Chak On Design Competition Winners Announced, Showcasing Innovative Well-being Concepts for Public Spaces

Winners of "Let's Go Well-being Chak On" Design Competition announced

The award presentation ceremony of the "Let's Go Well-being Chak On" Design Competition organised by the Housing Bureau (HB) and the Hong Kong Housing Authority (HKHA) was held at the HKHA Headquarters today (May 24) to announce the results.

The competition aimed to promote the "Well-being design" guide by inviting local young designers and students to provide designs for four public spaces at Chak On Estate in Sham Shui Po to build an inclusive well-being public space through the application of the "Well-being design" guide. The two categories of the competition are the Emerging Category and the Students Category, inviting full-time young designers and full-time students studying design-related disciplines at Hong Kong's tertiary institutions to participate. A total of 97 submissions were received. They were from 30 teams with 68 participants in the Emerging Category and 67 teams with 155 participants in the Students Category.

The Secretary for Housing, Ms Winnie Ho, as the Chairperson of the Jury Panel, said at the award presentation ceremony that the competition successfully attracted participation from talented young designers and students. They interpreted the concepts of the "Well-being design" guide through innovative and thoughtful designs, injecting new vitality into Chak On Estate's public spaces. The winning works not only demonstrate the participants' professional capabilities and creativity but also reflect their attention to and understanding of the residents' needs.

The Jury Panel comprises representatives from the HKHA and industry professionals. The first round of assessment was conducted by the Shortlisting Jury Panel in February this year, and five finalist entries were selected from each category. All the shortlisted teams collected feedback on the designs from Chak On residents through participatory and co-creation processes. Through workshops, consultant discussions, and estate management exchanges, the contestant teams further enhanced their works. The 10 finalist teams presented their designs to the Jury Panel at the HKHA Headquarters on May 10. Winning entries were selected from both categories by the Jury Panel. The competition also had the "Resident Most Beloved Award" with votes from Chak On residents. The Jury Panel considered the standard of entries to be very high, noting that the participants had referenced the "Well-being design" guide and demonstrated innovative ideas for the design of public spaces in Chak On Estate. The winning projects from both categories will serve as a reference for the HKHA's detailed design of the Chak On Estate improvement works.

The list of winners for the "Let's Go Well-being Chak On" Design Competition is as follows:

Emerging Category:

Winner: "Chak On: Our Home, Our Garden"

1st Runner-up: "Sunset at Chak On"

Honourable Mention: "Dot.Scape"

Honourable Mention: "Converging Harmony "

Honourable Mention: " Castle in the Sky "

Students Category:

Winner: "Pulsing Chak On: Stories, Spaces, Connections"

1st Runner-up: "Vibrant Together"

Honourable Mention: "Rejuvenating Silver"

Honourable Mention: "Lively Chak On"

Honourable Mention: "Chak-On-nection"

​Resident Most Beloved Award: "Dot.Scape"

The HB and the HKHA will host a virtual exhibition to showcase all winning entries. For more information about the winning entries, please visithousingwellbeing.hk/chak-on-design-competition.

Winners of "Let's Go Well-being Chak On" Design Competition announced Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Winners of "Let's Go Well-being Chak On" Design Competition announced Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Winners of "Let's Go Well-being Chak On" Design Competition announced Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Winners of "Let's Go Well-being Chak On" Design Competition announced Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Opening remarks by SITI at "CUHK and MicroSigX partner to launch breakthrough test aiding early autism diagnosis"

Following are the opening remarks by the Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry, Professor Sun Dong, at the "CUHK and MicroSigX partner to launch breakthrough test aiding early autism diagnosis" today (December 17):

Professor Chan (Choh-Ming Li Professor of Medicine and Therapeutics of thethe Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Francis Chan), Professor Ng (Associate Dean (Research) of the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong and Croucher Professor of Medical Sciences, Professor Siew Ng), distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

Good morning. I am pleased to join the Faculty of Medicine of CUHK (Chinese University of Hong Kong) at the launch of its groundbreaking innovation in early detection of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Congratulations to CUHK Faculty of Medicine and MicroSigX on your achievements, which once again exemplify the fruitful outcomes of our collaborative efforts in innovation and technology (I&T).

The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government is firmly committed to developing Hong Kong into an international I&T centre. This vision builds on our flourishing life and health technology research, underpinned by the close collaboration among the Government, industry, academia, and research sectors. We have been channeling more funding support into our universities for commercialising their research and development (R&D) outcomes through various initiatives such as the Research, Academic and Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme launched in 2023. The Scheme has been well received by universities as well as the industry sector. Since its inception, a total of 49 projects were supported in the first two rounds, covering various technological fields including health and medical sciences, new materials and new energy, artificial intelligence and robotics, etc, with the total funding amounting to over $2 billion.

Another major I&T initiative of the Government to develop Hong Kong into an international I&T centre is the InnoHK Research Clusters. InnoHK leverages Hong Kong's advantages as an international city to promote global I&T co-operation and bring together leading researchers from around the world to conduct R&D in collaboration with local universities. The Government has encouraged the research centres under InnoHK to further increase the adoption rate of R&D projects, promote recognition in the industry and accelerate technology transfer and commercialisation of R&D outcomes. It is worth noting that MicroSigX's technology is in part underpinned by the research conducted at Microbiota I-Center, a research centre established under InnoHK. We are happy to see that our research centres under InnoHK are turning upstream R&D into real application and products in the market.

Today's pilot initiative not only marks a milestone in commercialisation of research and development outcomes, but also benefits the underprivileged local families by providing free tests to those in need with the assistance of non-governmental organisations. This is exactly our ultimate goal in promoting I&T: harnessing technological breakthroughs to benefit our society as a whole. We genuinely hope that advances in technology will bring meaningful benefits for society at large and improve people's quality of life.

The Government will continue to provide robust policy and support to enhance the overall I&T ecosystem in Hong Kong and develop Hong Kong into an international I&T centre. Let us work hand in hand to realise this vision. Thank you.

Source: AI-found images

Opening remarks by SITI at "CUHK and MicroSigX partner to launch breakthrough test aiding early autism diagnosis" Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Source: AI-found images