Theme: Catalyst

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

Diocesan Boys' School Yip Kit Chuen Auditorium
131 Argyle Street
Mong Kok, Hong Kong, 000
Hong Kong

Jennifer Ma

Jennifer Ma attended top schools, St. Paul’s Co-educational College in Hong Kong and Benenden School in UK, before graduating from the University of Oxford with First Class Honours in Economics and Management. Jennifer achieved her Masters in Education at the University of Hong Kong and is the co-author of the Best Seller “Boarding Schools: All You Need To Know”. Jennifer is a Benenden School Trustee, China Oxford Scholarship Fund Panelist, and is part of the University of Oxford Pembroke College Ossulston Circle. At ARCH, Jennifer is responsible for the development of enrichment programs. She leads the UK and HK consultation teams which specialize in applications for Oxbridge and professional subjects including Medicine, Law, Architecture and beyond; achieving impressive record breaking results year on year.

Jeremy Lam

Jeremy Starr Lam is an author, celebrity tutor and education entrepreneur. He has been interviewed by CNN, SCMP, Milk Magazine, RTHK and Hong Kong Book Fair.

Joseph Lin

Joseph Lin co-founded Shadow Players, a theatre company dedicated to making classic literature approachable and relevant to Hong Kong's broad audience. His company have put on sold-out productions of Molière's Les Femmes Savantes, Wilde's The Importance of Being Earnest, Stoppard's The Real Inspector Hound, among other shows. In addition to stage productions, Joseph is also actively involved in education, and have taught literature, writing, rhetoric, and drama courses at schools including The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Academy for Gifted Education. He had also consulted for the RTHK on the English Made Easy programme, and wrote two English-learning columns for the Hong Kong Economic Times' English Street publication. In his spare time Joseph volunteers for Hong Kong Dog Rescue, and he is pursuing further studies in Digital Education.

Michelle Sun

Michelle is the CEO and cofounder of First Code Academy, a STEM education startup in Asia that teaches coding to kids from 6 and above with hands on workshops, camps and regular programs. Prior to starting First Code, she graduated from the inaugural class of Hackbright Academy, and held various technical roles in high growth startups in Silicon Valley, including as the first growth hacker at Buffer and Bump Technologies (acquired by Google in 2013). Born and raised in Hong Kong, she graduated from University of Chicago and began her career at Goldman Sachs as an equity analyst. In addition to running First Code Academy, she is also passionate about women entrepreneurship and empowerment, cofounded a community for women in technology, Women Who Code (Hong Kong chapter). In her free time, she loves to run, train for triathlon and write on her blog. Her work has received international and regional accolades including the Forbes 30 Under 30 in Asia List in 2016, BBC 30 Under 30 Women Entrepreneurs in 2015, Women of Hope Award (Entrepreneur Category 2015) and (Tech Category 2014) and American Chambers Women of Influence Awards (Young Entrepreneur Category 2015).

N. Tanner

Nicole Tanner is a fourth year medical student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Over the past few years, she has developed an interest in clinical research, particularly in the application of technology to improve diagnostics and treatment options. She has been working on a research project in colorectal cancer surgery, looking at laparoscopic and robotics surgery. Additionally, she has worked on research projects in cognitive impairment, severe childhood asthma, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - in all of which technology has played a huge role for diagnosis. Nicole is also interested in the use of social media as a platform for medical education and primary prevention, which has led her to found a program called "Virtual Research Lab" (VRL). VRL aims to act as a bridge - between the ever budding research world and the general public. She hopes that through social media, her team can reach more people on the importance of health and medical education.

Nicole Tanner

Nicole Tanner is a fourth year medical student at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Over the past few years, she has developed an interest in clinical research, particularly in the application of technology to improve diagnostics and treatment options. She has been working on a research project in colorectal cancer surgery, looking at laparoscopic and robotics surgery. Additionally, she has worked on research projects in cognitive impairment, severe childhood asthma, and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease - in all of which technology has played a huge role for diagnosis. Nicole is also interested in the use of social media as a platform for medical education and primary prevention, which has led her to found a program called "Virtual Research Lab" (VRL). VRL aims to act as a bridge - between the ever budding research world and the general public. She hopes that through social media, her team can reach more people on the importance of health and medical education.

Oscar Ho

Prof. Oscar Ho was formerly the Exhibition Director of the Hong Kong Arts Centre, Founder of the Hong Kong branch of the International Art Critics Association, Founding Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai and is currently the director of the MA Programme in Cultural Management at the Chinese University of Hong Kong.

Patrick Low

Patrick Low is a Visiting Professor at Hong Kong University, Fellow of the Asia Global Institute, and Director of the AsiaGlobal Fellows Program at AGI. Immediately prior to that, he was Vice President for Research at the Fung Global Institute in Hong Kong. From 1997-2013, Patrick Low was Chief Economist at the World Trade Organization, which he joined in 1995. During much of this time, he was also an adjunct Professor of Economics at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. He was a senior research economist at the World Bank from 1990-94. He taught at El Colegio de México in Mexico City (1987-90), having worked for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade from 1980-1987. Patrick Low holds a PhD in Economics, and has published widely on trade issues.

Vivek Mahbubani

Vivek Mahbubani is a full-time Hong Kong-bred bilingual stand-up comedian performing in both Cantonese and English. Having been crowned the Funniest Person (in Chinese) in Hong Kong in 2007 followed by his victory in the English category at the Hong Kong International Comedy Competition in 2008, Vivek has had the opportunity to take his sense of humor all over Asia Pacific including Hong Kong, China, Macau, Singapore, Malaysia, Manila, Bangkok, Sri Lanka, India and Australia. Vivek has been the face and writer behind many successful online campaigns including the Samsung Galaxy Nexus launch, Liquipel technology campaign, Hong Kong Jockey Club “Racing Touch” launch and Citibank “Have my bank” campaign. He is also often invited to perform for many small to large organizations including Bloomberg, Jardine Matheson Group, Turner Asia, Philip Morris Asia and Hong Kong Broadband. When Vivek isn’t traveling the world doing gigs on land and on ships, he spends him time developing the Cantonese comedy scene in Hong Kong, leading a group called Viveknfriends which incorporates local talents forming the only regular Cantonese stand up comedy show in the region. The comedians now get hired for professional gigs like entertainers at company events, MCs for conferences and also run a channel commissioned by VOOV Live. Vivek is also the ambassador for KELY Support Group and Chicken Soup Foundation and takes his comedy show to many social centers because he believes anyone, anywhere deserves to have a laugh at any time.