & Chronology, well on schedule for launch in December. Other volumes will follow in succession. We partnered with Home Affairs Bureau, Education Bureau, and a dozen of school principals associations to organise the ‘Hong Kong Chronicles Exhibition Tour’ from January next year. As co-organisers and supporting organisations, they will help promote the event among teachers and students and also for the general public.

Lastly, our 5th Anniversary Report entitled Forging Ahead has received a Gold Award plus a Silver Award in the 2020 Mercomm Annual Report Competition (ARC) Awards. Dubbed the ‘Academy Awards of Annual Reports’, the ARC Awards has achieved world-wide recognition as the authority in annual reports judging. The four scoring criteria are creativity, clarity, effectiveness, and excellence. We hit all four! Here is the link to our winning report.

Please stay well and healthy!  

Eva Cheng
Executive Director
Our Hong Kong Foundation