#shinewithoutboundaries

Lanqing JIANG, Ruipeng QI, Xinying TAN, Phoebe CHAN and Ruibin DENG, "MPP Avengers", a team of five Year 1 students of Master of Public Policy was awarded Third Runner-up in the Inter-University Public Policy Case Competition 2019. The competition required participants to analyze and resolve real-life public policy problems through case study.

The Inter-University Public Policy Case Competition 2019 was successfully held by the Institute for Public Policy and the Division of Public Policy at HKUST. Teams from different institutions including HKUST, HKU, EdUHK were required to work in rounds studying several cases. For preliminary round, teams had to write an analysis essay to address and make suggestions on the education controversy, “The Territory-Wide System Assessment in Hong Kong: Tracking Learning Progress or Over-drilling of Students?”. Advanced to the semi-final and final rounds, teams were given one week to prepare presentations on two topics “Lantau Tomorrow Vision”: to Reclaim or not to Reclaim?” and “Uber: Threat or Opportunity for Hong Kong’s Transportation?”. On the competition day, the organizer announced which was the topic for which round. Participants had to present why the topics were controversial, suggest what government should do, deliver pitches as well as answering questions from the judges.

Team members worked well with each other in the competition. It provided them with a platform to apply what they learnt to compete with other peers. “The biggest challenge of the competition was the tight schedule. During the one-week preparation, we were having several course deadlines to meet. We were glad that we had worked together in a course project and a simulated competition in South Korea before. Everyone plays an imperative and unique role in the team. More important is that we trust each other and we are willing to handle any difficulty together.” said Lanqing JIANG.

The team would like to take this opportunity to thank the judges and professors for the valuable feedback and guidance during the competition. The "MPP Avengers" said with confidence that “We will be the champion next time, certainly!”