Second day - Singapore International School, URA, Bus Tour in Mong Kok and Tsim Sha Tsui, Symphony of Lights

On the second day of our Hong Kong trip, we had the opportunity to visit the Singapore International School Hong Kong (SISHK). They are currently under the International Baccalaureate Programme. When we arrived to SIS, we were paired up with our buddies - local and foreign students who are studying in SIS and were given the opportunity to attend their lessons. 

During these lesson observations, we discovered many different aspects between their lesson structure and the ones we have in Singapore. For example, the period of each lesson lasts for an hour 10 mins, classes are small, approximately 13-15 students per class, and students are extremely participative in both class, group or individual activities. These factors allows students sufficient time to plan, discuss and even present their work, and the small class size makes presentations less nerve-wrecking and the students tend to be very bonded. These aspects also allow them to apply themselves, and learning from their mistakes along the way. Hence this provides a cohesive approach to the learning experience of students, allowing them to develop skills not simply to apply in examinations but in their own lives.

Students also had definitive qualities that we feel that Singaporean students could learn from. Firstly, SIS students were very expressive and vocal in their opinions and viewpoints which may provide various perspectives from a seeningly one-sided viewpoint. It can be seen that this culture of self-expressiveness was developed with the help of their tutors, where their open mindedness and flexibility of lessons inculcated this valuable quality into their students. Furthermore, this made students to more eager to learn as they learn because they want to know instead of being forced to know. This would be applicable to many parts of our lives where would start to think critically in problems that we would face. The students are also very time-conscious, and would report to their classes, not on time, but 5 mins before lesson starts, and this served as an important reminder to be punctual for our lessons. In addition to their comprehensive learning structure, the environment of SIS was very fun and welcoming which made many of us feel at home. This caused us to be able to interact with our buddies much more openly and engage better in classes we have participated. 

We also had the opportunity to sit into an Economics tutorial conducted by Ms Ekta, a DP 1 (equivalent to JC1) tutor. She went through concepts on subsidies as well as its effects on the different stakeholders. We got to participate in the class discussion and learnt much from the interactions with the SIS students.

Overall, this experience made us more open minded on various learning methods undertaken by different educational instituitions. We can also undertake certain pointers of our engagement and attitude towards learning that would allow us to learn better and achieve more.

Following our visit to SIS, we embarked on a learning journey to the Hong Kong Urban Renewal Authority (URA), and this visit was indeed an eye-opener to how the urban landscape of Hong Kong evolved from the past to the present, including aspects of housing and living conditions, as well as heritage preservation,  which is highly relevant to our topic of Urban Issues and Challenges in Human Geography.

This visit served to deepen our understanding of the role of the URA in Hong Kong urban landscape as well as various resulting impacts and responses. From the reading of news articles, as well as readings issued to us prior to the trip about the "cage houses", which are basically living spaces that has been partitioned by wire mesh within an apartment in Hong Kong, we were provided with prior knowledge about these squalid attempts at 'housing' the large population size of Hong Kong with limited land area. However, nothing beats seeing the actual "cage houses" that were retrieved when URA cleared out old housing blocks for redevelopment.

One may say that it was close to unlivable conditions, and we were told that these inhabitants not only had to face high temperatures due to the cramped conditions with little ventilation, the insanitary conditions was detrimental to the health of the inhabitants.

During the visit, we also had the opportunity to walk through an interactive gallery of the projects undertaken by URA over the years. Our guide, Niel, was enthusiastic and knowledgable in sharing with us his personal experiences in the process of redeveloping an area suffering urban decay. For instance, we were informed there were more than 4000 buildings in Hong Kong that were more than 50 years old and faced deterioration. Although these sites were often considered for renewal, the limited funding does not currently allow all these buildings to undergo restoration. 

