Fung Scholars Network Newsletter - Oct 2017 by FungScholars

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A message from the Editors-in-Chief Dear Readers, As the Foundation will be hosting the ‘Fung Scholars Leadership Conference’ on “Innovation” in October, we decided to focus on this theme for the 12th Edition of the Fung Scholars Network Newsletter. Over the past few decades, innovation has dramatically transformed the direction of many industries, including education, business, fashion, and architecture. Given current environmental, political, and socio-economic challenges, it is more important than ever that innovators and entrepreneurs unite together in building a sustainable world for future generations. This edition investigates the nature of innovation through interviews, experiences, literature reviews and a variety of other creative means. The theme of innovation was interpreted by our writers in many different forms, from the rise in robot therapists to innovations in green architecture and sustainable businesses. We were fortunate enough to have a talented group of writers and contributors from a wide range of countries on our Editorial Board. We would like to take a moment to thank our editors, writers and designer for their hard work and dedication over the past couple of months. This newsletter is a tribute to every Fung Scholar who endeavours to initiate change in themselves and society through innovation and creativity. Although this newsletter runs to more than 100 pages, we can promise that all the articles contain insightful reflections on the role of innovation and we hope that there is something of interest for every reader. Finally, please don’t hesitate to get involved with the many diverse opportunities (of which you can get a taste for in this issue) offered by the Fung Scholars Foundation! For those attending the upcoming Leadership Conference in Hangzhou, we hope you enjoy the event and that it stimulates fruitful debate.

Jasmine Hopkinson

John Poon

contents. GLOBAL AFFAIRS 7 Sustainability in Business 8 How architecture influences Climate Change 14 Technology in Social Entrepreneurship 24 Wysa, the Robot Therapist 28 To Stand Up to Racism Today, America Must First Face Up to Its Past 32 China’s Ageing Population and Two-Child Policy 38

FOUNDATION UpDATES 43 Hong Kong Pre-Departure Gathering: Breaking Records 44 HKFYG Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2016/17 48 MaD Festival International Assembly amazes Fung Scholars with Innovation and Creativity 53

FUNG SCHOLARS COMMUNITY 57 Mid-summer Drinks but Bring Your Own Drinks: Another Miracle by Hong Kong Local Chapter 58 Oxford China Forum rethinks China in global context 62 Hands-on Career Tips from Harvard Distinguished Scholars 66

REMARKABLE MOMENTS 69 Conscious Layers – Fung Scholars Create Fashion Miracles 70 Love at First Sight – How I met and married my Turkish Husband 80 Innovation vs Creativity – The Key to Successful Organizational CommunicationInnovation 85 Working and Travelling in China – A Home Away From Home 89 A Taste of Different Education Styles in China and the US 94

UPCOMING EVENTS 99 Fung Scholars Leadershp Conference 2017 (Hangzhou, China, 14-15 October) 100 Local Chapters 101 Australian Chapter 102 London Chapter 103 Singapore Chapter 103

EDITORIAL BOARD 104

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S R I 7

A F L AF

A B

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Sustainability in Business

How Does Architecture Affect Climate Change? Technology in Social Enterprises

Wysa, the Robot Therapist

To Stand Up to Racism Today, America Must First Face Up to Its Past

Chinaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Ageing Population and Two-Child Policy

IN A T US

LIT I B A E

UR T C E

HI C R A

I RSH

NE E R P

E R T EN

OT S B RO M

IS C A R S

AL I C O

CIE I L O

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Sustainability in Business Laura Betteridge FS2016-17, University of Oxford

n February 2017 Kraft Heinz, an American fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) company, made a £115 billion bid to take over Unilever the AngloDutch FMCG company. The bid for Unilever was made and withdrawn in only 48 hours. This small amount of time, however, was enough to send alarm bells ringing. Firstly, there was the reaction in the markets of Unilever’s share prices falling by 8% when the bid was made and rising dramatically by 13% when it was rebuffed.1 There was the internal reaction within Unilever; the repurchasing of €5 billion of Unilever shares to help stabilise the company and ensure continuing independence, together with publicly made promises of reform and change.2 The somewhat unexpected reaction, for those less familiar with Unilever, was the concern of those who support sustainability. Kraft’s attempted takeover promoted the

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media to compare the two companies. From this comparison arose the view that Unilever and Kraft Heinz embodied two very different forms of capitalism. Kraft Heinz was generally portrayed as the cut throat, harsh and aggressive capitalist that buys and guts companies to increase their efficiency. Unilever, on the other hand, was viewed as the long term, reliable, responsible and more stakeholder (not just shareholder) focused company.3 This comparison exposes the reasons for the sustainable community’s concerns. Unilever, an industry leader in sustainable and responsible business, was almost taken over by the cost cutting, clinical Kraft Heinz. Since 2010 Unilever has been a clear market leader in the field of sustainability with the creation of their Sustainable Living Plan (USLP), launched in 2010 and to end in 2020. The plan is extensive, ambitious and some would say unachievable. Regardless of the plan’s praises and criticisms many would argue it is the first true sustainable business model. Unilever’s commitment to this plan is shown through their conduct in offices, the requirements that brand teams follow the plan and the clear support of the plan by Unilever’s CEO Paul Polman. In the 2016 AGM of Unilever shareholders held in their local UK office in Leatherhead,

Polman included his key environmental message. He then took this message to the foundation ‘Business for Peace’ Climate Action Summit in Washington DC and to Stanford Graduate School of Business.4 Moreover, as an individual who has been fortunate enough to intern at the company this summer the USLP has been clearly instilled in the consciousness of Unilever employees, at least in their global HQ in London. The depth to which the plan is imbedded in the business and the central role it plays in innovation and strategy are what distinguishes Unilever from other businesses. Considering how public Unilever has made their commitment to the USLP, it follows that the success or failure of the company will seriously affect whether other companies believe they can adopt this business model. Success would entail Unilever continuing to be a profitable, growing and world leading FMCG company alongside achieving their sustainable objectives. Concerns as to whether Unilever’s model have been expressed before the attempted Kraft take over. A Financial Times article in 2016, for example, questioned whether or not Unilever would be able to survive.5 Clashes between the plan’s ideals and the reality of consumer desires can already be seen. For example, in the UK where consumers rejected the new compressed deodorant cans despite

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their environmental benefits. It may be that Unilever is ready to embrace steps towards sustainability but their consumers and stake holders aren’t. But is this really news? Sustainability and the fragility of genuine progress towards it has been a constant feature of current events for years. Even after the high point of the 2016 Paris Climate agreement, which brought all nations formally together to combat climate change, sustainable initiatives faced serious setbacks. Perhaps the most public of these are the attitudes of the 45th American President Donald Trump. Among his infamous tweets includes the following, ‘The concept of global warming was created by and

for the Chinese in order to make U.S. manufacturing non-competitive.’ It appears the beliefs expressed in this 2012 tweet are a key part of the Trump administration which scrapped the Federal Advisory Committee on Climate Change.6 Sustainability has also been thrown into the centre of public debate once again by Al Gore. 2017 will see the release of ‘An inconvenient sequel – truth to power’ following Al Gore’s original 2006 film ‘An inconvenient truth’. This has helped to bring sustainability to the forefront of popular eye once again and has caused increasing concerns for the survival of the initiatives. Despite this, sustainability has become a key expectation for businesses. Defence against the Raider. Illustration: David Simonds/Observer

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Unilever’s USLP is just one example of many key Transnational Corporations (TNCs). Unilever’s plan consists of three key goals; improve the health and wellbeing of more than 1 billion people worldwide, reduce environmental impact by half and enhance livelihoods for millions. They have seen some success. The Unilever website claims that they have reduced greenhouse case impact per consumer by 8% since 2010, waste impact per consumer by 28% since 2010 and there has been a 96% waste reduction in total waste per tonne in production compared to 2008 and 51% of agricultural raw materials came from sustainable sources in 2016.7 Other companies too have significant sustainability initiatives. P&G for example have achieved zero manufacturing waste at 68 manufacturing sites. Their plants now get 9% of their power from renewable energy (with an overall target of 30%) and they have reduced their overall energy use by 15%. Coca-Cola also has similar projects. The packaging of their bottles is 100% renewable and they have set a target to double the number of bottles recycled from 25% to 50% by 2020.8 Kraft Heinz also have sustainability targets; however these are noticeably smaller than the other examples. Kraft Heinz aim to reduce the following by 15% by 2020: greenhouse gas emissions, energy consumption, water consumption and solid waste sent

to landfill.9 It is clear, therefore, that having sustainability objectives is an expectation for large TNCs. Even the few examples above, however, illustrate the difference in scale of sustainability between Unilever and other companies. Another key reason for the sustainability community’s support for Unilever is their focus on a more complete vision of sustainability. Most of the other large TNCs who have created sustainability objectives in the past 5-10 years have focused on reducing energy and water consumption and reusing resources. Unilever, however, seeks to achieve social sustainability and to change the habits of its consumers. Sustainability is not just about the actions of global corporations but also the everyday actions of consumers. The day to day actions of consumers are what drive capitalism and the strategy and innovations of TNCs such as Unilever and P&G. Therefore, for sustainability to be truly achieved in business the sustainable actions of consumers must feed into and motivate the sustainable conduct and innovation of companies and vice versa. An example of this is Comfort One Rinse, which reduces the amount of water needed to rinse clothes from three buckets to one. This not only saves water but also reduces the amount of time women spend doing domestic tasks such as washing in the developing world. Evidence for Comfort’s success

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is shown by product making up 405 of Vietnam’s fabric conditioner market in 2016.10 Another example, is the reduction in calories of Unilever’s ice-cream. In 2014 the company achieved it’s target of all children’s ice-creams containing less than 110 kcals and in 2016 91% of their packaged ice creams contained less than 250 kcals per portion11. These sustainable initiatives are generating growth for Unilever sustainable living brands grew 50% faster than other brands in the business and delivered more than 60% of Unilever’s growth in 2016.12 The importance of this more holistic image of sustainability in business can be seen in Oxfam’s ‘Behind the Brand’ ranking, published annually since 2012.13 In 2016 Unilever was ranked 1st ahead of other large TNCs such as Nestlé, Coca Cola and Kellogg’s. What is noticeable, however, is the areas in which Unilever excelled compared to other companies listed. Companies were graded on a

scale of 1-10 in the following categories: land, women, farmers, workers, climate, transparency and water. Unilever scored 8/10 in the categories of farmers and workers, categories the other 9 companies performed poorly in. Sustainability, the extent of its definition, the expectations surrounding it and the stability of its initiatives provoke many questions but few answers. Most TNCs and businesses are making some attempts to improve their sustainability but their focus is mainly internal. What makes Unilever stand out, and perhaps makes it more vulnerable, is the scale of its ambitions, its holistic ambitions for sustainability and its attempts to change consumer habits not just its own. While the model is still working and Unilever is still growing as a company, it is unclear if Unilever can survive in the long run and if others will follow its example. It still leaves the question; what comes next for businesses and sustainability?

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1. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/feb/20/how-unilever-foiled-kraft-heinzs115m-takeover-bid-warren-buffett 2. https://www.bloomberg.com/gadfly/articles/2017-08-21/unilever 3. https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/mar/18/unilever-is-safe-but-we-needbetter-defences-against-short-term-capitalism 4. https://www.ft.com/content/e6696b4a-8505-11e6-8897-2359a58ac7a5 5. https://www.ft.com/content/e6696b4a-8505-11e6-8897-2359a58ac7a5 6. http://edition.cnn.com/2017/08/21/politics/white-house-climate-change-committee-dismantled/index.html 7. https://www.unilever.co.uk/sustainable-living/ 8. http://www.coca-cola.co.uk/stories/our-ambition-for-a-sustainable-future?gclid=Cj0KCQjw8vnMBRDgARIsACm_BhL_bjVBC23Ye5Xw8mgw6Ff4qm3yu3FDYadGZvJQWx6pBLrYczWuR2oaAgK9EALw_wcB 9. http://www.kraftheinzcompany.com/sustainability.html 10. https://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/reducing-environmental-impact/water-use/ helping-consumers-save-water/ 11. https://www.unilever.com/news/Press-releases/2017/unilevers-sustainable-livingbrands-continue-to-drive-higher-rates-of-growth.html 12. https://www.unilever.com/news/Press-releases/2017/unilevers-sustainable-livingbrands-continue-to-drive-higher-rates-of-growth.html 13. https://www.behindthebrands.org/company-scorecard/

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How Does Architecture Affect Climate Change? Wang Huimin FS2016-17, Xiamen University

nvironmental changes are of significant concern to many people across the world. One element that plays a key role in influencing future perceptions on climate change is architecture. The aim of Architecture 2030 is that â&#x20AC;&#x153;all buildings, developments and major renovations shall be carbon neutral by 2030â&#x20AC;?. The two interviewees are advocates of Architecture 2030, as well as leaders in the promotion and creation of green buildings. They will discuss how architecture affects climate change from the perspective of eco-friendly constructions, governments and individuals.

