By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

From October 21-25, Hong Kong hosted its 2024 StartmeupHK Festival in efforts to boost local investment and interest in the city’s start-up ecosystem. With such government-led initiatives and local leaders’ praise for the city’s supportive environment, one may have the impression that Hong Kong is doing everything it can to support start-up businesses and their founders.

However, three experienced founders believe otherwise.

Coinciding with the 2024 StartmeupHK Festival, the FCC held a Club Lunch panel with three founders with decades of experience — Jordan Kostelac, founder of Deploy; Arthur Lam, founder and CEO of Zero2; and Ryan Manuel, founder and CEO of Bilby.ai.

All three panellists shared their views on how Hong Kong is performing as a start-up hub and how the city can change its strategy and mindset to better aid in-need founders.

Lam first pointed out that a few decades ago, Hong Kong had virtually no competition when it came to start-up markets. Now, the city is in fierce competition with cities such as Shenzhen and Singapore and increasingly, other major cities across Asia.

“That is the problem — we didn’t have to compete with anyone else 20 years ago. Obviously now, we cannot have the same mindset,” Lam said.

Coinciding with Lam’s views were that of Kostelac, who also believed that Hong Kong should expand its interests and variety of start-ups in order to create a more supportive environment.

“This market, Hong Kong, as a capital market, urgently needs to diversify and needs to be capital allocated. That’s the only identity that makes sense. Building close to Shenzhen and hoping we become the center of tech doesn’t work,” Kostelac said.

Manuel also commented on Hong Kong’s overall desire to be the centre of multiple initiatives, not just start-up companies. In his opinion, he feels that the city should focus on key industries versus trying to be the best at everything.

“How do we make something the best in the world? Pick something and just go for it,” Manuel said.

The trio also discussed the complications in how founders acquire funding for their start-ups, local start-up hubs like Cyberport and Science Park, and how to discern serious start-up founders and investors from superficial opportunists.

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

Pokémon GO, the smartphone game based on the beloved animated series that also features collectible trading cards and videogames, was launched globally in 2016. Unlike any other game before it, Pokémon GO forced players to get outside and search for their favourite characters in real time while the distance they covered helped hatch the Pokémon eggs collected on their journeys.

One similarity between old Pokémon games and the new Pokémon GO was that players could also battle against each other both casually and competitively. Similar to other esports championships, contestants in the World Championship must qualify through regional tournaments or receive invitations or exemptions from qualifiers. Ultimately, 200 out of over 15,000 qualified Legend elite players from a pool of 24 million global players compete in the annual World Championships.

This past August, Hong Kong finally came in first place at the World Championship event in Honolulu, Hawaii. The winner was Cheng Yip-kai, a 16-year-old secondary school student who began playing when the app first launched but didn’t dream of becoming a champion until just two years ago.

To learn more about how Cheng became the best like no one ever was, the FCC held a Club Lunch panel with the young champion, as well as Samuel Chueng, the manager of Hong Kong’s Pokémon GO team. Moderating the discussion was Journalist Board Governor Joe Pan.

“Pokémon GO battles are like a game of speed chess. You have to make a decision every half-second,” Cheng said.

On the Verandah screen behind him, Cheng played a clip from his championship-winning game. He pinpointed the exact moment when he calculated a decisive move just 4 seconds before defeating his opponent and becoming this year’s champion.

It was a moment of redemption for Cheng, who had also competed at the 2023 World Championships but lost at the first round of the tournament.

Last year’s defeat didn’t faze him, though. Instead of feeling upset, he took the experience as a learning opportunity and continued practicing with the World Championships’ “show 6, pick 3” format which requires players to initially choose 6 Pokémon, examine their opponent’s 6 Pokémon, and then choose a final 3 to officially battle with. Cheng mastered this playing style over a year full of matches in regional Pokémon GO tournaments.

As Cheng won more matches, his skills and his online fanbase grew, and he quickly climbed higher and higher on the Pokémon GO global ranking system.

“I saw the global ranking system as a way to train my basic skills. I tried to make zero mistakes. I made a lot of mistakes in Japan last year, so I knew I had to perfect my skills to increase my chances of winning,” Cheng said.

