The Hong Kong Prize is an annual competition offering HK$20,000 to the best submission on how the city should develop in the future. The winner of the prize will be given the chance to present their idea to key stakeholders in the development sector.
The winning entry will be selected by a panel of judges, including representatives from government departments, private companies, academia and community organisations. The panel will consider the relevance of the topic to Hong Kong, and its potential for practical application. The winning submission will be an idea that can make a difference to the lives of residents and visitors, whether it is an urban plan, an architecture design or a cultural programme.
Among the prizes offered by the competition are scholarships, internships, research support and funding. Scholarships will be awarded to students in financial need, while internships and research grants will be awarded to graduate students and young professionals in the field of urban planning. In addition, a HK$10,000 grant will be awarded to the student or young professional with the most outstanding submission.
Last year’s winners were Samson Lee and Chan Yuet-ng, who both won the HK$100,000 first prize for their project on the use of public space in Kowloon. Lee’s idea for an open rooftop for a new shopping centre was voted the most popular by the public. His proposal for a mixed-use space with a cinema and restaurants was also supported by the jury. Chan’s design for a high-rise building with flexible office spaces was praised for its consideration of urban life and its use of innovative technologies to enhance the quality of the environment.
At the awards ceremony, HKFA chairman Michelle Yeoh congratulated the laureates for their contributions to global education, saying that the Yidan Prize was founded to help create a better world through education. The HK$30 million (around $3.8 million) Yidan Prize for Education Development was awarded to War Child Alliance’s Mark Jordans and Luke Stannard, as well as demographer Wolfgang Lutz.
Wai Ka-fai’s Detective Vs Sleuths won four of the 11 prizes it was nominated for at this year’s HKFA, including best director and best actor for established Hong Kong actor Sean Lau. Pakistan-born Noormah Jamal also made the shortlist for her acrylic on canvas work Did the Seed Grow?, which shows two figures with vacant expressions sitting on a brick wall. The event was held at the Hong Kong Cultural Centre on Sunday evening. A record number of local challengers took part in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon, with 151 men and 66 women making it to the finish line – the highest total in the event’s history. To support these runners, the marathon’s title sponsor increased the prize money for local challengers to a record HK$10,000 for men and HK$8,000 for women. This included a special incentive award for permanent residents, with those who finished the marathon in under three hours for men and under 3:30 for women eligible to receive the prize.