Interviewees:

Mr. Chungha CHA, Co-founder & Chair of Re-Imagining Cities Foundation, a non-profit organization which promotes green buildings and smart, sustainable cities. And Ms. Yaki WO, FS 2007-08, Asia Lead of Architecture 2030 Interviewer: Wang Huimin, FS 2016-17, Xiamen University, China

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Green Buildings 1. Please could you tell us about the green building certification system? CHUNGHA: Most countries have green building certification systems. Some of the notable ones are LEED (US), BREEAM (UK), Three Star (China), CASBEE (Japan) and Green Mark (Singapore). In Korea, we call the system “G-SEED” (“Green Standard for Energy & Environmental Design”). One of the best aspects of G-SEED in Korea is that for large buildings over 3,000M2, the total energy consumption

must be less than 280 kWh/M2 (kilowatt hours per square meter) primary energy annually. This means that at the building site (secondary energy), the total energy consumption should be less than approximately 150 kWh/M2 annually. However, we still need to target lower kWh/M2. Over time, we expect that this requirement will approach 100 kWh/M2 annually. 2. Please give us some examples of green buildings, and tell us which is your favorite? How are they different from ordinary buildings?

Mr. Chungha Cha

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CHUNGHA: My favorite green building, the EDGE building in Amsterdam, is a medium sized office building of 40,000 M2. It is a Net Zero Energy building, which means that all of the energy used by the building is completely produced by itself. WO: When it comes to green buildings, the green school in Bali, Indonesia is definitely worth a visit. It is a beautiful and cozy building completely made of natural bamboo, which is a local material. In China, Glumacâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s office in Shanghai makes the best use of energy and water, namely it generates all its energy inside and recycles water

Edge Building in Amsterdam

resources. CHUNGHA: Many people think that green buildings are expensive: therefore they are reluctant to build them. However, we can see from the EDGE building example that the leading developers, architects and engineers are very experienced and are building green buildings without over spending. WO: In a nutshell, green building is an embodiment of nature with ancient wisdom. It is different from smart building, which is computerized and digitalized, and not necessarily environmental-friendly.

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3. What is the determining factor in constructing eco-friendly buildings? CHUNGHA: Energy is one of the most important factors. We need to minimize energy consumption so that we can reduce GHG (green house gas) emissions from the building sector. Besides, the health and wellbeing of people inside are also of vital importance, which means thermal comfort, indoor air quality, humidity and temperature inside must be maintained so that the people within the buildings are comfortable. Green buildings must make sure that the IAQ (indoor air quality) is measured and transparent to

the public. In addition, green buildings are designed to provide natural daylighting, which makes people feel good and also reduces the need for spending energy on additional lighting. Moreover, we need to save water and reduce waste. Green buildings will use 50%-70% less water, 50-70% less waste through recycling, reducing and reusing. The Living Building Challenge is the worldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s most rigorous proven performance standard for buildings and requires net zero energy, water, and waste.

Green School in Bali

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Architecture 2030 4. The challenge of Architecture 2030 is that “all buildings, developments and major renovations shall be carbon neutral by 2030”. How can architecture affect the process of climate change? WO: The 2030 Challenge is national and global in scope. Architects are in charge of the design of buildings. And design is an often overlooked but very powerful tool. Passive design strategies that take into account the building’s orientation, massing, the colour, size of windows, shading, choice of materials etc. are all design choices that could massively reduce energy consumption if done right. The current focus on green buildings often bypass the architects and go straight to applying energy efficiency equipment and renewable energy. We are arguing that this is not the most cost-effective approach. CHUNGHA: New buildings should adopt new construction and design to be eco-friendly. Existing buildings should be carbon neutral, 1% - 2% of them shall be rebuilt. The most effective measure is to make laws. For example, California is now requiring that all residential buildings must be Net Zero Energy

Glumac’s office in Shanghai

by 2020 and all commercial buildings must be Net Zero Energy by 2030. One of the cities I respect is Copenhagen because they are targeting carbon neutral for the whole city by 2025. Many more cities are following suit and we would want the whole world to be carbon neutral (a net zero carbon footprint) by 2050. 5. A growing population requires construction of new houses. The quick expansion of architecture, however, consumes lots of resources and damages the environment. How can we balance the contradiction between development and environmental protection? CHUNGHA: Controlling the number of building depends on the governments. To reduce the impact on the environment, we must build Net Zero Energy homes. I think that homes, prefabricated in

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precise; 3. In pre-fab homes, there is very little waste in construction materials like you would find in normal construction at the site. 5. The UN’s Millennium Development Goals include the goal: “To ensure environmental sustainability and to develop a global partnership for development”. How can different countries work together to achieve these goals in terms of architecture?

Ms Yaki Wo

factories and assembled at the sites, will become more popular for the following reasons: 1. Cost of pre-fab homes will be lower for families; 2. Pre-fab homes can be made into Net Zero Energy homes much easier because the sections of the house are much more

CHUNGHA: The UN’s Millennium Development Goals ended in 2015, and was replaced with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 20162030 to place a global importance on “sustainability”. What motivated me to create the foundation was in line with the UN SDGs and the need to accelerate reduction of GHG emissions from the built environment to help combat Climate Change. Governments should try to work together. Meanwhile, since governments do not have bountiful money, they can collaborate with the private sector in “Public-Private Partnerships” (PPP). Players in the private sector like global technology companies, real estate developers, investors, etc can help accelerate smart, sustainable cities. Therefore, governments should develop a road map together with the private sector to build better PPP projects.

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The Role of Governments 6. What role do governments play in combating Climate Change? CHUNGHA: The best way for governments to prevent pollution is by making laws. However, governments seem to be reluctant to make laws to ban fossil fuels. Of course, we cannot ban fossil fuels immediately, but it is most important for governments to develop a long-term road map to achieve carbon neutrality. And, governments should work closely with the private sector to

provide a PPP platform to attract ideas, solutions and investments to accelerate the transformation. Collective wisdom is the key to success. WO: The government plays a few important roles: 1) Directly investing in projects to reduce GHGs and build resilience 2) Setting targets and introducing regulations to mandate certain changes (command-and-control) 3) Creating a favourable policy

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Mr. Chungha giving a speech

environment or the infrastructure needed to incentivise climate-friendly investments and behaviours, such as investing in renewables, more NMT friendly urban and transport planning, and greener buildings

and blocker to change. We can work as hard as we can to reduce our energy demand, but most of us ultimately have little control over our energy supply. However, the fossil fuel divestment has gained a lot of momentum.

4) Collecting and releasing data necessary for other parties: corporate, NGOs, individuals to take action

Individuals Taking Action

5) Education. Beyond national boundaries, the fossil fuel industry benefiting from the status quo has been the biggest emitter

7. Last but not least, dealing with Climate Change requires everybody to take part . What can ordinary people do in terms of architecture?

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WO: - Building your own house â&#x20AC;&#x201C; near zero or zero carbon homes are becoming more common and popular - Buying/renting: take into account the energy consumption and utility bills, learn to check where the light comes in, the temperature changes, and the materials - Insulation in colder regions: use strategies that require no energy to power, such as shading and use energy efficient equipment - Ask for better â&#x20AC;&#x201C; tell the developers and government what you want CHUNGHA: Young people interested in building better, smarter and more sustainable cities can try to reach out to elder generations and connect to the past so as to draw a promising map for the future. NGOs can contact city dwellers, villagers, and mayors. Dream together to achieve something remarkable. For example, ICLEI, an organization of 1,200 cities all over the world, is demonstrating that if national government is not making the laws, they will do their part to save the earth. There are other city-level organizations progressing in the path, like WeGo, City Net and Global Compact of Mayors. You can start with a local community.

Smart and sustainable cities will entail living labs using cloud base, big data platform. For example, start-ups and mature business like Baidu and Microsoft can work together through living lab to test their products and solutions and get immediate feedback on the new innovation effectiveness. After all, sustainability is for the 3Pâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s: People, Planet and Profits. And, we need to build a future with 100% clean, renewable energy where we all live, work and play happily in harmony with nature.

Conclusion Between COP15 and COP21, promising progress has taken place. Noticeably, architecture plays a tremendous role in dealing with environmental issues. Though some may still believe that climate change is something in the distance or even complete nonsense (like Donald Trump), the truth is that we are faced with the most serious man-made climate issue since the industrial revolution. Are you with Trump or with the Truth? Be the change you wish to see in the world! As citizens, we can choose to lead a more eco-friendly lifestyle by living in green buildings. As long as governments and individuals join hands to protect the environment together, we can expect to witness a greener world.

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Our thanks to Mr. Chungha Cha and Ms. Yaki Wo for their insightful comments on green architecture. Further reading: https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2015-the-edge-the-worlds-greenestbuilding/ https://www.thethirdpole.net/2017/05/30/will-chinas-new-silk-road-begreen/ www.re-cities.org http://www.bestclimatepractices.org/practices/copenhagen-carbonneutral-by-2025/ http://we-gov.org/ http://www.iclei.org/ http://www.covenantofmayors.eu/index_en.html www.re-cities.org

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Technology in Social Enterprises Cassie Wong FS2011-12, Hong Kong Baptist University

echnology has long helped many businesses improve their efficiency and overall performance. Often run with limited resources, social enterprises should therefore learn from other businesses and make better use of technology in order to maximise their social impact. With the help of technology, social enterprises can overcome geographic boundaries and financial restrictions. Technology can also promote equality by eliminating any intentional or unintentional bias. For all change makers reading this, here are three ways technology can come in handy across the globe:

1. Lowering barriers to the access of existing products and services

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There are often essential products or services which are inaccessible or too expensive for the general public or underprivileged groups. Hearing aids, for example, usually cost about USD $1,000 each. In Korea, 40% of people aged over 75 have hearing problems, but they are only given $300 of subsidies per person from the government. In light of this situation, three Korean students founded Delight in 2009. Delight makes use of 3D printing to create hearing aids locally and hence lowers the cost to a third of the original price. Across the Atlantic Ocean, mobile app company Lab4U also addresses the problem of inadequate experiment equipment among science students. In many countries, even developed ones like the US, the resources for science education are very inadequate. A third of American high school science teachers did not major in the subjects they teach and 88% of Latin American schools do not have science labs. Using smartphones and tabletsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; builtin sensors, Lab4U enables students to conduct experiments in physics, biology and chemistry and hence mitigates their difficulties in pursuing scientific studies.

2. Promoting equality In developed countries, minority or underprivileged communities are often marginalised in - society. Sometimes this is not due to intentional discrimination,

but is simply a consequence of where these marginalised groups are forced to live in. In the UK, over 117,000 refugees are being allocated to different places across the country. While these refugees often possess above-average levels of education and training, many of them are unable to work fulltime or are living in isolated regions with limited employment and networking opportunities. At the same time, the UK is suffering from a lack of language skills, which has cost the country an estimated total of ÂŁ48 billion-worth of business opportunities. Lena Garrett, a Fung Scholar from the UK, shared with us her experience with Chatterbox a startup that helps tackle these problems. Chatterbox was founded by Mursal Hedayat, a refugee who immigrated to the UK from Afghanistan at the age of four. The company matches underused refugee talents with local language learners by training and employing refugees to make use of their existing language skills and experience to look for jobs in the language services sector. Through platforms like Hangout or Skype, it enables refugees to give lessons remotely at flexible hours. Currently, Chatterbox provides various language courses like Arabic, Korean, Hindi and Turkish. It has also partnered with SOAS

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University of London and has delivered 400 hours of conversation classes to SOAS students both online and in person. More than just giving them an extra income, Chatterbox gives refugees invaluable local work experience so that they can integrate into society more easily. On the other hand, individuals, education providers and workplaces in the UK benefit from the affordable language teaching resources.