While it may seem like Cheng was able to pull off his World Championship win on his own, in reality he had — and needed — a lot of support, primarily from his manager Sam Cheung.

Cheung, a full-time tutor, spoke at length about the financial hardships that anyone must endure in order to not only qualify for the Pokémon GO World Championships, but also to afford the travel expenses required to attend these competitions. He recalled a previous year where  several Hong Kong players qualified for the competition but forfeited their opportunity because they were unable to purchase plane tickets and hotel stays.

“I knew I couldn’t let that happen to Yip-kai and Team Hong Kong,” he said.

Cheung admitted that he worked 7-day work weeks in order to help cover some of the expenses, but that it still wouldn’t be enough. He tried to network as much as possible to hopefully find a sponsor, but most people weren’t convinced and said they needed hard proof that Cheung’s team would win. It wasn’t until Dr. Lai Ching-lung, a 75-year-old liver expert who is also a fan of the mobile game, donated HK$10,000 for the team travel costs.

“It’s not much, but I hope it helps,” Dr. Lai told Team Hong Kong.

Cheng also had a lot of support from his teammates who cheered for him all throughout the World Championship event. In his final match, the champion admitted that his opponent had a stronger set of Pokémon, but the support from his friends made a big impact on his performance.

“He might have had a stronger team of Pokémon, but I had a stronger team of people. This is where Team Hong Kong really made a difference,” Cheng concluded.

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

The World Economic Forum estimates that around 10-20% of the world’s population is neurodivergent, and yet nearly 85% of these individuals are unemployed. People who aren’t neurodivergent (often described as neurotypical) have an unemployment rate of only 4.2%.

But what exactly does neurodiversity mean? How are neurodivergent people different from everyone else? Also, what can companies and organisations do to help accommodate neurodivergent people in the workplace?

To answer these questions, the FCC held a Club Lunch panel that featured three professionals who were diagnosed with neurodivergent conditions as adults — Jonathan Mok, a neurodiversity advocate and public speaker; Noelle Sinclair, the CEO of Diverse Minds; and Khoa Tran, a freelance writer and journalist. Moderating the panel was Correspondent Board Governor Jennifer Jett.

Each panellist first offered their own definition of what it means to be neurodivergent.

“It’s more than what’s just going on in our heads, it’s about how we’re experiencing the world around us,” said Sinclair, who was diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and later attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) when she was 40 years old.

“Neurodiversity is more about one’s identity,” Mok said. He was also diagnosed with ADHD and ASD when he was 37 years old.

“It’s not just learning disabilities, it’s not just quirks… it’s broader and broader,” said Tran, who was diagnosed just two years ago with ADHD.

Tran also described his first time taking Ritalin, a prescription drug used to treat ADHD symptoms.

“Oh, this is what it feels like to be normal, to have a quiet mind. It’s almost like an awakening,” he said, adding that the experience of feeling “normal” left him with tears in his eyes.

Along with ASD and ADHD, neurodiversity also includes dyslexia, Down syndrome, bipolar disorder, and a variety of other conditions. While each of these conditions has its own set of characteristics, Sinclair added that the umbrella term “neurodiversity” was created in the same sense that the term “biodiversity” was created, as a social movement term to highlight how an ecosystem thrives on diversity.

“The point was to drive awareness that those of us who are neurodivergent face biases, discrimination, stigma, and if the world were in some people’s hands, people like myself and Jonathan and Khoa would be taken out of existence,” she said.

The panel then discussed how Hong Kong’s corporate world has evolved to be more accepting and inclusive of neurodivergent people. While positive changes have been made, like including non-discrimination statements at the end of job ads on LinkedIn, the panel agreed that there is still room for improvement.

“We need to create a new affirmative environment for people,” Mok said when describing how neurodiversity information needs to be localised for a population that primarily speaks Cantonese and may be unfamiliar with these emerging concepts.

Mok also said that by focusing on university students, Hong Kong’s current efforts may be unintentionally excluding people like him and the two other panellists who were diagnosed later in life and may already have quite a bit of work experience.

On top of hiring practices and workplace accommodations, Sinclair also gave a business perspective. She reminded the audience that neurodivergent people are also potential clients and customers who all run a chance of interacting with nearly any type of business.