We also learnt that each project could last between 6-8 years, and some challenges they faced included the difficulty in persuading the old tenants to relocate. We learnt that in 2011, URA adopted a new approach to urban renewal to include the involvement of all stakeholders - "People First, District-based and Public Participatory Approach to Urban Renewal". For example, the largest project URA will and is currently working on would be the renewal of Kwun Tong Town Centre, where there will be extensive greening for sustainability as well as some preservation of local characteristics through the conservation Kai-fong style street shops. However, this left us wondering what would happen to the old tenants if they had to move out during the renewal phase. Part of our inquiry was addressed when we learnt that tenants will be given priority on the waiting list for housing, and will be given a sum of money of approximately HK$7000. 

Additionally other policies like the 'flat for flat' scheme which allows the previous tenants to purchase the re-build apartments. While it was clear that such projects would give these tenants a better opportunity to acquire a new place live in, this set us thinking as we could foresee many problems arising as a result, for example, the new apartments being too costly- particularly as evident that the previous tenants being obviously too poor to afford the new houses, the payout is too little; when they revamp the area, as well as possible relocation to areas that is inconvenient for daily commuting to work. As such, it left us wondering if the well-being of the poor was holistically considered.
But hey! To paraphrase what Ms Huang said you can't have the best of both worlds- it's just choosing what is best with the least detrimental effects; and the URA is doing the best they can. However due to time constraints, all our queries weren't answered and there were some gaps in the knowledge that we were presented with. But, I am definitely sure the visit has inspired us to read more about the issues and maybe someday do something about it! 

The last place of visit for the day was Victoria Harbour where we took a tour of the area on a ferry, one of the several modes of transportation in Hong Kong. Victoria Harbour is one of the most well-known places of visited in Hong Kong. Victoria Harbour is also the location of the Symphony of Lights, an initiative by the Hong Kong Tourism Board. This nightly spectacle has been acknowledged as the world's "largest permanent Light and Sound show" by Guinness World Record. It combines interactive lights of 45 key buildings on both Hong Kong Island and Kowloon with musical effects to showcase the vibrancy and glamorous night vista of Victoria Harbour. The Symphony of Lights is not just a way to exhibit Hong Kong’s affluence and magnificent cityscape, it also highlights the city’s lively spirit and recognizable diversity. We understood from our local guide that the participating buildings including International Finance Centre 1 (IFC1), IFC2 and Central Plaza, some of the tallest and most prominent buildings in the area were not chosen by the Tourism Board; rather, these commercial buildings volunteered to participate. As such, the lights and laser projection infrastructure were fully paid for by the owners of the buildings themselves and these lights and laser projections lit up the city skyline with publicity information as well as various light decorations showcasing festive designs in line with the upcoming Christmas Season.

While admiring the beautiful sight in front of us, we realized the relevance of Economics theory to what we see.  For instance,  the Symphony of Lights can be viewed as a source of market failure: positive externality. The private benefit of this show is that the companies are able to publicise themselves through their cosmopolitan and avant garde lightings with their brand names on it. This would allow them to advertise their own brand names and attract investors into Hong Kong to invest in their companies, generating foreign direct investment. The external benefit will be the growth of businesses around the area such as F&B outlets and retail and services at Victoria Harbour as tourists attracted to the area to enjoy the scenic landscape of Hong Kong showcased by this nightly event.

With regards to geography, we drew relevance to urban imaging where the Symphony of Lights could be viewed as a government initiative to promote Hong Kong as a 24-hour city, or a "city which does not sleep", and this serves to create an image and identity of Hong Kong as a city that is vibrant and dynamic, at the same time investment-worthy due to its strategic location, world-class infrastructure and presence of prominent transnational corporations. This is known as the signaling effect where these TNCs 'endorse' the city as stable, thus increasing investor confidence.   

We look forward to our third day in Hong Kong, where we will be sharing about Singapore policies on public housing and private car consumption with our Hong Kong counterparts, as well as do our part of the community by helping at St Mary's Home for the Aged.