3. Centralising data and resources An issue that commonly faces organisations is that resources are often too dispersed to be utilised efficiently. But with the help of technology, social entrepreneurs can bring together resources to prevent any wastage. Alison, Advanced Learning Interactive Systems Online, is a perfect example of a social enterprise that pools resources from across an industry to benefit society. Founded in Ireland, it is a platform that provides free online courses to people in both developed and developing countries. Alison believes that everyone is entitled to a free education and, in order to achieve this goal, the company invites publishers to put courses on its platform for free access. The social enterprise has now amassed an impressive library of

over 800 courses across certificate and diploma levels in ten languages. This has benefited underprivileged learners by giving them unparalleled access to a large variety of courses. Similarly in Africa, the medical system Pesinet centralises medical human resources by sending health data collected from frontline community health workers to doctors working in local healthcare centres. This allows the doctors to remotely identify patients who need further attention or diagnostic tests. They can then contact such patients and thus dramatically reduce the number of women and children dying from preventable diseases. Additionally, the data collected from primary healthcare centres allows the National Federation of Community Health Centers to determine the regionâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s need for its service. Although there are many benefits, it is important to note that technology is not a cure-all for social enterprises. One of the main problems with it is the cost involved. Technology is often developed and owned by private companies, which may not be easily afforded by social enterprises. As a result, social entrepreneurs need to be creative in funding or creating sustainable business models, in order to find the money for these beneficial technologies. Besides applying for funds, social

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enterprises could minimise the costs by sharing revenue with partners. Alison, for example, shares the revenue gained from its pay-per-click advertising and sales of certificates with publishers in return for free materials. Since users from wealthier countries are more likely to click the advertisements and pay for the certificates, Alison essentially

funds the education for its learners in developing countries with the help of learners in developed countries. Another challenge is the lack of technical staff, as they are highly sought-after in the job market. Luckily, there are many passionate technology practitioners who are eager to help

Arabic lesson given by Syrian dentist and teacher Eiad to SOAS University of London student Francis Arabic IV - by Lena Garrett ÂŠ Chatterbox 2016 social entrepreneurs without a fee. Chatterbox, for example relies on a team of dedicated voluntary programmers, who work one day a week to expand its online platform and booking system. Unlike regular businesses, social

enterprises usually require a longer and more in-depth commitment due to the lack of resources. With the help of technology, however, there is no doubt that social entrepreneurs can make an impact on society more easily and sustainably in the long run.

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Wysa, the Robot Therapist Cheuk Yue Wan FS2017-18, Lingnan University

t is common to think that a broken heart can be healed by an empathetic, caring and loving therapist. Talking to another makes you feel that you are being understood. You might think that only other human beings could understand human emotion. However, in recent years, artificial intelligence (AI) chatboxes have been developed quickly by computer scientists and researchers. Eliza, an early natural language processing computer program, was created as early as 1966, continually being redeveloped up to the present day. Woebot, a Facebook AI chatbox therapist created by a team of Stanford psychologists and AI experts, is also a good example showing the combination of technology and mental health. Brief daily chat conversations, curated videos, mood tracking, and word games are the basic techniques used by the Woebot to help people manage their mental health. The trend of matching AI and psychological health has

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encouraged the public to reconsider the effectiveness of traditional face-toface therapy. One initiative that has proven successful is Wysa, an AI chatbot developed by Jo Aggarwal and Ramakant Vempati. Wysa can talk to users and hence reduce their depression or anxiety disorders symptoms. It is amazing to see how research has already found that the curing process initiated by Wysa is effective in helping users. Wysa is supported by an independent scientific advisory board, composed of Dr. Becky Inkster and Dr. Vikram Patel, psychiatrists with a rich research background. Wysa has over 90,000 users from 30 countries, the majority of which come from America, Britain and India. Users spend on average 9 minutes per day on Wysa, and most commonly express symptoms of depression, stress, anxiety and loneliness. 70% of users are female and the most common age bracket is the 13-25 group.

Wysa’s Powerful Functions The theory adopted by the Indian innovators is called cognitive-behaviour therapy (CBT), which has proven to be effective in in reducing symptoms of anxiety and depression. The distinctive advantages offered by Wysa are that it can provide an instant and confidential

response, be proactive and work in multiple languages. An AI therapist can provide a much more immediate form of therapy to people with mental health problems, which human therapists might not be able to offer. Moreover, users can chat with the AI bot anonymously, so that they can freely express themselves without any worries about privacy. The multilingual function is also vital as it allows people across the world to benefit from the app. Wysa’s interactive design means that it can connect to other health applications from mobile devices, which allows Wysa to keep track of the user’s activities. If users chat with Wysa at midnight, Wysa asks them if there is anything troubling them and then offers some sleeping tips, namely ‘doing mindfulness’, which includes listening to soft music. Wysa an also could teach psychology in a multimedia way. For instance, through beautiful pictures and videos, conversations are made more engaging and fruitful. These features endow the AI to understand their users in a more sophisticated way. Wysa’s AI might not replace therapists, but it can reach people regardless of their geographical location, culture and language. Wysa may be the only hope for people in countries like India, where there are less than 5,000

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mental health professionals to serve 1.2 billion people. It can make the mental health care service more affordable. Having introduced the special features of the app, how did the inventors first come up with Wysa?

The sparkling of a start-up idea The story begins with their personal experiences, described by Jo Aggarwal on their website: “We came back to India to take care of Ramakant’s father who was a diabetic with depression. He was the motivation for us to start thinking, how do you care for loved ones remotely? One of the things that we realized when we were working with technology and mobile data was that data science is generating so much insight but that it’s all going into advertising optimization. How can we use those insights to help optimize care?”1. The founders then realized that data science on mobiles. So, they started to think about how they could apply those insights to optimize care themselves. Ramakant Vempati describes how, “Over the last few years, we have seen technological advancement engulf us like never before. And while food finance and commerce embrace technology in our lives, has technology in health taken a backseat?”2. The founders wanted to set up a social enterprise platform to create an emotionally intelligence AI

platform so that more and more people could benefit from the app service. Each of the staff running the business has a personal reason to try to create a more mentally resilient, emotionally supported world. Their ideal model was to create a mental health service with cool technologies that could also make a good sum of money to maintain the operation and serve people in need of help.

A start-up Creating a start-up project and generating enough money was not easy. Wysa initially raised $400K from a few angel investors in March 2016 and raised $1.3 million in seed funding from the early stage investment firm Kae Capital in July 2017. Wysa now wants to cooperate with the medical insurance sector, in order to maintain the stable financial resources needed to improve their services. By working with the insurance sector, costs are transferred from the users to insurance companies, making it easier and cheaper for individuals to access the services. The insurance companies can also provide more comprehensive protection to their clients because they can better understand their psychological health. As far as mental health is concerned, Wysa is breaking new ground, both physically across the world and mentally, in the pockets of every user.

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Further information: http://www.manifestation.com/neurotoys/eliza.php3 http://www.wysa.io/ https://www.wysa.io/blog/your-story-covers-our-journey 1 https://www.wysa.io/blog/your-story-covers-our-journey 2 https://www.wysa.io/blog/your-story-covers-our-journey

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To Stand Up to Racism Today, America Must First Face Up to Its Past Dov Boonin FS2017, University of Oxford

ast summer, I spent a few days in Washington D.C. The one thing that stuck in my mind long after I had left D.C., however, wasn’t the George Washington Monument, the White House or any of the other classic tourist sites, but a single quote from an exhibition in the National Museum of American History:

“These sacred objects demonstrate how the African American story is quintessentially an American one of determination, hardship, sacrifice, and fulfilment”. The purpose of the exhibition was to introduce the soon-to-open National Museum of African American History, and it focussed on a collection of objects from the Civil Rights Movement.

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Gwen and Joseph Ragsdale with the Lest We Forget Slavery Museum Travelling Exhibit – photo credits: Eastside Online

But how can African American history be defined as ‘quintessentially American’, when most African

the first place. Reading that sentence made me wonder if America generally whitewashes its history of slavery

Americans’ ancestors were brought over to America to be slaves, and even after slavery was abolished, weren’t fully recognised as equal American citizens? The exhibition chose to emphasise the Civil Rights movement as the defining feature of African American history (and as an American success), whilst quietly side-lining the issue of why the movement was even necessary in

and oppression, and how this might affect both the contemporary African American community and more broadly speaking, America. After some research, I discovered that this problem did indeed extend beyond this one exhibition. Several American textbooks demonstrate how America is unable to face up to its

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history of slavery. For instance, in 2012, Tea Party groups in Tennessee pushed to remove references in textbooks stating that America’s founders were slave owners1. In 2014, an Arizonan school textbook claimed that slavery was beneficial to African Americans, according to the Huffington Post2. In 2015, in a section on immigration, a Texan textbook described Africans brought to American plantations from the 1500s to the 1800s simply as “workers”3. These textbooks show that certain American states struggle to deal with their history of slavery. But in order to consider this question at the national level, we need to consider how America’s national museums deal with the issue (or if they even deal with it at all). America has dozens of museums about African American history, but barely any that deal with its history of slavery. The National Museum of African American History and Culture, in its mission statement, makes no mention of being responsible for retelling or preserving the history of slavery, even though it is a significant part of African American history. Instead, one of its ‘four pillars’ focuses on “how American values…are reflected in African 4 American history and culture” , again seeming to claim that African American history and culture are ‘quintessentially American’.

Slave shackles from the Lest We Forget Slavery Museum Collectio - photo credits: ReachFolk There is only one museum in America that has the word “slavery” in its title: the Lest We Forget Slavery Museum in Philadelphia, PA, run by Gwen and Joseph Ragsdale. The museum started out when Joseph’s Uncle Bub passed away, and Joseph discovered a pair of slave shackles in his old house. Joseph had spent many summers with his uncle as a child, but his uncle had never mentioned that he had been a slave. After this shocking discovery, Joseph started collecting other slave shackles until he founded the Lest We Forget Slavery Museum in 2002. Now, Gwen and Joseph Ragsdale privately maintain the largest collection of slavery artefacts in America (as far as they’re aware). However, due to the lack of support that they receive from the government, they will have to close the museum. The fact that Gwen and Joseph had to take it upon themselves

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A statue of Martin Luther King, leader of the Civil Rights Movement, in Washington D.C.

to preserve such an important piece of American history, with little support, demonstrates how America fails to do enough to recognise and address its history of slavery; and this comes with a price. Without properly recognising this history, America will be unable to eliminate the injustices that many African Americans still experience today. The legacy of slavery has several impacts on the African American

community today, which America has to recognise in order to resolve them. Firstly, African Americans tend to be poorer, because their ancestors, mostly slaves, were unable to obtain economic and social security, or establish stable communities. As a result, the average black household now has only 6% of the wealth of the average white household in America, according to Demos5. Secondly, institutional racism still exists in America, leftover from the era of slavery and not yet properly dealt with. In the criminal justice system, black men are nearly six times more likely to serve time in prison than white men in America, according to the Sentencing Project6. And in 2013, the U.S. Sentencing Commission found that black men’s prison sentences were on average almost 20% longer than white men’s for similar crimes7. Lastly, many African Americans today relive parts of the experiences that their ancestors endured as slaves. For instance, slave owners would often sell a father to one owner and his wife and children to another in order to split up families. Recently, the Sentencing Project found that, today, one in three African American males can expect to go to prison in their lifetime8, again separating fathers from their families in many cases. In another example, slaves used to face brutality at the hands of their masters. Nowadays, police brutality against African Americans is far too

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common. America needs to adequately recognise the effects of slavery, in order to be able to recognise and deal with these injustices. The high cost of failing to appreciate America’s history of slavery is best demonstrated by the recent protest in Charlottesville, VA , where Heather Heyer was killed. The protest, led by White Nationalists, was against the pulling down of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, who fought to maintain slavery in America. One needs to recognise America’s history of slavery and Lee’s role in it, in order to recognise that the White Nationalists were protesting for an immoral cause, and were thus to blame for the violence that broke out in Charlottesville. Consequently, they need to be dealt with accordingly. It was a failure to recognise this that led Trump

to draw a moral equivalence between the White Nationalists and the anti-hate protesters by blaming “both sides” for the violence. This only strengthened the White Nationalist movement and ignored the immoral and dangerous cause that they stand for. Though it has introduced positive policies such as affirmative action, America seriously, if not wilfully, neglects its responsibility to recognise and address its historic oppression of African Americans. To define African American history simply as “quintessentially American” epitomises this failure, and it has dire consequences. For so long as America fails to face up to its history of racism and oppression, it will be unable to stand up to the racism and oppression that still goes on there today.

