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Five gifted sixth-form secondary school students from the United Kingdom were given a formal send-off to study at Hong Kong university summer schools at the UK House of Lords on June 13 (London time), having won a competition organised by the Hong Kong Economic and Trade Office, London (London ETO).
The five winners will be sponsored to study at one of the summer courses at a Hong Kong university to experience a taste of the city's world-class university life, as well as Hong Kong's cosmopolitan lifestyle and unique culture.
With a theme "Hong Kong: A Smart City in the World!", the competition invited students to come up with a proposed project for Hong Kong to further integrate technology to improve the quality of life of its people by drawing reference from the UK example. Entries received were in many different forms including essays, websites, Instagram pages, blogs and YouTube videos, and were judged based on content, creativity and presentation skills.
At a prize presentation ceremony for the winning students at the House of Lords on June 13, the Director-General of London ETO, Ms Priscilla To, said she was impressed by the quality of all the entries to this year's competition, which demonstrated immense creativity. Ms To said: "Hong Kong and the UK have close and strong ties. And this competition was designed to further deepen our relationship with the UK in education, youth and cultural exchange."
At the same event, one of the judges, Lord Wei of Shoreditch, who is also the Chair of Hong Kong Sub-Committee of All Party Parliamentary China Group, said, "I am delighted to be part of this great initiative by the Hong Kong Government and to be working closely with their representatives in London. Hong Kong, like London, is one of the world's centres for commerce, trade and culture, and this initiative allows for our youth to exchange ideas and learn from one another about their cities and practices. I hope this initiative continues for years to come."
Through the competition, UK students are encouraged to pursue their higher education studies or other exchange programmes in Hong Kong in the future. Hong Kong's tertiary institutions are recognised as leaders on various international league tables. Four universities in Hong Kong were ranked among the top 60 in the world by the QS World University Rankings 2015/16.
The competition, now in its fifth year, is organised by London ETO. Cathay Pacific Airways is the sponsor which provides free return air tickets for the winning students. The event is also supported by the British Council, the Hong Kong Society, as well as three universities in Hong Kong.
The panel of judges comprised Chair of Hong Kong Sub-Committee of All Party Parliamentary China Group, Lord Wei; Director-General of London ETO, Ms Priscilla To; Chairperson, Hong Kong Society, Karen Luard; Accident & Emergency Preparedness Manager, Cathay Pacific Airways, Keri Jones; and Deputy Regional Director UK, British Council, Lena Milosevic.
The five winning entrants came from all around the UK. They are:
Alexander White
Highlands School, Enfield
His entry is a website, which can be found at:
www.hksmartcity.wordpress.com
He will study at the Chinese University of Hong Kong this summer.
Aliya Beck
Chelsea Academy, London
Her entry is a blog, which can be found at: www.aliyasmartcityproposal.tumblr.com
She will study at the University of Hong Kong this summer.
Andrew Pilkington
Wirral Grammar School for Boys, Birkenhead
His entry is a blog, which can be found at: www.andrewpilkington.wordpress.com/
He will study at the University of Hong Kong this summer.
Lakshmi Amulya Sannapureddy
Kendrick School, Reading
Her entry is an Instagram page and video which can be found at: www.instagram.com/hongkong_asmartcity/
and: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_m-vqII1X6g
She will join the summer course at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Nizam Miah
Bow School, London
His entry is a video, which can be viewed at:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyhEfkRMDDU
He will take part in a summer school at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Ends/Wednesday, June 15, 2016
Issued at HKT 00:45
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