Day 4- Immersion Visits into The City

Day 4 was the beginning of our immersion visits. The visits were organised by Common Purpose in order to help us immerse deeper into the city, gaining first-hand experience of organisations who are trying to tackle the issue of inclusiveness in Hong Kong.

We were given the option of visiting three different organisations,

Hong Kong Foundation for Charities
Elite Thai Boxing
Smart City Lab, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

Hong Kong Foundation for Charities

The Hong Kong Foundation for Charities Ltd. is a charity in Hong Kong that is able to issue gift receipts for Hong Kong tax purposes. The tax-deductible donations the charity produces are reinvested into improving education, religion and poverty within the city.

Elite Thai Boxing

Elite Thai Boxing is a social enterprise aiming to empower at-risk or underprivileged youths, by providing training and job opportunities and even allowing them to develop careers in Thai boxing and fitness. From our visit to Elite Thai Boxing, we saw how the enterprise is offering young people an opportunity to find something they could be successful in that isn’t necessarily academic.

Smart City Lab, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The Smart City Lab held at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University works on developing Hong Kong to be a ‘Smart City’. They innovate and develop new technology and conduct cutting-edge research that will help improve people’s lives. From visiting the Lab it was evident to see that it provides a research platform for creating innovative new ideas that will help further develop Hong Kong to be the most efficient city it can be.

After our dismissal from the programme, students regrouped at Hong Kong’s famous racetrack track ‘Happy Valley‘ for an evening of horse racing and entertainment. Students attended Happy Valley’s weekly event ‘Happy Wednesday‘ where they enjoyed themed entertainment alongside live horse racing. The weekly event attracts an international audience, and the stadium itself was a spectacle. A real once-in-a-lifetime experience.