The National Museum of African American History and Culture, just before it officially opened in 2016

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1. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/23/tea-party-tennessee-textbooksslavery_n_1224157.html 2. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/07/15/heritage-academy-arizona-books_n_5586169.html 3. https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/06/us/publisher-promises-revisions-after-textbook-refers-toafrican-slaves-as-workers.html?mcubz=1 4. https://nmaahc.si.edu/about/museum 5. http://www.demos.org/publication/racial-wealth-gap-why-policy-matters 6. http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/shadow-report-to-the-united-nations-humanrights-committee-regarding-racial-disparities-in-the-united-states-criminal-justice-system/ 7. https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887324432004578304463789858002 8. http://www.sentencingproject.org/publications/shadow-report-to-the-united-nations-humanrights-committee-regarding-racial-disparities-in-the-united-states-criminal-justice-system/

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China’s Ageing Population and Two-Child Policy Elinor Wong

China’s Ageing Population

FS2017-2018, Lingnan University

“

China is unique: she is getting older before she has got rich,” said Wang Dewen, of the World Bank’s China Social Protection Team1. China is facing not only rapid economic growth, but at the same time an ageing population. The United Nation forecasts that there will be 51 people aged over 65 for every one hundred people aged 20 to 64 in China by 20502. An ageing population will lead to more social issues for both young and old.

One-Child Policy The one-child policy was established in 1979 under the rule of Deng Xiaoping3. It was created to limit the baby boom in the 1950s and 1960s4 and was promoted under the slogan “Late, Long and Few”5, which encouraged couples to only have one child. For those who violated the law,

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they were very likely to be fined and forced to have an abortion. According to a report carried out by the BBC, it prevented approximately 400 million births. The central government adopted the two-child policy in 2016, ending the forty years long one-child policy. The government hopes that it will reverse the negative changes brought by the onechild policy. The 421 family structure problem, which generally refers to a single child supporting two parents and four grandparents, is just one of the social issues caused by the one-child policy. Because of the policy, single children have to bear a heavier burden to take care of the family. Moreover, the government needs to spend more medical expenses on the growing number of elderly people. Additionally,

the one-child policy worsens the gender imbalance because traditionally, Chinese parents have always preferred male to female children and there have been many instances of female infanticide. With a shrinking workforce, the government has recognized the need to abandon the One-Child Policy, resulting in a growing young population.

Two-Child Policy Starting from 2015, the central government has relaxed the one-child policy. Previously, the policy allowed couples in which at least one of the pair was an only child to have a second child. In 2016, the central government proposed the one-child policy, allowing anyone to have two children. Ethnic minorities, on the other hand, were

Image downloaded from http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/950595.shtml

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permitted to have as many children as they wished. In 2016, the number of newborn children rose to 17,800,000,6 increasing drastically by 1,300,000. Unsurprisingly, the birthrate in 2016 was the highest in 20 years. However, according to a study by the National Health and Family Planning Commission of the Peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Republic of China, more than 60% of families interviewed are unwilling to have a second child; they consider the cost of raising another child too high. Additionally, according to Fung Scholar Pan Tianyang (FS 2016-2017, Tsinghua University), one of the causes of the low birthrate is the rising education level of women. It has been found that a higher education level leads to a lower fertility rate.7 Economically, the opportunity cost of more educated women bearing children is higher in terms of lost income. The household bargaining model suggests that more highly educated women are better able to support themselves and can thus gain a higher bargaining power in family size. Thus, the rising female education level is an important reason why couples are less willing to purse parenthood. It is estimated that in 2020, the central government might need to abolish the restriction on birth control entirely. Even though the central government is trying to boost the

population, decreasing incentives to have children could be a stumbling block. The central government might need to provide more subsidies to persuade people to have more children.

Two-Child Policy around the Globe Different places around the globe have also launched a two-child Policy. For instance, owing to the rocketing population in 1970s, the Family Planning Association of Hong Kong launched the â&#x20AC;&#x153;Two is Enoughâ&#x20AC;? campaign. Unlike the strong-handed measures of China, which have included forced abortion and fines, Hong Kong adopted a softer approach which included posters and an announcement of public interest. Moreover, Singapore also launched the Stop at Two scheme in the late 1960s. One of the measures adopted by the Singaporean government was to provide a sterilization incentive for women. For instance, female civil servants were given paid maternity leave when they decided to be sterilized after the birth of their second child8. Moreover, for women without O-level qualifications, the government offered paid maternity leave for a week and $10,000 SGD in cash incentives to voluntarily undergo sterilization. Despite this, the government, concerned about the disappointing birthrate and wanting to increase the working population,

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introduced the policy â&#x20AC;&#x153;Have Three or Moreâ&#x20AC;? in 1986 to permit Singaporean families to have a third child.

Conclusion The change in policies by the Chinese central government has been used as a significant tool for dealing with the ageing population. However, in implementing the two-child policy, the government faces obstacles including the unwillingness of people to have more children, the increasing cost of education, and the rise of individualism. With the current difficulties, limiting the policy to only two children might not be innovative enough to bring about a birth boom. The Chinese government could benefit from taking note of existing two-child Policies in Singapore and Hong Kong, and should use the current two-child policy to tackle the ageing

population. Fung Scholars Wei Meng (FS 2014-2016, Harvard University) and Pan Tianyang (FS 2016-17, Tsinghua University), experts in demographics in China, have suggested that the government provide economic incentives for families to have a second child. Further discussions could be made on the various ways the policy could be implemented, for instance, policy differences between urban and rural, east and west, and rich and poor. Besides increasing the birthrate and workforce, the Chinese government might consider other ways of countering the problems caused by an ageing population. One way would be the better utilization of the elderly by allowing them to contribute more to society. A further discussion on active ageing along these lines would be a more innovative approach to resolving the ageing population dilemma.

Acknowledgements: Pan Tianyang (FS 2016-17, Tsinghua University) Wei Meng (FS 2014-16, Harvard University) 1. http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/editorials/archives/2012/03/24/2003528556 2. http://www.scmp.com/comment/insight-opinion/article/2067770/why-chinas-two-childpolicy-failing-reality-test 3. https://www.thoughtco.com/chinas-one-child-policy-1435466 4. http://edition.cnn.com/2016/10/13/health/china-one-child-policy-population-growth/ index.html 5. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/nov/15/china-one-child-family-policy-timeline 6. http://shanghaiist.com/2017/01/24/2016_birth_rates.php 7. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/11/the-relationship-between-womens-educationand-fertility/ 8. http://eresources.nlb.gov.sg/infopedia/articles/SIP_2016-11-09_103740.html

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S E T N A O D I P T A U D N U

Hong Kong Pre-Departure

HKFYG Global Youth Entrepeneurs Forum 2016/17 MaD Festival amazes Fung Scholars

UR T R A P E D FYG K H D

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Hong Kong Pre-Departure Gathering: Breaking Records John Poon FS2016-17, Hong Kong Baptist University

record-breaking number of more than 100 newly selected Hong Kong Fung Scholars attended the Pre-Departure Gathering on the 10th of June 2017 at the Fung Academy, in order to prepare them for their upcoming overseas learning journey. The gathering commenced with a warm welcome from Mr. KM Wong, Director of the Victor and William Fung Foundation, and Kevin Lo (FS 2006-07, CityU), AT Tam (FS 2013-14, HKUST) and Troy Hung (FS 2014-15, CUHK) from the Hong Kong Local Chapter. Several Fung Scholars including Karlie Chen (FS 2011-12 HKBU), John Poon (FS 2016-17, HKBU) and Herbert Wah (FS 2016-17, CUHK) also shared their exchange experiences in Germany, London and the United States respectively. ] Following the closing remarks by Professor Tsui Lap-chee, President of the Victor and William Fung Foundation, a small group gathering was organized for participants to get more hands-on

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experiences and knowledge to better equip the new Fung Scholars for their upcoming exchange programmes. The Fung Scholars were pleased to make new friends and get a better understanding of the programme. Some scholars also exchanged their contact information so that they could stay in contact during their exchange. Mr. KM Wong hoped that the newly selected Fung Scholars could actively participate in the coming activities organized by both the foundation and

the local chapter. And Prof Tsui Lapchee stressed the importance of being a responsible Fung Scholar and also to plan well for a fruitful exchange. With the largest number of Fung Scholars attendees in Hong Kong on record, Kevin Lo, the President of the Hong Kong Local Chapter, was glad that this pre-departure gathering could benefit the new Fung Scholars. He also encouraged the new FS to join more local chaptersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; activities and to engage more Fung Scholars in the future.

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HKFYG Global Youth Entrepeneurs Forum 2016/17 Chuqi Yan FS2014-15, Shanghai Jiao Tong University

t was my great honor as a Fung Scholar to participate in both the 2016 and 2017 Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forums. Back to 2016, after the Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang mentioned the concept of Mass Entrepreneurship and Innovation, I became very curious about entrepreneurship. As a new graduate student, it is very hard and risky to start up my own business or join start-ups without any prior experience. At the same time, I am very keen to acquire more knowledge about entrepreneurship and entrepreneurs who are brave enough to be the pioneer in different industries. Upon hearing about the forum, the slogan of the forum, â&#x20AC;&#x153;From Start-up to Scale-up, Igniting Innovationâ&#x20AC;?, captivated me. I realized it would be a great opportunity for me to connect with young entrepreneurs and to get to know some of their ideas, businesses, and career paths. Thus, with the kind support from Victor and William

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Fung Scholars Gathering Dinner 2016

Fung Foundation, I registered for the forum without any hesitation. In the end, I gained much more than I expected to from the forum. Although the activities in the first day were cancelled due to a typhoon, Tammy still managed to arrange a gathering dinner for all the Fung Scholars attending the forum. This was a great opportunity for us to communicate and connect with each other. The second day of the forum was in Qianhai, a Youth Innovation and Entrepreneur Hub in Shenzhen Pilot

Free Trade Zone. After the opening ceremony, participants could go to various Panel Sessions depending on their interests. I decided to attend the Venture Capital Session, where I met many famous investors like Yuan Yue, the founder of Horizon Research Consultancy Group. I was surprised that the Forum also included a section on Social Investment, which focused on social innovation and charity. Intrigued, I decided to go to an afternoon session, where I met two speakers from United Nations Volunteers. They introduced their experiences of working as an

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Fung Scholars in Qianhai, Shenzhen in Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2016

international civil servant, which inspired me to apply for an internship at UNDP as well. Because of the great experience I had in 2016, I participated in the Forum in 2017 again. This time our first day conference was held at the University of Hong Kong, where I had been for my exchange programme as a Fung Scholar. What impressed me most was an inspiring opening remark from Ms. Sabrina Fung, the Group Managing Director of Fung Retailing Limited. She talked about the mission of youth entrepreneurs and encouraged the younger generation to go out and explore the world. After the morning

session, Ms. Fung met and took photos with the Fung Scholars. In the afternoon panel session, one of my favorite lyric writers, Lam Yat Hei, told us about his new media start-up company, TVMost. He made some interesting comments on the media transformation in Hong Kong and how young people there use new media methodology to express themselves. He also talked about how new forms of media are a young but very effective channel to arouse youth engagement on new fashions and values. Entrepreneurs should use this channel to distinguish their brands from other classic brands,

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so that they can attract their target audience, the younger generation. I was impressed by his speech, as it helped me to understand how new brands can compete with and exceed those big names. The Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2016 and 2017 gave me a fantastic opportunity to meet many great speakers and youth entrepreneurs. I really enjoyed listening to the stories of start-up companies and their founders. It was also very interesting to compare the different environments, policies and opportunities between Hong Kong and mainland China. The forum provided me

Fung Scholars in the University of Hong Kong in Global Youth Entrepreneurs Forum 2017

with new perspectives and many vivid examples of entrepreneurships from all around the world. Entrepreneurs now seem less mysterious and more inspiring. I was also excited to meet other Fung Scholars during my stay in Hong Kong. I believe that this will not be the last time I participate in the forum and I am really looking forward to participating in more activities with Fung Scholars in the future! Below are some reflections of other Fung Scholars: “As for me, the most impressive subject of the forum was ‘blockchain’. In fact, almost a quarter of the activities

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were about blockchain, which showed the importance and promising future of this emerging technology. I learned from the forum that blockchain was a distributed database that was used to maintain a continuously growing list of records. The core characteristics of blockchain are decentralization and trust. The Economist even called the blockchain the trust machine because it provided a solution to the Byzantine General’s Problem. It solved the trust problem in the internet era, or in other words, the traditional trust built on certificates and relationships is no longer needed with it. And I learned that the blockchain could also be applied in finance, asset management, and shipment. All these are amazing to me because I once thought the blockchain was just part of Bitcoin, a form of digital currency.” Haoqiang ZHANG, FS 2016-17, Fudan University “I was particularly impressed by the session ‘Book Smart V Street Smart.’ In this session, while some speakers graduated from prestigious universities, some did not ‘study well’ at school. Nonetheless, they could all become successful entrepreneurs. What I take from their sharing is that attitude and ideas are more important

than education alone when it comes to entrepreneurship. Their determination and passion for success truly inspired me.” Kitty CHAN, FS 2013-14,

