Hong Kong Young Writers Anthologies Winners 2020 | Page 28

Winning Entries
universities are ranked in the world’s top 50 in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University
Rankings 2020, namely the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong University of Science
and Technology and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The research findings and
the intellectual capital will then be cross-pollinated to other cities in the region: CUHK
(Shenzhen) was established as a joint venture by the Chinese University of Hong Kong and
Shenzhen University in 2014, and HKUST is eagerly preparing for its new Guangzhou
campus’ inauguration.
Such a process is also exemplified in other veins of the education sector, which have seen
massive development in the past few decades. For instance, most cities in the Bay Area have
allowed Hong Kong children to apply to public schools as other citizens would. On a larger
scale, the Sister School Scheme has also engendered cooperation between many institutions;
since 2004, the Guangdong-Hong Kong Sister School Scheme has led to many alliances being
forged to the point where, by some accounts, 70% of schools participating in the Scheme.
As more lives are altered by this exposure to this refreshing system, students from primary
school pupils trying to understand the fundamentals of life to university undergraduates
attempting to delve into their fields of interest would all have stimulating education that is of
the highest calibre. Thus, it may not be a surprise to see schools in the Area, spurred on by
this virtuous cycle of educational exchange, join the ranks of the best institutions across the
globe. Soon, student life would be highly diversified with students from every country in the
world listening to lectures and sharing classrooms with local cohorts. These young people
will not only be observing the world’s fastest emerging superpower up-close, they can also
serve as seedlings in an ever-growing greenhouse of ideas, a sphere containing blossoming
intellectual exchange that will fertilise China’s next generation of big ideas.
However, all of that intellectual discourse would not be as valuable if it did not
materialize in different areas of society. To meet the burgeoning demand for dissemination
of information, many state-of-the-art lecture halls and libraries would have to be built,
which could be a steady stream of modern facilities being erected, such as the futuristic
Shenzhen Library which boasts more than 2 million books and 1 million online reading
materials. Sharing a complex with the neighbouring Shenzhen Concert Hall, its sheer
size and proximity to residential areas makes it a bustling cultural hub. In addition, in
order to showcase their ideas to the public, more exhibition centres will be constructed in
the future. A prominent example of this is the Guangzhou International Convention &
Exhibition Center, which provides world-class exhibition infrastructure for a myriad of
activities, including technology exhibits and artificial intelligence summits. Another area
where expertise shines is in robotics: Shenzhen hosts a Robomaster competition annually,
a tournament which attracts talent from across the globe to compete in a variety of engaging
battles, with job opportunities at DJI — the sponsor of the championship, and the largest
drone manufacturer in the world — as the top prize. Not only does this provide learning
opportunities for many youngsters, the enhanced level of public awareness forms yet another
virtuous cycle of discourse when more people are cognizant of the latest breakthroughs in
different walks of life.
To fully utilize the advantageous geography of the Area and to add on to its growing
human capital, cutting-edge infrastructure would be necessary to act as a catalyst for
economic growth. The poster boy of China’s economic boom, the Chinese high-speed rail
system, is already at the forefront of the world: China now owns more high-speed rail than
any other country, and with the opening of the Hong Kong Express Rail Link, which pledges
trips from the West Kowloon station to the Shenzhen Futian station in less than fifteen
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