Onward HK Part 8: From Local to Global: Hong Kong's Journey to Becoming a World-Class Hub for Arts, Culture, and Sports [In-Person]

Event Details

Hong Kong's arts, culture and sports scenes are flourishing once again, with the return of Art Basel, Creamfields, Rugby Sevens and other major international events.

Creative industries have been a key economic driver for Hong Kong and the city's art and culture scene is getting more vibrant with the opening of the West Kowloon Cultural District and the Philharmonic, Ballet, and Sinfonietta all enjoying world-class status. The achievements of Hong Kong Olympians have sparked discussion on further developing the sports industry.

How can Hong Kong develop into a more well-rounded and vibrant international city? What can Hong Kong government and business do in parallel to create an environment conducive to nurturing art and sports talent? What is the competitive advantage of Hong Kong?

This session will be a discussion on Hong Kong's journey to becoming an international hub for arts, culture and sports, featuring a panel of experts: Bernard Chan, Prof Gillian Choa, Kenneth Fok, and Samantha Scott.

Remarks

Limited seats available
This event is closed to the media

Agenda

April 19, 2023

Main Schedule

4:15 PM - 4:30 PM

Registration and Networking

4:30 PM - 4:35 PM

Welcome Remarks

4:35 PM - 4:50 PM

Keynote Speech

4:50 PM - 6:00 PM

Panel Discussion

Prof Gillian Choa (Director of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts)

Kenneth Fok (Member (Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication) at Legislative Council)

Samantha Scott (Chief Operations Officer at Valley Rugby Football Club Ltd)

Felicity McRobb (Founder of McRobb Consulting)

Speakers

Bernard Chan

Chairman at M+ Museum

Prof Gillian Choa

Director of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts

Kenneth Fok

Member (Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication) at Legislative Council

Samantha Scott

Chief Operations Officer at Valley Rugby Football Club Ltd

Felicity McRobb

Founder of McRobb Consulting

Mr Chan is currently President of Asia Financial Holdings Limited and Asia Insurance Company Limited. He is the Chairperson of the Hong Kong Council of Social Service, Chairman of Hong Kong Palace Museum Ltd., Chairman of the Steering Committee on Restored Landfill Revitalisation Funding Scheme and Chairman of the Committee on Reduction of Salt and Sugar in Food. He is also a Hong Kong Deputy to the National People's Congress of the People's Republic of China and a board member of West Kowloon Cultural District Authority.

He previously served as a Legislative Council Member as well as Chairman of the Council of Lingnan University, the Council for Sustainable Development, the Antiquities Advisory Board, the Advisory Committee on Revitalisation of Historic Buildings and the Standing Committee on Judicial Salaries and Conditions of Service. Mr Chan was awarded the Gold Bauhinia Star in 2006.

Prof Gillian Choa has enjoyed her career in a variety of artistic pursuits spanning Hong Kong, Asia, UK and USA. She was the very first Resident Designer for Chung Ying Theatre Company before embarking on her freelance career in the performance and entertainment industry in the mid-80s.
She worked extensively as set and costume designer, scenic artist, lighting designer in theatre; art director/decorator, costume designer/supervisor, and image director in television, advertising and film; and as display and exhibition designer for high end fashion houses such as Tiffany & Co of New York and Hermes, to name a few. She was presenter and writer of a classical music programme on television and editor for local architectural and fashion magazines. Her work covered innumerable stage and film productions as well as television commercials in HK and abroad, and was nominated/awarded for her work. She was regularly invited to participate and exhibit her work at theatre design exhibitions and conferences being an avid advocate of practice-as research for the performing arts.
She is a devoted educator as well as an active contributor to the Hong Kong community, serving on academic advisory committees, boards of charitable organizations, scholarship panels, and government vetting/advisory committees such as CreateHK, Advisory Committee on Arts Development – Arts Education, Human Resources Planning Commission, and Advisory Committee of School of Design HKPolyU in the past; and at present, Society for the Deaf, HK Outstanding Students’ Union, HK Jockey Club Music and Dance Fund, Federation of New Territories Youth, VTC’s Design Discipline Advisory Board and Zonta Club of Hong Kong and International Women’s Forum, to name a few. In 2018, she was able to secure a sizeable grant from the government to develop digital media technology in the School of Theater and Entertainment Arts that spearheaded Art Tech developments across the Academy. She has continued to champion positive development for youth and for the less privileged, and to advocate Hong Kong as an arts and cultural center for nurturing performing arts talent and East-meet-West exchange.
Prof Choa first joined the Theater Design Department of the Academy as full-time staff in 1996. She was appointed Dean of the School of Theater and Entertainment Arts from 2013 & Deputy Director and Provost in 2019. She is committed to her continued service to the Academy and working with her colleagues to realize her vision for the Academy in her current position of Director.

