Prize Presentation of the ‘Social Innovation - Community 4.0 Competition’ organised by the Hong Kong Council of Social Service

Getting the award for Recognition of Outstanding Performance

Presentation of the prototype

Presenting the idea of the prototype to the judges from the Hong Kong Science Park

Chinese Version

Date︰9 October 2020

Participants: HSIEH Yuk (S5C), LAM Po Ching (S5C), YIU Nam (S5D), LAI Hin Ting (S5D), MAI Ka Ho (S5D) and WONG Chi Yik (S5D)

Award: Outstanding Performance

(Photo Album Link)

(Writen by YIU Nam (S5D))

In the eyes of a Hong Kong student, the city is an international metropolis, prosperous and affluent. But he or she might have overlooked the prolonged social and economic problems that are affecting the people in the city each and every minute. The time finally arrived for a group of QES students to move beyond simply learning in the classroom and into the real world. We, as participants of the "Social Innovation - Community 4.0 Competition”, took on the challenge to experience a few of the problems ourselves and rediscover what really is happening to our community.

The very first stage of the project involved identifying the underlying issues. During one of our field visits, we stood from the balcony of a shopping mall and had a bird's eye view of Kowloon City. Never had we thought about the importance of developing an understanding of the community’s needs. We spotted double-berthed vehicles on a narrow road, and wandered through dingy, litter-filled and foul-smelling back alleys. During that time, we also heard the neighbours’ persistent pleas for their lives to be improved.

After that, we devoted ourselves to the development of problem-solving programs. Making a prototype plan was entirely different to taking an exam when candidates could simply memorise and apply the revised content indiscriminately in writing on their answer sheets. Instead, it required us to discuss and review repeatedly so as to come up with solutions based on the root causes of problems. Simultaneously, the solutions needed to be feasible, cost-effective and most importantly, pose minimal side effects on the neighbouring residents. Despite a number of debacles confronted along the way, we managed to find solutions to our problems. Having revised our prototype after several meaningful discussions, we completed the preparatory stages then shared the prototype with residents of the targeted district.

Needless to say, our hard work paid off. We received constructive feedback from the residents that would help us improve our prototype. By working specifically with a target residential group and listening attentively to their opinions, we realised that they would be the ones to benefit most from our prototype.

The "Social Innovation - Community 4.0" competition is clearly not just a competition; it gives participating students an opportunity to apply a range of academic skills in the real world, and to find innovative ways to serve their local community.