“If you are providing a service and your business isn’t taking into consideration people who are neurodivergent, you are losing customers,” she said.

To watch the full discussion, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

In October 2020, roughly a month before Donald Trump was elected out of office in favour of Joe Biden, Raymond Yeung published his book China’s Trump Card: Cryptocurrency and its Game-Changing Role in Sino-US Trade (2020). In it, he outlines the role of digital currency in geopolitical affairs, especially when it comes to the relationship between China and the United States.

“When I wrote this book, I was just testing my ideas, but now the last four years [are] clearly telling you this is actually happening,” Yeung said while also admitting that back then, his ideas didn’t sell well.

He even joked that China’s Trump Card made it to the New York Times’ “Worst Sellers” list and that his publisher refused to print any more copies.

Yeung made these remarks while sitting next to Professional Committee Member Andrew Chan at an FCC Club Lunch in October — roughly a month before Donald Trump was re-elected to serve as the 47th President of the United States.

As the Chief Economist for Greater China at ANZ, Yeung shared an overview of the world’s trade issues, as well as cryptocurrency dynamics and what he thinks will help fundamentally different governments navigate through economic tension.

“Openness is the key word,” Yeung said when describing how blockchain has been used in attempts to mitigate some of these issues.

However, Yeung finds that blockchain’s impact is small and can’t be used as a blanket-solution to worldwide problems. Instead, Yeung suggested that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) create a neutral cryptocurrency that can be used by every country across the world. The appeal of this move is so that transactions are decentralised and not limited by banking restrictions.

“The best way to address trade imbalance is [by] establishing a global-first, apolitical, very neutral global currency. [This] is the only way to solve the global impact,” Yeung explained.

Yeung also used the talk to break down some of the terms he created in writing China’s Trump Card, particularly the phrase “factory-dollar recycling”.

With the concept of the US Dollar (USD) being a direct exchange for oil from Saudi Arabia, Yeung uses factory-dollar recycling to describe the relationship between USD and the Chinese Yuan, or Renminbi (RMB). In the same way that the value of USD is directly linked to oil, Yeung explained that this is exactly how China uses RMB in exchange for USD.

This explanation prompted moderator Andrew Chan to ask whether or not oil would one day be substituted by different valuable resources.

Yeung agreed that we now live in a world with a “multi-polar system” and maintained that if this becomes the case, a blockchain solution can help retain trust in a new, global financial environment.

To watch the full discussion between Raymond Yeung and Andrew Chan, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

“We feel like history is repeating itself.”

Michael Bociurkiw, a Canadian of Ukrainian heritage, finds that the current conflict between Ukraine and Russia was foreshadowed by scenes from his childhood, when tensions between the two sides were already strong.

“I never learned how to play hockey, I was too busy being Ukrainian… it meant protesting in front of the Russian embassy, saying ‘KGB — Set Them Free’ or ‘Free Ukrainian Prisoners of Conscience,’” he explained.

Bociurkiw, a journalist-turned-global-affairs-analyst who has been based in Ukraine since before the Russian invasion in February 2022, first went to Ukraine more than 30 years ago as a reporter for The South China Morning Post.

In a discussion at an October 3 FCC Club Lunch with Correspondent Board Governor Jennifer Jett, he explained what he thinks may happen with the coming U.S. election and Russia’s inability to accept Ukraine as an independent nation.

With the conflict approaching the end of its third year, neither Russia nor Ukraine appears willing to negotiate. But Ukraine’s ability to continue resisting Russia’s aggression depends on continued support from its allies, particularly the U.S.

At the United Nations General Assembly in New York in September, which Bociurkiw attended, world leaders were unenthused about Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s “victory plan.” Zelenskyy also sought U.S. approval to send long-range missiles deep into Russian territory, which he says will be a game-changer in the war.

Bociurkiw echoed skepticism from U.S. officials as to how much difference those long-range weapons would make.

“It’s not enough to push the Russians back completely,” he said.

Russia also shows no signs of giving up after already taking over parts of Donetsk, Kharkiv and other Ukrainian regions. Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow will make “no concessions” to end the war.

Since Bociurkiw’s event at the FCC, there have been reports of North Korean troops training alongside Russian soldiers for possible deployment in Ukraine, signaling the lengths that Putin is willing to go to in order to win.

