Source:
https://scmp.com/comment/letters/article/3019265/how-hong-kong-can-look-lennon-walls-drive-innovation-and-policy Letters
How Hong Kong can look at ‘Lennon Walls’ to drive innovation and policy change
- Taking the cue from top firms that use Post-it notes in brainstorming sessions, the Hong Kong government could work with youth to set up more such walls to nurture ideas and creative expression
A ‘Lennon Wall’ of Post-it notes in Tsuen Wan, one of dozens that have sprung up across Hong Kong in support of the extradition bill protests. Photo: Sam Tsang
The New Town Plaza shopping mall in Sha Tin has set up dedicated boards for angry citizens to express their opinions, not unlike the Lennon Walls that have sprung up across the city (“Lennon Walls plastered with protest messages blossom all over Hong Kong”, July 10).
If the Hong Kong government aims to heed honest voices, in theory, they ought to support and protect, or even set up, such public walls in Hong Kong. Would that be too risky for the government? Is there any precedent for such a government-supported public opinion wall?
First, the political risk for a democratic society that values public opinion is unlikely to be higher than that posed by today’s online media. Second, Hong Kong will never be the innovative city it aspires to be if it will only execute policies that have a successful precedent.
At the very heart of innovation lie ideas. Ideo, a world renowned design firm, whose predecessor developed the mouse that we use nowadays for computers, famously uses Post-it notes to promote brainstorming, directly and indirectly, leading to the birth of many human-centred social innovations.
If the government is to drive innovation, such public walls can also be used to nurture and cultivate ideas that drive positive societal change and development.
Public walls are best not limited to small groups in confined spaces with restricted access. The government can implement the initiative at the district level and support it with resources. A task force can be set up at the revamped central policy unit for young people to discuss and work with the government to launch the project. Locations and volunteers have already been spontaneously crowdsourced in the setting up of the existing Lennon Walls. With some fine-tuning, it would be possible for this initiative to be quickly established.
In practice, a Lennon Wall is also culture and art – a sector our chief executive has sought to revitalise – which can act like the giant “LT Duck” and show up only periodically. Whether such public walls work could be best evaluated from opinions collected on them. If we want to live happily in Hong Kong, the spread of kind, positive and creative messages are, indeed, encouraged and needed.
Bennu Yiu, Sha Tin