Cantonese TED: Giving voice to a good idea
The TED ideas exchanges have spawned a raft of local chapters. Now there's one just for Chinese speakers, writes Elaine Yau
You can't keep a good idea down. That may be why TED, the thought-provoking talk fest that began in Silicon Valley, has generated hundreds of spin-offs around the world since it introduced a licensing system in 2009 for independently organised events called TEDx. In Hong Kong, its mission to tap the power of ideas to change the world has inspired some 17 chapters, including TEDx Victoria Harbour. The latest iteration is the upcoming TEDx Kowloon.
The first to be conducted in entirely in Cantonese, it reflects organisers' aims to give the event a uniquely local identity - and attract a new set of attendees who may be less comfortable with English.
"We want to stage an event that revolves around the stories of local people. As the talks are conducted in Cantonese, locals who do not speak English can enjoy them. I want them to be inspired by TED talks, as I was," says translator Janet Lui Miu-man.
Lui is among the Kowloon event's 10 organisers, along with marketing executive Maxwell Ye Guming. All are fervent followers of TED Talks, which can be viewed online on YouTube, as well as on its own site. Many talks are transcribed or translated into more than 40 languages by volunteers.
"I am a super TED fan," says Shanghai-born Ye, who studied at City University. Of presentations by luminaries including biologist Richard Dawkins and Google's Sergey Brin, his favourite was by Ken Robinson, a professor of education at the University of Warwick, on how formal schooling kills creativity.
"A product of the formal education system myself, I understand how it churns out students who just want to work for investment banks and other lucrative industries," Ye says.