“I could see this war keeping on until Putin dies, whenever that happens,” Bociurkiw said.

To watch the full discussion, please visit our YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

Counsellor Huang Jingrui is the spokesman of the Commissioner’s Office of China’s Foreign Ministry in Hong Kong. Despite being posted in the city since September 2022, he has only given closed door, off-the-record talks to other diplomats and journalists.

That finally changed this September — two years after the spokesman arrived in Hong Kong.

For his first-ever public address, Counsellor Huang spoke at an FCC Club Lunch alongside Correspondent Board Governor William Zheng, an expert on mainland politics who works for SCMP as a Senior China Correspondent.

While Counsellor Huang began his talk by outlining China’s Third Plenum that took place in July and how it will affect Hong Kong, he also addressed the international community’s concerns about declining freedoms in the city.

“China and Hong Kong’s reputation has been smeared over the years, and actually the media is part of it. Media itself has become a problem, especially Western media,” he said.

When it comes to Western media’s coverage of Hong Kong, Counsellor Huang finds that they mainly focus on national security news, such as the enactment of Article 23 of the Basic Law or the enforcement of the Beijing-imposed National Security Law. Counsellor Huang believes that Western media should be more balanced in order to provide people living in other regions a more accurate depiction of what’s happening in Hong Kong.

He also commented on measures taken under President Joe Biden’s administration that have established a quota on the number of Chinese journalists that are allowed to live and work in the United States, which has resulted in some Chinese journalists being forced to return to the mainland. China swiftly created its own quotas for American journalists which resulted in a similar exodus.

Despite these “tit-for-tat” moves, Counsellor Huang emphasised that journalists on both sides are key in developing mutual understanding.

“We hope that there will be more journalists — American journalists in China and Chinese journalists in America — to promote a better understanding between the two countries,” he said.

When asked whether or not Hong Kong still guarantees free expression for both regular citizens and media, Counsellor Huang reminded the audience that while enjoying the “Two Systems”, they should also keep the “One Country” part in mind. Everyone can enjoy freedoms — as long as certain “red lines” concerning “one country” aren’t crossed, he said.

“Don’t just look at the Two Systems,” he began. “We still have to be One Country, and there is always a red line. You can’t overthrow the government. You can’t advocate independence. There’s always a red line. Apart from that, you have all the freedom.”

Counsellor Huang was also asked about the recent cases of journalists being denied entry into Hong Kong. While unable to comment on individual cases, he did maintain the opinion that Hong Kong is a key location for international media, but that everyone has to operate in accordance with the law.

“Everybody’s freedom is limited, and it has to be within the framework of the law. Nobody’s above the law, even if you are the media,” he said.

Before finishing his talk, Counsellor Huang also shared his personal thoughts on what the job of local and international journalists should be.

“It is your job to facilitate understanding — not to facilitate misunderstanding and even driving paranoia, to [a] new McCarthyism. That’s not your job. Your job is to tell the truth, facilitate understanding between countries and people,” he concluded.

To watch the full discussion between Counsellor Huang and William Zheng, please visit the FCC’s YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

On June 6th, 1944, nearly 160,000 Allied forces conducted history’s largest-ever seaborne invasion on the beaches of Nazi-occupied Normandy. The invasion, often referred to as D-Day, was a decisive operation that ultimately led to the liberation of France and Western Europe, as well as the end of the Second World War.

Participating in D-Day were a league of Allied nations, including the United States, Great Britain, Canada, Australia, Norway, and many others.

In the 80 years since then, every fact and detail about D-Day was thought to have already been covered in newspapers, books, movies, television shows, and other media.

Until now.

A groundbreaking exhibit by two Hong Kong historians reveals the role that China also played in D-Day — a little-known piece of history that adds a new layer of meaning to the international cooperation in World War II and Hong Kong’s relevance to the rest of the world.

“The shadows of Hong Kong always loom in some random corners of world history,” said John Mak, one of the two lead curators of the exhibit Lost and Found in Hong Kong: The Unsung Chinese Heroes at D-Day.