The Chinese University of Hong Kong

“In spite of the poor weather conditions, the 2-day event in Hong Kong and Shenzhen Qianhai provided me with a great opportunity to experience the global business trend and learn from so many experts and aspiring young entrepreneurs. From the dialogues and speeches in the forum such as Innovation in China and a Tale of Four Cities sections, I learnt that entrepreneurs from mainland China, HK, India, Israel, Japan etc. are all pursuing innovations, creativity and social good, and how they can exchange ideas as well as cooperate with each other. I’d never realized before that the entrepreneurial spirit is everywhere, not just existing in the internet startups of Zhongguancun Innovation Street. The Conference was a really enjoyable and informative journey for me and I sincerely want to thank Fung Scholar for giving me the chance.” Shaoxing LI, FS 2015-16, Renmin University of China

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MaD Festival International Assembly amazes Fung Scholars with Innovation and Creativity John Poon FS2016-17, Hong Kong Baptist University

he Make a Difference Festival (MaD Festival) International Assembly was held successfully on 21st23rd July in the Kwai Tsing Theatre and HKICC Lee Shau Kee School of Creativity in Hong Kong, with the aim of encouraging social innovation and creativity. Despite a cancellation of the final day’s events due to a Typhoon Signal No. 8 signal, the event was an overriding success. Organized by the MaD Institute together and sponsored by the Victor and William Fung Foundation, the theme of the MaD Festival International Assembly this year was “The blink of the creative mass”. Fung Scholars were able to freely engage with the international changemakers and 1,300 MaDees from all over Asia in events including Centrestage, Exchange, Cinema, Open Studios, The Park Lab, Free Market, Excursions and Asian Changemakers Jam. The international assembly kicked off with keynotes speeches from creative international changemakers

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Clorinda Romo, Matthew Hay and Noriko Deno from Mexico, London and Japan respectively, who also participated in the exchange session on the second day. One of the activities at the conference, Centrestage, explored solutions to different social issues like sustainable design and social architecture; while the ripple forum and free market allowed participants to actively contribute to discussions to initiate changes in fields like education, equality and caring culture. Excursions around HK also enabled participants to see workable solutions in action in society. MaDbooks created by Grace, a Fung Scholar as well as a reporter of Stand News, comprised of feature articles of inspiring stories by MaD organizers and participants. Karlie Chen (left) enjoyed the excursion entitled An Experiment of Community Self-reliance

Karlie Chen (FS 2011-12, HKBU) participated in a “Sustainable Design” Centrestage and an excursion entitled “An Experiment of Community Self-reliance”. She described how she was amazed by the creative ideas she had witnessed and how she had discovered that the things we perceive as trash can be turned into new and appealing designs for the arts, furniture, decoration etc. Kevin Lo, the President of the Fung Scholars Hong Kong Local Chapter, also remarked that the concept and growth of the local chapter was inspired by the ethos of the MaD Festival. The MaD Festival was, in the end, a successful multi-tier event with industry exchange, community outreach and an international assembly and its aims to explore the sustainable progress of creative industries at local, regional and international levels was most encouraging.

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Upper: Chief Executive Carrie Lam attended the opening ceremony Bottom: Group photo

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Y S T R I A N L U O M H C M S O C G N

U F

Midsummer Drinks: Another Miracle by HK Local Chapter

Oxford China Forum Rethinks China in Global Context

Technology in Social Enterprises

S TO O B

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Midsummer Drinks: Another Miracle by Hong Kong Local Chapter John Poon FS2016-17, Hong Kong Baptist University

magine an event in which a bunch of people hang out in a room after a long day of work. But the event may not be as fancy as you imagine: The organizer suggests everyone to bring their own drinks as they are not offered; How about alcohol? Sorry, this is prohibited. Would you go this event? This event is definitely nonfictional and it even gets an appealing name – “Mid-summer drinks”. The Hong Kong Chapter held this networking event on 23 June in Fung Group Office and attracted 26 local Fung Scholars. On that night, Fung Scholars from different background wandered around the room to connect with one another and exchanged their ideas. The topics ranged from their exchange experience and career paths to the development of our society and the world. Everyone got their

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non-alcoholic drinks and chatted over an hour with the beautiful and calming Victoria Harbour sea view right outside the room. Kevin Lo, the President of Hong Kong Chapter, applauded to every Fung scholars in the event. He added that over 100 new Fung Scholars joined the Pre-departure gathering held in June, a record-breaking number since the establishment of Fung Scholarship. Seeing this large and supportive community, Kevin hoped to organize more events for Fung Scholars in every aspect to continuously gather more Fung Scholars and promote idea exchanges among the group. (Right) Kevin Lo, the President of Hong Kong Chapter hopes to organize more events for Fung Scholars to gather more Fung Scholars and promote idea exchanges among the group

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The Hong Kong Chapter holds a Mid-summer Drinks networking event on 23 June in Fung Group Office and attracted 26 local Fung Scholars.

Fung Scholars from different background wander around the room to connect with one another and exchanged their ideas.

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Oxford China Forum rethinks China in global context Hannah Caldwell FS2012-13, University of Oxford

delegation of 10 Fung Scholars from the London Chapter attended the Oxford China Forum in February to learn more about the future of UK-China relations. The Oxford China Forum (OCF), hosted by Oxford University’s Saïd Business School, is an annual, student-run forum aiming to provide insights into the shifting economic, political, and cultural landscapes in modern China. As one of the most prestigious forums on China in the United Kingdom, OCF brings together leading experts on China and the brightest students from across top UK universities to participate in vibrant discussions on the largest emerging country in the world.

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The Forum had four panels focusing on the following topics:

Oxford China Forum 2017 – List of Speakers International Relations Panel: The impact of Xi Jinping’s ‘One Belt, One Road’ initiative Sir Richard Heygate

Founder and Director of 88 Initiative

Prof. Rana Mitter

Director of Oxford University China Centre

Mr. John Farnell

Former Director at European Commission

Prof. Kerry Brown

Director of the Lau China Institute at KCL

Technology & Investment Panel: The role of technology in a burgeoning economy Mr. Jiang Sunan

Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology, Chinese Embassy in the U.K.

Prof. Fu Xiaolan

Professor of Technology and International Development, University of Oxford

Mr. Daniel Lightwing

Co-founder of Castella Research

Mr. Sun Jiahao

Co-founder of UiiTech

Media Panel: Social media and the opportunities it presents for modern China Mr. James Miles

China Editor of The Economist

Dr. Wang Xinyuan

Researcher at UCL Global Social Media Impact Study

Mr. Adam Knight

Co-founder of Tong Digital

Ms. Gillian Bolsover

Researcher, Oxford Internet Institute

Art Panel: The global character of Contemporary Chinese Art

Table: List of speakers, Oxford China Forum

Prof. Jiang Jiehong

Professor of Chinese Art and Director of Centre for Chinese Visual Arts

Prof. Paul Gladston

Professor of Contemporary Visual Cultures and Critical Theory, Nottingham University

Mr. Cai Yuan

Artist, Office of Contemporary Chinese Art

Ms. Sun Yixi

General Manager of Chinese Art Space, Executive Director of Filming East Festival

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The Forum had a number of high profile speakers. Rana Mitter, Director of the Oxford University China Centre, chaired a panel of China experts including a diplomat, a former McKinsey Partner, and an academic. They discussed the implications of China’s policies on business, trade and international relations. Adam Knight (FS2012-13, University of Oxford), himself a Fung Scholar, was on the media panel. While still working on his studies in Chinese at Oxford, Adam and a friend started a company, Tong Digital, which advises other companies

on their social media strategy to help them access the Chinese market. In his talk, Adam described the enormous size of the opportunities for e-commerce in China, and the various trends driving this growth. On the Art panel, the presentations included a poetry reading by artist Cai Yuan, based on his experiences during the Cultural Revolution; a Professor from Nottingham University explained his work on art theory as applied to Chinese art; and the director of a Chinese film festival talked about her upcoming projects. On the technology and investment

Fung Scholar Adam Knight speaks on the Media panel with his friends to advise other companies on their social media strategy to help them access the Chinese market

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Fung Scholars enjoyed a networking lunch together during the conference panel, Sun Jiahao of UiiTech gave a presentation on how Chinese students can benefit from opportunities to start technology businesses in the UK. The Professor of Technology and International Development at the University of Oxford spoke about her work, while British entrepreneur Daniel Lightwing talked about his company’s approach to algorithmic trading. Fung Scholar Adam Knight speaks on the Media panel with his friends to advise other companies on their social media strategy to help them access the Chinese market

The event prompted interesting discussions about China’s future. We received a lot of positive feedback from the London Fung Scholars who attended the forum, saying how interesting they found it. They added that it was fascinating hearing their views, with precious opportunities to ask questions in the discussion afterwards. Fung Scholars also enjoyed a networking lunch as a group to a local Chinese restaurant, which gave everyone the chance to get to know each other, and discuss the interesting topics and insights in the forum.

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Hands-on Career Tips from Distinguished Harvard Scholars Carolyn Wu FS2016-17, Harvard University

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n April 27, the Fung Scholars and Fellows Boston Chapter organized a career luncheon at event in Harvard. They invited two distinguished scholars at Harvard, Professor Ezra VOGEL (傅高義) and Dr. William H. OVERHOLT, as guest speakers. At the luncheon, Professor VOGEL and Dr. OVERHOLT shared their life experiences from a career perspective to the Fung Scholars and Fellows. They highly suggested that students should utilize the university platform now and in the future to bolster our career development. During the Q&A session, Fung Scholars and Fellows asked the guest speakers about how to cultivate relationships and establish connections overseas and how to build professional networks in a new research/working environment.

Professor Ezra Vogel and Dr. William H. Overholt shared their career experience in a Boston Chapter’s luncheon sharing event in Harvard

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S T

N E E L B M A O K M R A

M E

Conscious Layers Fung Scholars Create Fashion Miracles

Love at First Sight – How I met and married my Turkish Husband

Innovation vs Creativity – The Key to Successful Organizational Communication

HIO S A F E

LOV

IO CAT

EDU

TIO A V O

Working and Travelling in China – A Home Away From Home

INN

A Taste of Different Education Styles in China and the US

GE A I RR

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Conscious Layers – Fung Scholars Create Fashion Miracles Yaki Wo FS2007-08, The Chinese University of Hong Kong

Magdalena Kohut FS2015-16, University of Oxford

Fast fashion is extractive and exploitative

ith the rise of fast fashion, many brands are now showcasing 52 fashion seasons per year – new designs on shelves every week – instead of the original four. This naturally leads to people feeling that their clothes are out of fashion faster, and wanting to buy new and throw away old more frequently. According to the global non-profit organisation Fashion Revolution, “it is estimated that 80 billion items of clothing are delivered out of factories annually worldwide. 30 billion GBP worth of clothes are discarded in one year in the UK, which would fill Wembley Stadium. 95% of discarded clothing can be recycled or upcycled. The average British woman hoards 285 GBP of clothes they will never wear, the equivalent of 22 outfits each that are left hanging in valuable wardrobe space, or 30 billion GBP of unworn

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clothes.” In New Zealand, we learnt that even though charity shops accept clothing donations enthusiastically, many are struggling to store and sell them all, and so a not uncommon but rarely known approach of dealing with the excess is to send them to landfill. An alternative is to send them to less developed countries, but the inundation of these clothing imports has been shown to damage local garment industries. The fast fashion model is also highly carbon-intensive and water-intensive. Fashion Revolution highlighted that “clothing consumption produces on average 1.5 tonnes of CO2 per household per year, the equivalent of driving 6,000 cars. It takes 2720 litres of water to make a T-shirt; that’s how much we normally drink over a 3-year period. It takes 200 gallons of water to make one pair of jeans, the equivalent of 285 showers.” As if the environmental damages done by fast fashion are not convincing enough, the industry is notorious for its exploitation of workers along its supply

chains. Many international brands outsource production to less developed countries to cut costs down without really caring about the working conditions of their labour force. Local companies rarely turn orders down to keep the profits coming in, and often subcontract the work to yet smaller factories and even to households and individuals. The lack of regulations has led to major safety issues and even sadly, fatal disasters. One of the most known catastrophes of such kind was the collapse of the Rana Plaza garment factory in Dhaka, Bangladesh in 2013, which killed 1,138 people and injured 2,500, making it the deadliest garment factory accident in history. Disasters as such are a collective failure on the part of fashion brands, which dodge responsibility to monitor and set requirements for compliance when it comes to contractors and subcontractors; local governments, who prioritise local economic growth and keep minimum wage low; and us consumers, who time and again forget to ask “who made my clothes?”, “how are they made?” and “what are their impacts?”.

