SHC hosts the ‘Salon Shun Hing: Let’s Talk HK’
by Crystal Chan and Bokyeong Kim, SHC Media Team
photos by Oliver Law, SHC Media Team.

Hong Kong is in a period of struggle, but its creativity and innovation will allow the city to flourish once more.
This was the main message from the three speakers, Mr. Zoher Abdoolcarim, Miss Alice Mong, and Dr. Charleston Sin, on Wednesday, 23 October, during the first Salon Shun Hing for the year, with the theme “Let’s Talk HK.”
Salon Shun Hing is a gathering that provides space to discuss ideas, issues, and insights about Hong Kong and other critical issues.
Mr. Alejandro Reyes, Associate Professor and Director of Knowledge Dissemination, Asia Global Institute at HKU and Shun Hing College Senior Residential Fellow, moderated the discussion.

A veteran journalist and former senior editor for Asia at Time magazine, Mr. Abdoolcarim traced the city’s developments from the colonial days to contemporary times. His lineage can be traced with his grandparents settling in Hong Kong since the 1800s, making him “the most Hong Kong in the room.”
In the past decades, Hong Kong was complacent in being a centre of real estate and finance, the city today faces hurdles that seem to be insurmountable. He suggested that the city’s adaptability in broadening the structure of the economy through research and technology, science, start-up and creative industry could be a start.
“Hong Kong has never been on a linear trajectory in her history, [but] she always endures security and insecurity,” Mr. Abdoolcarim said.

Miss Mong shared her thoughts on the city’s arts and culture from her experience as a Chinese American migrant. She saw herself as one of the many who sought to connect Asia to the world, and connect Asia to Asia herself.
As the Executive Director of the Asia Society Hong Kong Center, Miss Mong found herself connecting people from all over the world in this cosmopolitan — one that bridges the East and the West, through the works of Asia Society of Hong Kong. She pointed out how the West Kowloon cultural district might just be the springboard for the city’s creative industry by connecting people and culture from different parts of the world.
Ms. Mong observed that the city might have outlived the olden, glory days of “Hong Kong culture” (such as the film industry), yet out of the many challenges, creativity and optimism is bred — as one can see in the streets today.

Dr. Charleston Sin, the Executive Director of MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node, suggested how the internet is a significant force to be reckoned with in the near future.
The Greater Bay Area, with its size of 18 million people, is an ideal opportunity that one should not let slip between our fingers and into thin air. He said that Hong Kong has a unique position — because of the people, of the regulatory framework and of the opportunity, but most importantly the free flow of data.
The three speakers expressed confidence that, with the future generation of talents, Hong Kong will continue to play an essential role in linking different parts of the globe and mapping out its future with optimism.
Mr. Abdoolcarim quoted the Dalai Lama: “It does not mean being blind to the actual reality of the situation, but to remain positive in finding a solution to any given problems and recognize that any given situation has both the positive and negative dimension.”