Mak, along with his fellow curator Angus Hui, spoke about the exhibit at an FCC Club Lunch alongside Correspondent Board Governor Jennifer Jett. Their exhibit was held right next door at the Fringe Club before being transferred to the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

The exhibit began with a surprise discovery in 2015. A decaying apartment building in Sai Ying Pun was scheduled to be demolished, which interested a local photographer who had an eye for ruins and abandoned properties.

While exploring the building, he noticed a door left ajar on the ninth floor. Inside were left-behind items from China’s Republican era. He took photos of these items and posted them on social media. Soon after his photos circulated online, a group of historians visited the building to collect and preserve the items, which were then featured in an SCMP article that December.

Hui, the second curator of the exhibit, was blown away by the SCMP article and its protagonist, Lam Ping-yu, whose diary from 1944 is the only known primary source regarding Chinese participation in D-Day Written on its pages is his firsthand account of being one of 24 Chinese naval officers who were selected for months of special training in the UK.

Their first mission: D-Day.

Hui was majoring in Chinese history and culture at the University of Hong Kong at the time the article was published. He bookmarked it, and in 2017 he circled back to the article and obtained the rights to digitise Lam’s diary. From there, he continued researching Lam’s story and eventually began collaborating with Mak during and after the pandemic.

The duo traveled across Asia and Europe to find more information about the 24 Chinese naval officers — where they came from, why they joined the Chinese navy, how they were selected to go abroad for additional training, their roles in D-Day, and what they did after World War II was over.

Lam was born in Java, Indonesia, in 1911, but wanted to return to his motherland to serve in the navy.

During the Japanese invasion of Manchuria, Lam was dismayed by his country’s decision to prioritise other military operations, so he formally requested permission from Kuomintang leader Chiang Kai-shek to train abroad. His request was denied.

It wasn’t until 1941, when Japan attacked Pearl Harbor and the United States became directly involved in World War II, that Chiang revisited the idea of sending his naval officers abroad in an effort to rebuild and strengthen China’s navy.

While 50 Chinese naval officers were sent to the United States, Lam and 23 other officers were sent to the UK’s Royal Naval College to study English as well as gunnery and artillery skills and British naval traditions.

After their training, Lam was stationed on the HMS Ramillies during the Normandy landings on D-Day. He described horrific battle scenes — artillery attacks and Norwegian destroyers being sunk by German torpedoes — that contrasted with more relaxed moments of warm meals and afternoon tea.

D-Day was a success, and Lam continued to participate in the liberation of southern France during Operation Dragoon in August 1944. Germany surrendered the following May, and the 24 Chinese naval officers received orders to return to China to assist in the ongoing war against Japan.

By the time they arrived, however, the US had dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading Japan to formally surrender in September 1945. Lam was reassigned elsewhere, but not before making a stop in Hong Kong to aid in the city’s post-war recovery.

With China embroiled in civil war, Lam and his fellow naval officers then had to decide whether to continue serving under Chiang or join the communist forces of Mao Zedong. Lam was the only one of the 24 British-trained officers who chose neither side, instead establishing residency in Hong Kong before moving to Brazil where he married a woman from Japan and had two children. All his wartime belongings, including his diary, were left in his apartment as it passed to other relatives, remaining there until they were discovered in 2015.

Lam’s story is not just about D-Day, Mak and Hui say, but about the large and small ways in which Hong Kong has always figured in global affairs.

“At a time when there has been a lot of doubt and self-doubt about Hong Kong’s international relevance,” Mak said, “let this be a reminder that as far as 80 years ago, Hong Kong has had a role to play in international history and international events.”

Lam eventually left Brazil for the US at 86 years old, and Mak and Hui are still investigating what happened to him next. They speculate that since his wartime belongings were left behind in Hong Kong, his family may be completely unaware of his legacy. Still, Mak and Hui are confident that as long as they continue sharing their discoveries across Asia and Europe, Lam’s story might reach his descendants — all the way from Hong Kong.

Like Mak, Hui says Lam’s story exemplifies Hong Kong’s historical relevance in the modern world.

“We believe that Hong Kong is a place full of historical and cultural heritage. Just explore it. Keep curious, and then we can always find other extraordinary stories like Mr. Lam’s,” he said.

The exhibit for Lost and Found: The Unsung Chinese Heroes at D-Day is still available for viewing at University Library, The Chinese University of Hong Kong from now until Dec. 25, 2024. Visitors are welcome from 11am to 5pm.