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The coming together of two Fung Scholars in New Zealand Magda: In November 2016, I moved to New Zealand in pursuit of personal development, and in search of an escape from the Western rat race, from materialistic values, from craving for money and status, and in search of contentment. I have been very openminded towards anything that came my way. Looking to make new friends, I contacted Tammy to ask whether there were any Fung Scholars in Auckland. There was one – Yaki! We met for dinner and shared some very interesting conversations. Yaki told me about a Meet Up group, ‘Fashion & Future’, she was starting the following week and invited me to come along. I never really

thought much about clothes before but I was receptive to learning more. During the following months of participating in the Meet Ups, I learnt a lot about the environmental and social issues caused by fast fashion and why it is an important issue to campaign for. Following my involvement in the EcoWest Festival in March 2017, I decided to become a member of the core team, which by then received its name “Conscious Layers”. It consistently feels very satisfying to do something as generous and kind towards people and nature as this project is. Unlike often in science, my current day job, one can really feel the direct impact this work has on people.

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Yaki: I

have always been an idealist and had a strong sense of justice. My first proper job after completing my first degree in journalism and communications in Hong Kong was working as a campaigner for Amnesty International (AI). It was during my time at AI that I learnt about the interconnectedness of the challenges we are still facing today, including poverty, environmental degradation and human rights abuses. Seeing climate change as the biggest existential crisis of our generation, I then pursued my Master’s degree in environment and development in London. I would graduate and join a philanthropic foundation in 2010, where I spent five years managing global climate change mitigation programmes ranging from

policy research and recommendations to grassroots mobilisation. By the time I left London in 2015, I knew that working for the environment would be my lifelong vocation. After spending about nine months in Shanghai setting up the China programme of a US-based non-profit organisation and an intensive week at COP 21 in Paris, I moved to Auckland, New Zealand to join my then boyfriend, now husband, just before Christmas 2015. With my background in human rights and climate change, I have known for a long time that the fashion industry’s human and environmental footprints are very bad. But not seeing myself as particularly “fashionable” and not having any insiders’ knowledge or networks made me think I could not

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do much about it. What eventually triggered me to take this step forward (and start building Conscious Layers) was the arrival of H&M and Zara in Auckland. Seeing the excitement of many young girls queuing outside the stores for their opening was really quite worrying. As New Zealand has a huge pool of crafty talents making clothes and other things with their own hands, I really did not want to see Kiwis catching on the same fast fashion addiction so prevalent in other countries. Thanks to Tammy of the Fung Foundation, Magda and I met in

Auckland when Conscious Layers was still in its conception stage. Magda has since joined the CL core team and played a critical role in shaping it into what it is today! The journey of Conscious Layers so far Unlike many typical startups, we started Conscious Layers without really knowing what we had to offer, and the fact that none of us had any business experience did not help at all! We took startup courses, connected with the startup community and learnt everything from scratch. Inspired by the Lena Library in the Netherlands, we

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started off with the idea of creating a place for people to rent everyday outfits in New Zealand, but our validation told us that the Kiwi market was not ready for such a drastic change in consumption behaviour yet. It came to a point when we thought: If we did not have the answer, then let’s ask the community! We then began a long, sometimes tiring but very fruitful process of community engagement. Over the past year or so, we have hosted a Meet Up group, took

part in the EcoWest Festival, organised a Haulternative Party and Dialogue to align with the global Fashion Revolution week and a “Swap & Stretch” clothes swap and yoga event. We have also won two prizes in the University of Auckland Velocity Innovation Challenge, been nominated for the zero waste award, and become a finalist of the Oversew Upcycling Fashion Awards! These experiences have built us a small but growing following.

These were some of the things people wrote about us:

“They want to make things happen - to make a difference, to win hearts and change minds - and they’re prepared to do what it takes!” Jay & Carolynn “Conscious Layers has a community-based approach to addressing fast fashion, and is a welcoming space for discussion on related issues.” Helena “I am a CL ‘groupie’ through and through. I stand fully behind their mission, future aspirations, incredibly genuine team members and all of the community impact they have already made. I cannot wait to see where Conscious Layers will go!” Courtney “Conscious Layers have some great initiatives and are intelligent, creative, open, and radiate enthusiasm. It takes courage to change the world. When I meet people like you, I want to help you change the world into a better place.” Ratna

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Conscious Layers’ plans moving forward Following months of community engagement, we have come to the point of kick-starting some new projects. All our projects align towards the common goal of popularising the reuse of fashion – repairing, restyling and redesigning – through edutaining experiences.

To do so, we will begin our crowdfunder by diverting “leftover” clothing donations away from landfill and selling them online. Sales income will contribute towards hiring refugee and migrant women at the New Zealand Ethnic Women’s Trust (NZEWT) to repair and redesign good quality clothes with minor flaws e.g. small stains, tiny rips, missing buttons. The repaired

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and redesigned items will re-enter the market and be sold again. We will also partner with the NZEWT to provide a company/organizational bulk repair pick-up drop-off service. The hope is that by bringing lowcost repairs to our customers, they will no longer have any excuse to discard their mendable clothes. Meanwhile, we will continue

to deliver events to the community. Our “Swap&” events are essentially clothes swaps with a twist. “Swap&Stretch” includes a yoga class, “Swap&Slam” includes a slam poetry performance and “Swap&Screen” includes a film screening. Other plans we have down the line are “sewathons” at work places or street festivals, styling challenges to unleash people’s

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creativity with what is already in their wardrobes, and upcycling parties where people of all ages, genders and skill levels come together and refresh their own clothes guided by our experienced designer, teacher and sustainable fashion dialogue facilitator.

All of these experiences, whether through contributing to our crowdfunder, or through participation in our events, culminate to a heightened understanding of the issues related to fashion consumption and an increased awareness of oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s own impacts when consuming clothes.

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What you can do

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Buy less. Ask yourself if you are going to wear the item for at least 30 times. If the answer is no, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t buy it. Borrow or rent it. Especially if you know you would not wear the item for more than a few times. Buy secondhand. Reuse should always be prioritised before recycling. Buy better brands. If youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re buying new, do your research and only buy clothes from brands that are transparent about their social and environmental credentials. Beware of greenwashing. Take care of your clothes. Repair them. Follow care label instructions. Post-purchase care accounts for 25% of the carbon footprint of clothes. Never discard your clothes in the bin! Ask your friends if they want your clothes. Go to or organise a clothes swap. Donate them to a charity. Sell them. If they are in poor shape, cut them up and turn them into rags for cleaning! There must be a way.

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Love at First Sight â&#x20AC;&#x201C; How I Met and Married my Turkish Husband Zoe Lau FS2011-12, Hong Kong Baptist University

t was a snowy day while I first arrived at Istanbul at 4 am. Sky was still dark, roads were empty, everywhere was quiet and cold. It was how it looked like for the first hour of my exchange in KoĂ§ University of Istanbul, Turkey in 2012 Spring. The half year staying in Istanbul was indeed a turning point in my life. It is a place where my inner consciousness awakens, a place where I had to manage everything in lives alone and a place where I met my husband. In a new, stress-free environment, I guess holiday romance is not uncommon among exchange groups no matter where you are going. But after the half year,

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Our wedding in Hong Kong on 6 May 2017

it seemed this seed of love is always doomed to fail because of this “Long-distance separation”. My husband and I met in an exchange gathering at the beginning of the semester. He was a local student and I was the only Chinese in the exchange group. With the introduction of our common friend – another exchange fellow from Slovenia, the seed slowly grew up and we fell into each other. At the beginning, we couldn’t know how tough was to continue this relationship over the 8000 km and 5 hours of time

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The traditional ceremony in the morning

differenceâ&#x20AC;Śand cultural difference, until the time I had to leave to Hong Kong. After the few months of sweet time in Turkey, we finally felt the bitter part of the long-distance separation. In the 5 years, we kept travelling between Hong Kong and Turkey every half year. It was not the distance killing, but the loneliness we had to endure during this period. I could say it was the time that I

did most self-talking ever in life, trying to find out if we should continue, how to continue and is it worth to continue. But we treasured the time being alone because we could only see the purity of love, which is the thing every lover wants to pursue, only when lust and other distraction gone missing. Now I always feel so lucky to

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have experience this tough stage in relationship. Without it, I couldn’t have the clarity of thought to be that sure this gentleman I am with is my Mr. Right. Without it, I couldn’t have found out how happy it is to stay together. Without it, I couldn’t have turned our song from “You’re Beautiful” to “All of Me” on 6 May 2017 in our wedding.

I am now living in Ankara of Turkey with my husband to start the new page of life. Now, whenever I step out from the airport in Turkey, it is not a cold day for me anymore since someone out there will be driving me back home and warm my heart.

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(Upper) Travelling to the South-east Turkey in 2012; (Bottom) Birthday reunion in 2015

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Innovation vs Creativity – The Key to Successful Organizational Communications Gigi Au-Yeung FS2009-10, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

rganization leaders should realize that, as it is getting more challenging on globalized economic models, knowledge-based economy and international competitiveness, companies must innovate to prosper (Michael West, 2012). This article aims to share with fellow Fung Scholars some definitions, values and applications of innovation and creativity, and how we feel organizations and YOU as leaders, could excel in your innovative and creative pursuit. The root of innovation & creativity Excerpted from Awake at the Wheel, “if creativity is the flower of a human life, then intention is the root. Intention is the ground where creativity springs”. It could be the intention to change, the intention to improve; with curiosity, imaginations and reasons for being to really break through. Definitions of innovation & creativity I have been studying and teaching about

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innovation & creativity for years. These two share many common meanings and can be dependent on each other. Among the many definitions and comparisons, I found the below most relevant and comprehensive.

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Creativity is the conception of the idea (Ivancevich et al.,1994 and Kao,1991, pp. V–VI). Innovation is the conception of a new idea, transformed into an invention, and exploited as much as possible(West and Farr, 1990, p. 252). Innovation is to be defined as ‘the successful implementation of a creation’ (Heunks and Roos, 1992, p. 6).2 Innovation seems to foster growth, profits and success (Hyvärinen, 1990, p. 73). Above all, my favourite goes to

“Creativity is divergent thinking to conceive new ideas, whereas innovation is the successful technical and economic implementation of a creation” (Felix J. Heunks, 1998).

An interview with David, Innovation Consultant I am privileged to have been working with many creative and innovative minds throughout my study and career. One of them is David Chung, principal consultant of InnoEdge Consulting, President of the Hong Kong Institute of Business Innovation, Chairman of the Innovation Committee at the Startup and SME Association, and a co-author of Demand Chain Management book. He shared that an innovative mind is a spirit that actively seeks change rather than waiting to adapt to change. In other words, it’s a super-positive mindset

that embraces critical questions, and creative but disruptive improvements. It’s about taking ownership and pride in your organization. First, all staff members should feel empowered to make decisions, and this is also what team leaders should let them. Decision-making processes and approvals need to be simplified, and leaders need training on how to hand over the reins and help team members confidently grab them. Second, everyone should feel free to propose any idea they have, no matter how grand or seemingly unattainable. This policy has been the

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key to success in some of the most innovative companies, such as Apple, Virgin, Google, and Zappos. In fact, their senior executives keep a “Crazy Ideas” folder, which they review periodically to see the possibilities. You never know— an idea you can’t use now might be useful later on. Last but not least, smaller companies are naturally more innovative. It is because their teams tend to be small enough that everyone has a voice and input on everything, even if it’s not part of their core responsibility or strength. As companies get bigger, departments tend to be segmented off from each other, losing the diversity of ideas, fresh perspectives, and organic innovation that can come from cross-pollination. If you want to generate creative solutions, cross-pollination of ideas is a must. As a leader of your organization, you should always treat yourself as an innovative entrepreneur. Then, your staff members will believe they are working in an innovative organization.

So how can innovation & creativity be cultivated and applied in organizations? Learning from David’s sharing and complementing with my experiences, I believe it is necessary that there is a

shared belief in an inspirational vision among members of the organization. To achieve so it requires a high level of constructive interaction, discussion, and debate. Members of the organizations should be consistently positive and open to other members’ ideas for new and improved ways of working. Management of the organizations should provide both encouragement and the resources for creations. When creativities grow, the opportunity in the idea is recognized, and it is being translated into an economic reality, where there comes the innovation. One of the methods that I feel handy when teaching students the application of creativity and innovation was suggested by Nyström (1979, p. 40): creativity is a matter of divergent thinking that has to result in innovation, and it should be followed by convergent thinking. It should be a sequence of intuitive openness and then analytic closure.

And how can you be a more creative and innovative Fung Scholar? To end my article, I wish to share what Ivancevich et al. (1994, p. 608) summarize as characteristics of creative and innovation people as follows:

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Creative people tend to:

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have knowledge of their specialty and be more or less intelligent be extravert, sensitive to problems and highly motivated, be independent, persistent, self-confident and sceptical, and tolerate isolation, take risks, be open to new ideas and tolerate ambiguity, be flexible in combining things and synthesize information.