Mr. Kenneth FOK is deputy of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to the National People's Congress, Vice Chairman of the All-China Youth Federation, Member of the China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Cooperation, Member of Culture Commission of HKSAR Secretary for Culture, Sports And Tourism, and Member of the Legislative Council of the HKSAR (Sports, Performing Arts, Culture and Publication).

He is currently the Vice President of the Fok Ying Tung Group overseeing the Groups’ investments in Hong Kong and Mainland China. Mr. FOK has been a staunch supporter of sports, culture and arts development. He is currently the President of The Gymnastics Association of Hong Kong, Vice President of the Sports Federation & Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China , Chairman of Hong Kong Art Development Council, and Executive Vice President of China Federation of Literary and Art Circles Hong Kong Member Association. he founded Guangzhou Nansha Cultural Association in Guangzhou and Culture Action in Hong Kong in 2013 and 2018 representatively. In 2019, Mr. FOK organized Guangzhou-Hong Kong Marco Parent-child Art Carnival in Guangzhou Nansha to promote the establishment of a Greater Bay Area cultural and arts exchange platform. In 2021, Mr. FOK initiated a project called “The ARThletes” with the aim of enhancing the interaction between artists and athletes and setting a new trend of cross-sector collaborations.

Samantha has more than 20 years work experience in the Sports Development & Performance and Sports Management arena and understands the politics and temperament of the business of sport. As the former Captain of the Hong Kong Womens National Rugby team, she has played rugby at the highest levels in both New Zealand and England. Born and raised in Hong Kong- she firmly believes in the positive benefits of diversity and is a strong advocate for including the minority as part of the majority. She is an advocate for Women’s involvement in sport across all levels and has been a speaker and presenter around this topic at several global events. She is the current Chief Operating Officer at Valley RFC and also consults with various sporting organisations including World Rugby, ChildFund, Womens Sports Academy, and the International Working Group on Women in Sport.

Moderator

Felicity McRobb is the Co-Chief Judge of the Women of Influence Awards at AmCham Hong Kong.

As the Founder of McRobb Consulting, a Hong Kong based company specializing in individual and team performance at the executive level, she has been at the forefront of women’s leadership development in the world’s largest organizations, and in the poorest villages in developing countries, for the past thirty years.

She first came to Asia in 1984 and has lived and worked in Japan, Hong Kong, Saudi Arabia and Portland, Oregon, returning to Hong Kong in 2011 with her family, to build a regional consulting practice.

Felicity holds a B.A. in Modern Languages from Anglia University in the United Kingdom. She is married, has four children and six grand-children, and loves to spend time traveling with her husband Dennis.

Sponsors and Partners

Member (In-person)

Member PriceHKD 350

Non-member (In-person) (Sold Out)

Public PriceHKD 500

Cancellation Policy

Cancellations must be provided in writing to: amchamevent@amcham.org.hk at least seven working days prior to in-house events.
Registrations for events held outside the AmCham HK office are non-cancellable and non-refundable. No-shows will be charged.
When Typhoon 8 (or above) or Black Rainstorm Signal is hoisted, all events will be canceled

AmCham HK

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Onward HK Part 8: From Local to Global: Hong Kong's Journey to Becoming a World-Class Hub for Arts, Culture, and Sports [In-Person]

Event Details