To learn more about Lam Ping-yu’s life, watch the full discussion on our YouTube channel:

By Hugo Novales, FCC In-House Journalist

This past May, the Hong Kong SAR government announced that the Municipal Solid Waste Charging Scheme that was set to roll out in April would be indefinitely postponed. This comes after nearly two decades of discussions while other major cities across Asia, like Singapore and Tokyo, were able to solve their own waste and recycling issues.

Hong Kong generates 5.97-6.6 million tons of solid waste per year, yet only about 30-35% of it is recycled. The remaining amount of unrecycled waste is enough to fill over 1,000 of the city’s double-decker buses.

So what’s next? With no clear solution from the government in sight, the FCC organised a panel of three waste management pioneers who gave their opinions on how the private sector could step up and address Hong Kong’s trash dilemma. Moderating the discussion was FCC Journalist Governor Joe Pan, who first introduced Edwin Lau to share his views and criticisms of the city’s waste management efforts.

“A lot of our waste did not end up in our landfills. That is the issue. [It] ended up in our nature — our beaches [and] countryside,” Lau said.

Lau is the Founder and Executive Director of The Green Earth, and played a key role in advising the government as they developed the Waste Charging Scheme. With the government postponing the plan indefinitely for the Scheme earlier this year, Lau had become even more critical of the government’s lack of effort. He continued to point out the statistics that showed how the city is underperforming when compared to the rest of Asia.

“You can see our waste problem, our achievement in waste reduction is really, really poor,” he said.

Eric Swinton, the Founder of V Cycle, then spoke from the standpoint of a private entrepreneur who has become dedicated to Hong Kong’s sustainability.

Swinton explained that the V in V Cycle stands for “virtuous” and then cited how his organisation aids both the city’s recycling struggles, as well as the elderly population.

“We, as a social enterprise, have a social mission: to look after the underprivileged people in Hong Kong, especially the ‘cardboard elderly’,” he said.

The “cardboard elderly” he referred to are the 65 to 85-year-old collectors who roam the streets for hours, break down and fold up boxes, and exchange their findings for around HK$25-50 a day. Swinton’s research indicates that there are approximately 3,000 cardboard elderly in Hong Kong. His aim with V Cycle is to help make their lives better.

By hiring the cardboard elderly, Swinton has created a much healthier and dignified job for them with sorting out waste that will be recycled at his factory in Tuen Mun. His staff receive free lunch, tea breaks, and an hourly pay that’s well above minimum wage. Swinton then shared a specific example of his employee Mr. Lee who previously collected cardboard boxes with his wife.

In his former work, Mr. Lee hurt himself and was hospitalised in order to receive an injection treatment, which wound up permanently injuring his back. But since he started working at V Cycle over a year ago, his health has rapidly improved and he can now stand up straight — and earn much more money to support himself and his wife.

Understanding the inflow and outflow of Hong Kong’s waste is also a key feature of Dorothy Lam’s research and efforts in local sustainability.

She refers to it as the “digestive system” and finds that Hong Kong has never examined its own resource allocation for waste management to pinpoint areas where efficiency and cost-effective strategies can be implemented. Other cities have done this, and if Hong Kong were to complete this study, Lam explains that this will help the city create regional partners as it combats waste buildup.

“I think for the ‘digestive system’, maybe we shouldn’t stop in Hong Kong [and] actually look at where the streams are going when [waste] is exported, and look at the market opportunities in those economies,” she said.

Being able to find a regionally-involved solution to the city’s recycling issues creates what Lam described as a “circular economy” where all involved parties are able to benefit — which will ultimately bring Hong Kong up to the same waste management efficiency as its Asian counterparts.

While the panel agreed that regional cooperation would make a significant impact in Hong Kong’s environmental efforts, Lau maintained that the city needed to vastly improve its own strategy in order to align with other places across Asia — and the rest of the world.

“Let’s take bigger and bolder steps together to let Hong Kong really move on the sustainable path to show that Hong Kong is an international city. On [an] environmental side, we should also be on par with other major cities on environmental issues,” Lau concluded.

To watch the full discussion, please visit our YouTube channel: