Around Town for Time Out HK

Intelligence Squared Asia/TEDx Pearl River

Prepare to be inspired and motivated by an impressive lineup of speakers from a variety of professional fields this fortnight as two international, wide-ranging, and thought-provoking forums hit town.

First up is a debate for the iPad/Facebook era as Intelligence Squared Asia asks whether the internet is making us stupid. Stepping up in support of the motion are Jeremy O’Grady, editor-in-chief of the UK’s The Week magazine, and Thomas Crampton, Asia-Pacific director of 360 Digital Influence for Ogilvy Public Relations, while Jimmy Wales, co-founder of Wikipedia, and Kaiser Kuo, Director of International Communications for Baidu, will be vigorously arguing against the motion.

Joanne Ooi of the Clean Air Network will act as moderator, and despite the online leanings of her organisation she feels that she will be able to fulfill her impartial role. “I’m going to make sure that I’m conversed in all the pros and cons before the debate, like a responsible moderator. I wanted to be conscientious in discharging this responsibility,” she says.

Two days after her moderating duties, Ooi will take the stage and join 24 fellow speakers for TEDxPearlRiver – a free, invitation-only conference offering knowledge and inspiration for those seeking it. Although she’s well-known as a crusader for clean air, she won’t be discussing that in her 18-minute speech. “I’m going to talk about the future of creativity. The organiser thought I was going to talk more about the environment but I’m going to talk about why the consumer is undergoing a realignment of their values and the evolution of the consuming experience.”

It was innovative and informative ideas like that which blew co-organiser Jose Rueda away when he attended his first TED event. “My first TED experience was life-changing. I wasn’t prepared for the volume of inspiration that I was immersed in and it took me by surprise that TED was about awe, laughs, tears, and action as opposed to just information,” he says.

Inspired, Rueda became involved with bringing the event to Hong Kong. “I wanted to share the experience because it was so memorable. I thought a local event would be a great way to bring people together who think alike and believe in the power of ideas to change the world; that perhaps this type of experience would compel some people to contribute to our generation in a more meaningful way,” he says.

As a contributor to both talks, Ooi sees the importance of them to the community. “I think it’s incredible for the community. Similar to Intelligence Squared I think that we need to raise the bar on the cultural discourse, the quality and the level of the intellectual discourse that takes place in Hong Kong,” she says.

Sarah Simpson

Intelligence Squared Asia takes place at HKCEC on October 28, visit

hkticketing.com for tickets.
TEDxPearlRiver takes place at ArtisTree on October 30. Go to www.tedxpearlriver.com to watch a live webcast of the forum.