Innovative people tend to:

have a high level of knowledge, be sociable, embrace challenges and be energetic, be independent, persistent, self-confident and optimistic, take calculated risks and be open to new ideas, be flexible and creative, desire responsibility, need achievement, value money and have a future orientation, be a dynamic leader, take initiative and have organizing skills. So go find the creative and innovative self in YOU!

Find those intentions to improve; embrace change and curiosity; dare to imagine; be fearless to error and failure before reaching there.

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Working and Travelling in China â&#x20AC;&#x201C; A Home Away From Home Dov Boonin FS2017, University of Oxford

his summer I had the opportunity to work and travel in China, thanks to the Fung Foundation. I taught at several summer camps in Shanghai, and subsequently travelled around Eastern China. It was the farthest place from home (Britain) that I had ever journeyed to with a very different culture from my own and any that I have ever interacted with. Despite the huge differences, I could not have felt more at home in China due to the incredible kindness, friendliness and closeness shown to me by so many people. When travelling around China, I was always reminded just how far out of my comfort zone my life was. The smells on the streets, mostly of different foods, were completely unlike anything at home. The daily diet was centred around food such as rice, noodles in broths, all different kinds of dumplings cooked in different ways, and vegetables

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The Shanghai skyline at night

boiled or stir-fried with seasonings like soy sauce, garlic and chilli peppers. Although I miss the taste of the bread, milk, eggs and pasta that I’m used to, I also enjoyed mastering the skill of eating with chopsticks and utilising them for almost every meal. The smell of Chinese food still stays in my mind, but it was hard to get used to breathing in the smog that sometimes appeared in Shanghai and Beijing. What fortunate is that it sometimes also generated beautiful sunsets that I’ve never seen anywhere else.

being a foreigner travelling in China is the language and resultant cultural barrier. I simply couldn’t talk to most people I met unless I used Google Translate, which isn’t ideal for meaningful or casual conversations. Given that there weren’t always foreign travellers nearby, this meant that I could feel quite lonely at times, and made me extremely grateful that I was travelling with my friend from home. In spite of this significant barrier to social interaction, I nonetheless had some extremely friendly encounters with many Chinese people.

One of the most difficult aspects of

Many Chinese people I met were

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A canal in Wuzhen, an ancient historic town

eager to help me in any way they could, even though they didn’t know me at all, and find it so hard to communicate with me. I experienced this when I visited Huangshan - the Yellow Mountains. I travelled by bus for 6 hours from Shanghai to a small town called Tangkou. The directions my hostel provided me with were unclear, so I had no idea where it was supposed to be when I got off the bus.. I wasn’t sure what to do, and didn’t have many options. Luckily, two ladies who had been on the same coach with me, one of whom spoke English, came over to me and asked me where I was trying to go. After looking at the name

of the hostel, having a long conversation with each other, and dragging a random taxi driver into the conversation, one of them eventually had an idea of where it might be. She walked with me down a side street, until we eventually saw a worried receptionist standing outside my hostel - he seemed very relieved to see me, . Getting to my hostel wasn’t as straightforward as I had hoped, but the experience showed me the incredible willingness of Chinese people to help a complete stranger. Chinese exhibited incredible friendliness to us and to others. Once

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when I walked down a main street in Beijing on the way back to our hostel, we passed by an old man who was watering a big patch of grass with a hose. Next to him was a young man who was using the water from the hose as well to wash his motorbike and lock. The old man was completely indifferent , which suggested that they clearly didn’t know each other - not a word, not to mention a goodbye. While I was still figuring out what had just happened, the old man simply smiled at me with a rich, allencompassing smile, as if this is how he treats everyone he encounters. These two men hadn’t exchanged a word, yet they were willing to share and help each other.

A view of the Forbidden City, Beijing

I also had a very pleasant experience on my last day in China. I was getting a taxi to the airport at 3 am. The driver didn’t speak any English, so I had to show him the Chinese characters for “Shanghai Pudong Airport” on my phone. I was happily sitting next to the driver in silence, when he suddenly pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered me one. I couldn’t turn down an offer like that, and we happily chilled and smoked whilst speeding down the motorway. We couldn’t share a word, but he was happy to share a cigarette with me. Many people we met in China also showed incredible closeness as well as friendliness. They were very at ease with

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having close physical contact with complete strangers, in complete contrast to what I’m used to at home. At the Forbidden City in Beijing, being in the crush of people all vying to get the closest look at the thrones hidden behind barriers in grand buildings was the closest I’ve ever gotten to strangers. Out of my expectation, no one seemed bothered by it, it just seemed to be the norm! Once we got into a taxi in Beijing, before I could tell him where I wanted to go, he stroked my leg, in awe of the extensive hair covering it (an uncommon sight in most of China). He looked at me and gave me the biggest, happiest smile. Something like that would never have happened in a million years in a black cab in Britain. As soon as I remembered I wasn’t in Britain, I

happily extended my hairy arm for him to stroke as well. Travelling in China was certainly an eye-opening and incredible experience. It was a big challenge in many ways, but an extremely rewarding one. It enabled me to have memorable interactions with many Chinese people, and discover a culture completely different from my own. Although it was so different to what I’m used to in Britain, thanks to the kindness, friendliness, and closeness shown to me by so many Chinese people, in some ways I couldn’t have felt more at home.

Have you really been to China if you don’t have a photo like this of the Great Wall to prove it?

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A Taste of Different Education Styles in China and the US Yang Ding FS2017-18, Peking University

enry (Zhaolei) Shi was born in Ningbo, Zhejiang. He grew up in Xian, Shaanxi with his parents for 9 years. He attended a typical Chinese kindergarten and elementary school—experiencing a strict and regulated educational environment in which students went to school early in the morning, studied hard to perform well on exams and returned home very late with homework. Due to the demand of his parents’ jobs, Shi and his family moved to the US. He spent three years in elementary school and one year in middle school in California. During this period, he spent more free time to explore his interests but had less time to study so he had to develop different ways to study. With the changes in his parents’ work again, he moved back to Xian to continue his studies in a middle school and high school. After taking the National Higher Education Entrance Examination and was admitted to the electronic engineering course in Fudan University. Awarded the Fung Scholarship

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poor. This also explains why there are more infrastructure like playgrounds and gyms for kids than adults in US than in China. Another differentiation is the freedom he enjoyed.

Henry In Stanford after graduation in 2012, he pursued his master degree program in Harvard University, majoring in education. He has since been pursuing a Ph. D in Stanford University then.

Shi in Harvard Transition

between

China

and

the US is hard for Shi, especially in his younger days. He pointed out many differences between these two countries: people spend far more time outside classroom than lecture in class in the US,.while students endeavor a lot in school and doing homework in China. In terms of living standard and quality, due to the huge wealth gap between two places, California was well developed area, but Xian was very

As far as the education sytem is concerned, the Americans encourage independent thinking and creativity, while in China, a strict and regulated educational environment is very common, especially for middle and high schools. Therefore, when he returned back to China to continue his studies, students in China attained greater academic achievements than he did during his four years in the US, making him less competitive compared with other children. “It was a not-good experience” he said. It was an unforgettable experience for him and inspired him to reflect on the educational differences between these two countries. Later, he performed better than other students academically even though they spent a big part of time studying. Eventually and with hard work, he graduated from Chinese high school. How can he overcame these difficulties? He suggested some other elements that he picked up in the US helped him . What is the magic key? “When you learn, it is also important to understand how and why you learn them. It is important because they are the purpose for studying, and they are

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relevant to your life. Anything becomes unbearable if we do not have a purpose, because we need to do them for a long time.â&#x20AC;? Plus, he learned leadership and teamwork mentality from the sports culture in the US that he used in a pure academic context in China. Henry Shi was interested in Physics and aspired to study in Fudan University after high school, but Fudan did not admit any Physics students from Shaanxi province unfortunately on the year he took the entrance exam. Finally, he chose electronic engineering as a last resort as he thought it would be related to physics and his parents hoped that he would become an engineer in the future. Henry discovered his interest in Education during his undergraduate studies, thanks to mainly his academic experience in China and the US. He

Henry In Harvard

gained practical experience in education after going to Qinghai province to teach Tibetan children for a week. As a Junior, he worked for the Rural Education Action

- REMARKABLE MOMENTS -

Program,a Stanford based group which later became his Ph. D institute. He realised that many people succumbed to pressure of the National Higher Education Entrance Examination, but they failed to realise the whole picture. He then wanted to teach Chinese students the correct way to pursue the exam by combining education with technology with computers for migrant children (Nong Min Gong). These migrant children canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t attend a formal education, and he made laptops for them to improve their academic experience. Finally, his efforts paid off and these children had outstanding academic achievements. This EduTech approach became his expertise to apply for his graduate studies in education.

Shi in Stanford

Although it is hard to compare differences among countries in general, Henry mentioned that there are huge differences between the city and countryside in each country. Education system in urban cities tends to be stricter in class and students have less initiative to learn on their own. In rural areas, students have deficient nutrition, making it difficult for them to absorb information and learn effectively. Teachers do not have a high standard and children are more likely to suffer from psychological problems. In the US, the top 10% of students are well educated and healthy while the bottom 10% drop out of school. What lead to such huge differences? â&#x20AC;&#x153;The differences between these two countries were not due to cultural differences, but the education policy of Fudan University

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Classroom

each country. Also, different countries have their own problems.” Henry explained. Then the question comes: Which education system is better? This is also a difficult question for Henry as finding a right way to evaluate two education systems is hard. “There are many good Universities in the US, but this does not mean high school education is as good as university education. Similarly, the Chinese economy grows fast, but this does not mean the education system in China is better. In Henry’s story, we can see how one’s experience shapes a person: he had a difficult time transitioning between Chinese and US education systems but this changed his life and led

him to devote himself to education. However, he made good use of his knowledge in both electronic engineering and education by utilizing computers to help migrant children gain access to high quality classes. Eventually, he continued his study in the education area. Many people suggest that Chinese students spend more time studying and they should know more than American students, and Americans are more active and enjoy more freedom than Chinese. Nevertheless, Henry reminded us that education gap within each country is even bigger than the differences across border. There is no definite answer to which education system is the best.

5 Fung Scholars Leadership Conference 2017

Local Chapters

Australia Chapter

London Chapter

Singapore Chapter

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Fung Scholars Leadership Conference 2017 will be held on 14 - 15 October in Hangzhou, China. The theme this year is “Innovation”. Day 1 – 14 October 2017 (Saturday) Venue: Qi Zhen Hall, 3/F, Yuanzheng Qizhen Hotel, Zijinggang Campus, Zhejiang University Morning Keynote Speech - Dr. Victor Fung, Chairman, Victor and William Fung Foundation; Group Chairman, Fung Group - Mr. Daniel Zhang, Chief Executive Officer, Alibaba Group Afternoon Visit Alibaba Group Campus Evening Venue: International Campus, Zhejiang University Cultural Performance – Open for anyone who wants to perform. Day 2 – 15 October 2017 (Sunday) Venue: International Campus, Zhejiang University Morning Entrepreneurship Seminar Speakers: Dr. Gang Lu, Founder & Chief Executive Officer, TechNode Ms. Magdalena Kohut (FS2015-16, The University of Oxford) Ms. Yaki Wo (FS2007-08, The Chinese University of Hong Kong) Mr. Adam Knight (FS2012-13, The University of Oxford), Co-founder, TongDigital We look forward to seeing all registered Fung Scholars at the Conference in October in Hangzhou!

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FS Local Chapters Would you like to get involved with a local FS Chapter? Local Chapters organise events for Fung Scholars and are a great opportunity to get to know fellow scholars whilst exploring the local area. FS Chapters already operate in many cities worldwide, including: • London • Melbourne • New York • Beijing • Singapore • Shanghai • Hong Kong Currently, the London, Singapore, Hong Kong and Australia chapters are looking for more committee members, and the Beijing, Shanghai, London and New York chapters are currently vacant. If you would be interested in getting involved or would like to set up a new chapter, please get in touch with the local representative (see below) or Tammy Lam at TammyLamTan@FungFoundation.org.

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Fung Scholars Australia Chapter is BORN! The Fung Scholars Australia Chapter was newly established in July 2017. The Chapter aims to connect Fung Scholars across Australia and welcomes all those visiting, working or studying here for any length of time. The Committee is based in Melbourne, but we would be delighted to speak to Scholars that are keen to host events in other cities. We seek to share international experience, learn from each other, and contribute to society by building connections across countries. We are excited to extend the Fung Scholars network into a new region, and look forward to meeting fellow Scholars soon.

