Dear participants
Welcome to Hong Kong!
Most conferences trap people indoors for hours and days. The city outside the venue is nothing but blurred background and not the wider context and inspiration on which discussions could draw. As your host of the World Creativity Summit, I would like to share with you “my” Hong Kong.
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong’s reunification. Our cityscape looks quite different from 10 years ago. We have a new airport, more bridges and highways but our Victoria Harbour has become narrower, our sky is less blue, and our collective memory and history are slowly being wiped out. Urban renewal schemes have uprooted communities. Old buildings gave way to skyscrapers of all types. And we no longer feel the wind blow and can only see a small patch of sky through our windows.
We have undergone education reform but students are still obsessed by examinations and arts education is sidelined and misunderstood. Our government now invests HK$50 billion in education each year. We have more university graduates but we have fewer births. Hong Kong’s birth rate in recent years is one of the lowest in the world. We pay lip service to sustainable development. Each of us produces around 2.5kg of waste every day – more than the average US person.The Gini coefficient in Hong Kong is over 0.5 and fighting poverty and empowering poor families are imminent issues.
Against such background, Hong Kong’s civil society has risen and matured. Hong Kongers who used to see this island as a transient platform are now proud to call Hong Kong their home, and dare to be vocal and committed in local affairs. They are also willing to be creative and tolerant in tackling and solving problems.
So there is definitely more to Hong Kong than shopping and eating. Our city’s contradictions and problems are nothing more than the key questions and challenges of the 21st century to which you as participants of the World Creativity Summit are ready to address and respond. The Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture is proud to be the partner of the World Creativity Summit. I look forward to our dialogues and to your insights and support which may also propel Hong Kong to implement a paradigm appropriate for the 21st century.
Ada WONG
Chair, Hong Kong Institute of Contemporary Culture
大家好！
許多會議把參加者日夜困在會議室內，會議所在地的城市只是模糊的背幕而不是討論的背景和靈感的泉源。作為今次的東道主，我願與大家分享我眼中的香港。
今年是香港回歸十週年。過去十年，我們的城市景觀有很大的變化，有新機場、新橋樑和更多的道路，可是我們的維港變得狹窄了，天空不再藍，集體記憶也被逐步抹掉。市區重建計劃把社區連根拔起，老房子變成摩天大廈。我們已感覺不了風在吹，打開窗戶只見到一小塊的天空。
我們經歷了教育改革，但學生仍沉迷於考試，藝術教育被邊緣化和誤解。政府就教育每年投資五百億，我們多了大學畢業生， 但是卻少了嬰孩。香港的生育率愈來愈低。我們對可持續發展光講不做，反而每人每天製造二公斤半的垃圾。香港的貧富懸殊也日益嚴重，堅尼系數再創新高，扶貧和為貧窮家庭增權是迫切的議題。
在這樣的環境下， 香港的公民社會壯大了。 香港人一向視這小島為過渡平台，如今多了歸屬感，視香港為家，敢於發聲，勇於承擔，願意用創意和包容解決問題。
香港不只是購物和吃喝玩樂的地方。這個城市的問題其實都是世界創意高峰會銳意回應的廿一世紀關鍵問題和挑戰。我期待著聆聽你們的觀點，與你們交流和對話，你們的支持，或可推動香港邁向適合21世紀的範式。
黃英琦
香港當代文化中心主席
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