In an article on the diplomatic challenges that the new Singaporean Prime Minister will face as the city-state has to choose between the East and the West, Division of Public Policy Senior Lecturer Prof. Donald LOW said there is a big overlap between those who are more skeptical of the western world order and those who may have not benefited much from globalization. He added that it takes time to observe if the new administration could find the right balance between the two worlds.

An anti-microbial hydrogel technology developed by Division of Environment and SustainabilityITB Prof. YEUNG King-Lun and funded by Innovation and Technology Bureau for use in flush water was applied to three public housing estates for trial run, and has been proven effective in reducing more than 95% of viable microbes and inactivating more than 99% of viral particles in toilet flushing water for up to 60 days. The technology will have a chance to be applied to other public housing estates if the trial run is successful.

In a media interview on Hong Kong’s I&T development prospect, Secretary for Innovation and Technology Bureau Mr. Alfred SIT cited the new anti-microbial coating MAP-∞ developed by a team led by Division of Environment and Sustainability Prof. YEUNG King-Lun as a recent example of HK’s technological solution to the challenges posed by the pandemic.

Assistant Prof. Laurence DELINA from Division of Environment and Sustainability wrote an article on the potential of a fair energy transition in Southeast Asian countries.

In an article on why Chinese millennials are not getting married, Division of Public Policy Prof. Stuart GIETEL-BASTEN said people not getting married just constitutes a part of the population problem in Mainland and to fix the low marriage rate, authorities should look into the core issues, such as how marriage affects women’s career or financial independence, which forces them to push it back as long as possible.

Swan LU, a 2011 graduate of Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management (T&M-DDP), is now the Principal at Zurich Insurance Group’s Global Ventures. She has been selected by the World Economic Forum (WEF) to join its prestigious Young Global Leaders program. The WEF created the Forum of Young Global Leaders back in 2004. Its aim is to help the world meet increasingly complex and interdependent problems by creating a diverse community of the world’s next generation of leaders from all walks of life and from every region of the world. And then help these young people become more responsible, strategic and impactful leaders. Its alumni include Jacinda ARDERN, Prime Minister of New Zealand; Emmanuel MACRON, President of France; Mark ZUCKERBERG, founder and CEO of Meta (formerly Facebook); and Joe GEBBIA, co-founder of Airbnb.

In an online seminar co-organized by Asia Society HK, Division of Environment and Sustainability Chief Development Strategist Prof. Christine LOH said that everyone can play a part in protecting the environment and encouraged students to gain more knowledge of environmental protection to seize the opportunities.

In an article on how Hong Kong can learn from Singapore’s anti-pandemic strategies to fight the pandemic, Division of Public Policy Senior Lecturer Prof. Donald LOW said Hong Kong has the conditions to relax its social distancing measures, adding that the international consensus is to resume normal cross-border travel and treat COVID-19 as an endemic disease when the vaccination rate, especially that of the elderly, reaches a certain standard.

Division of Public Policy Adjunct Prof. Anthony CHEUNG wrote an article on Hong Kong’s role in the national development.

A research team led by Division of Environment and Sustainability Prof. YEUNG King-Lun has developed a new multi-level anti-microbial polymer coating – MAP-∞, which is effective in killing a wide range of bacteria, hard-to-kill spores, as well as inactivating 99.9% of highly-infectious viruses – including the Omicron variant and is durable for up to five years.