To strengthen the bond within the network and encourage the exchange of their experience in Melbourne, the Chapter organized its first orientation activity in September. We ran an event at Dialogue in the Dark to give activity participants the opportunity to develop a deeper understanding of a global social enterprise in Melbourne.

Event Date

24 Sep, 2017 (Sun)

Event Time

11.30am to 3.30pm

Activity

1. Visiting Dialogue in the Dark™ & 2. Sunday Bunch (either in La Petite Crêperie or White Mojo Speciality Coffee & Roaster)

Please come join the Australia Chapter and share your expectations and/or suggestions for future development. Our Committee cannot wait to meet YOU! For enquiries and updates on future events, please inbox FS Australia Chapter’s Facebook Fanpage.

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FS London Chapter The Fung Scholars London Chapter is looking for a new team to take over running the Chapter and organizing events for scholars in London. Last year, we held a range of events for scholars: we had drinks to welcome new scholars to London, took a trip to the theatre to watch the National Ballet of China, and attended a conference about China in Oxford. For the coming year, we need people with energy and ideas who can organize more events that bring Fung Scholars together, and help them learn more about China. If you think you’ve got what it takes, please send a CV and a description of two ideas for events you would like to organize to TammyLamTan@FungFoundation.org. Rob SNELLGROVE (FS2012-13, University of Oxford), email: robsnellgrove@ btopenworld.com

Singapore Chapter Please contact Jamie KO (FS2009-10, Singapore Management University) at jamie. ko.weiling@gmail.com. She has been working for a few years and would like to have more FS who are studying to initiate events for the local chapter.

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editorial board. Editors-in-chief

Jasmine HOPKINSON

FS2015-16, University of Oxford Jasmine completed her History degree at Oxford last year and is currently taking a gap year before she embarks on the GDL in September. Thanks to support from the Fung Scholars Programme, she was able to complete an internship at an international law firm in Beijing, widening her understanding of corporate law and researching new initiatives like China’s ‘One Belt One Road’ policy. Having grown up in China, England, and Switzerland, Jasmine speaks fluent English, Mandarin, and German. In her spare time, she enjoys playing the piano and violin, tennis, travelling, visiting museums, and reading.

John POON Tsz Fung

FS2016-17, Hong Kong Baptist University John is a degree graduate from Broadcast Journalism concentration with double minors in English Language and Literature and Business. During his studies, he founded several media organizations in his high school and university. He also produced international broadcast news stories across three different continents (Asia, Europe, North America), including Taiwanese General Election 2016, US Election 2016 and policies in London. With rich journalism experience and international exposure, he has great network with local and international officials in different aspects like diplomacy, legislation and public affairs. John has diversified interests and strengths in different fields, apart from journalism and international relations, he is also capable and interested in English literature, computer programming and designing, He also enjoyed watching British and American dramas and reality shows during his leisure time.

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Designer Yunzi SHI

FS2016-2017, Princeton University Yunzi received the Fung Scholarship for her first year of undergraduate study at Princeton. She is a prospective architecture major and is interested in earning certificates in urban studies, applications of computing and visual arts. Before college, she took a gap year with Princeton Bridge Year Program in Salvador, Brazil and concentrated in serving a grassroot solidarity economy and studying art as a vehicle of community development and civic engagement. In her spare time, she loves sketching, singing in a choir and reading.

Editors Bernice CHOW

FS2017-2018, The University of Hong Kong Bernice is a Year 3 student who majors in Food and Nutritional Science, and minors in Japanese Language and Psychology. She loves travelling to learn about the cuisines and unique cultures of the countries. She also enjoys reading literatures and cooking during her free time. Bernice joined AIESEC in HKU as an officer (2016-2017) to promote global internship programs to HKU students and provide support to applicants throughout their internship period. In addition, she was one of the volunteer teachers earlier this year and delivered science workshops to Taichungâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s primary school students for a week. From these experiences, she learnt how to work and communicate with people of different nationalities or backgrounds, as well as finding the enjoyment of serving others. This December, Bernice will go on a semester exchange to The University of British Columbia, Canada, with support from the Fung Scholarship. She canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait to explore the fascinating city of Vancouver and learn from a Canadian university!

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Chloe Yuchen YAN

FS2017-18, The University of Tokyo Chloe was awarded the Fung Scholarship for her exchange at Princeton University. She majors in Japan and East Asian Studies and conducts her research in English, Japanese and Chinese. With her wide-ranging academic interests and international experience, she has also studied in Stanford University, the Australian National University, and National Taiwan University for shortterm exchanges, on such topics as International Law and International Relations. For programme concentration, she worked on Global Economy and Management, and has completed a summer internship at Credit Suisse in Hong Kong and Tokyo. Chloe has been a violin player for over 10 years, and she loves going to concerts, watching movies, and reading and writing in her spare time.

Lulu ZHOU

FS2006-07, Harvard University Lulu graduated in 2008 with a BA in Social Anthropology. Thanks to the Fung Foundation, she was able to participate as a fieldwork intern in Yunnan Province for a Peking University anthropological study of kinship relations among the Jinuo. She currently works as a corporate lawyer in Hong Kong. She enjoys reading, dancing, word games and good food.

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Editor & Writer Dov BOONIN

FS2017, University of Oxford Dov is currently in his third year studying Philosophy Politics and Economics at Oxford University. This summer he spent a month running summer camps in schools across Shanghai with Futures Foundation and LOVVOL, thanks to the support of the Fung Foundation. He took the opportunity to spend another month travelling around Eastern China, an exciting and eye-opening experience. He is passionate about community, having served as President of the Oxford University Jewish Society. He has also promoted harmony between different communities across Oxford, both among political organisations and among religious groups. In his spare time he loves to play a game of badminton, and is currently teaching himself to play guitar.

writers Gigi AU-YEUNG

FS2009-10, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Gigi graduated with a B.Eng (Hon1) in Product Analysis with Engineering Design at PolyU. Thanks to the Fung Scholarship, she spent a semester at the Dublin Institute of Technology, Ireland, taking part in a life-changing exchange programme. She then spent four years in Singapore NTU and Israel Technion for her PhD in Biomaterials and Stem Cell Science, before returning to Hong Kong to join Vitargent Biotechnology as Innovation Director. With a great passion for Enviro-Pro and Social Innovation, Gigi founded her own Social Enterprise, Dundum Solutions, in 2015 (and shared her findings at the FS leadership conference in Singapore the same year). She is also a consultant and lecturer for various corporations and Higher Education institutes. Causes she cares about include Education, the Environment, Health, Science and Technology. She also enjoys singing, basketball, cultural exploration, lots of volunteering and having fun with fellow Fung Scholars! www.linkedin.com/in/gigictauyeung

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Laura BETTERIDGE

FS2016-17, University of Oxford Laura Betteridge is a third year History student studying at Oxford University. Her interests mainly focus on modern history in the 19th and 20th century and international relations and development. Her hobbies include rowing and hockey.Â

Hannah CALDWELL

FS2012-13, University of Oxford Hannah was awarded the Fung Scholarship in 2012 to teach English at YK Pau Primary School in Shanghai. She studied History and French at Oxford University and continues to pursue her love of languages studying Mandarin in her spare time.Â After graduating, she spent two years working in digital marketing before joining PwC as a Management Consultant. Following three years in London where she helped establish the London Fung Scholars Chapter, she has recently relocated to Melbourne and is keen to hear from Fung Scholars based in Australia.

Yang DING

FS2017-18, Peking University Yang was awarded a Fung Scholarship in 2017 for supporting her climate change studies at the University of Oxford. This experience has given her an opportunity to explore her interest in environmental issues. She is a master degree student at Peking University researching environmental geochemistry, focusing on the removal of heavy metal from polluted water. She is a volunteer in a NGO that mitigates climate change. In her free time, Yang enjoys playing the violin, doing Hip-hop, swimming, and jogging.

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Zoe LAU

FS2011-12, Hong Kong Baptist University Zoe was awarded a Fung Scholarship in 2011 for an exchange programme to KoĂ§ University in Istanbul, Turkey during her second year at University. She graduated as a Bachelor of Business Administration in Applied Economics. Before moving to Turkey, she worked in a media house organizing conferences for the Human Resources sector and now live in Ankara of Turkey.

Dorothy MAK

FS2008-09, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Dorothy was awarded a Fung Scholarship for her exchange study in The University of Auckland, New Zealand. After graduating from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Dorothy focused on the corporate communication field and worked in HSBC, IBM, as well as Wyeth Nutrition. She is currently a postgraduate student of social work at Monash University. She enjoys traveling, volunteering and learning more about social business.

Magdalena KOHUT

FS2015-16, University of Oxford Magdalena Kohut is a PhD student at the University of Auckland and an aspiring social entrepreneur. Together with Yaki Wo she is involved in the core team of Conscious Layers, a developing social enterprise aiming to provide meaningful experience of fashion and to reduce textile waste. In her PhD in Organic Synthetic Chemistry, she conducts research in the synthesis of natural products as well as development of new methodology. Before moving to Auckland, Magda conducted the experimental work for her Masterâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s project in the labs of GlaxoSmithKline, where she worked on methodology development, explored novel chemical space to further efforts towards a first-in-class therapy for an aggressive cancer cell line, and learnt about the drug discovery processes and the decision process taken to assess and develop promising candidates. Magda holds a Master of Chemistry degree from the University of Oxford.

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Cheuk Yue WAN

FS2017-18, Lingnan University Cherry was awarded the Fung Scholarship in 2017 and currently majors in Psychology. She loves making new friends to hear their stories. She also enjoys staying at home to write stories and record moments in time.

WANG Huimin

FS2016-17, Xiamen University Huimin is a final year English literature major student. Having received the Fung Scholarship in 2016, she came to Hong Kong University as an exchange student. Before that, she went to Tibet as a voluntary teacher in the summer of 2015. Besides literature, she is fond of running, swimming, and traveling. Joining the Fung Scholar Family prepares her to be a global citizen and future leader, and she is so glad to meet all of you!

Cassie Yu Shan WONG

FS2011-12, Hong Kong Baptist University Cassie holds an MA degree in Communication and a BSc degree from Hong Kong Baptist University with a minor in Translation. Thanks to the Fungâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Scholarship, she was able to study in Linfield College for a year and took a winter course at New York University during the same year. Combining her love for languages and technology, she is now working in the digital marketing sector as a Project Executive at SCMP Hearst Hong Kong Limited.

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Elinor WONG

FS2017-2018, Lingnan University Elinor will be an exchange student at University of Sterling in 2018. She is currently in her third year and is majoring in Translation. In her spare time, she like watching movies, reading, volunteering and travelling.

Yaki WO

FS2007-08, The Chinese University of Hong Kong Yaki Wo is an aspiring social entrepreneur and the Asia Lead of Architecture 2030. Also a Fung Scholar in 2007-2008, she is building a social entrepreneurial startup in New Zealand with the aim of slashing textile waste through transformational fashion experiences. With Architecture 2030, her role includes developing and executing the China and Asia-Pacific Strategy to decarbonise the built environment, setting up the organisation’s operations in Asia, aligning the Asia programme with its broader global strategy and building partnerships with the private sector, government and other NGOs. Before joining Architecture 2030 Yaki was a professional programme manager at CIFF’s climate team and had managed multi-million, multi-year global climate change mitigation programmes in sustainable cities, air quality, coal consumption control, among others. While at Chinadialogue, Yaki contributed to a policy brief on EU environmental SMEs in China. She had also interned at carbon finance consultancy IDEAcarbon, conducting research on Chinese emissions trading developments. In Hong Kong, Yaki worked for Amnesty International, the South China Morning Post and as researcher and translator for “Going Green in Hong Kong”. Yaki holds a BSSc in Journalism and Communication from the Chinese University of Hong Kong and completed her MSc Environment and Development at the London School of Economics, fully funded by the FCO’s Chevening Scholarship.

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Carolyn WU

FS2016-17, Harvard University Carolyn was awarded a Fung Scholarship in 2016. She received the scholarship for her study in Harvard Kennedy School where she is the candidate for Master in Public Administration and International Development. Before studying in Harvard, she worked for the Boston Consulting Group for three years. She is interested in the intersection of public and private sectors after the degree.

Chuqi YAN

FS2014-15, Shanghai Jiao Tong University Chuqi was awarded the Fung Scholarship in 2014. After studying Public Administration in SJTU, she went on a semester exchange to the University of Hong Kong. After graduation, she studied the Master of Public Administration program at Cornell University, and now works as an intern at the United Nations Development Programme in Beijing.

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