TEDxSenadoSquare | Organizers hoping for 2020 return

António Leong

Nine speakers from fields such as education, philosophy, music and conservation shared their stories, projects and ideas to an enthusiastic and young crowd at the first TEDxSenadoSquare, held on Sunday at the Dom Pedro V Theater. Organizers already say they are hoping to bring the event back to Macau next year.

According to organizers, under the theme of “Ripple”, TEDxSenadoSquare “strived to increase local cultural consciousness, raise awareness on local affairs and introduce innovative ideas through multiple talks.”

The speakers at this year’s event included Kwong Chun Man, founder of philosophy group “Corrupt the Youth”, Italian architect Tamara Solski and António Leong, a local photographer from Macau, who shared how he became quickly engrossed in his hobby.

They were joined in the afternoon sessions by Pasu Ng, chairman of Hong Kong Life and Death Studies Association, Anna Choi, head of Digitalization for Schindler, Lin Hsiangchun, owner of Júbilo 31 books, Viena Mak, a member of the Hong Kong Dolphin Conservation Society, Cheang Chi Meng, residential fellow of Chao Kuang Piu College at the University of Macau, and Burnie Lam, an electronic musician.

“It was great to witness the collaboration of good ideas at TEDxSenadoSquare,” event curator Venus Loi told the Times. “I am overwhelmed by the positive support from the organizing team, volunteers, speakers, performers and the audience.”

“The talks were inspiring and I am thrilled to hear so many discussions between participants and speakers during break time,” added Loi. “It really connects the people in our community [… and] I am very happy to be able to provide this platform for the participants.”

Tamara Solski (left) and Venus Loi

There were about 100 attendees when the Times attended the event during the morning session, however organizers say double that number were involved over the course of the day.

TEDxSenadoSquare provided sign language interpretation to allow those with impaired hearing to participate in the activity. The talks were either in Mandarin, Cantonese or English, with both English and Chinese subtitles.

Loi told the Times by email yesterday that the organizing team intend to bring the event back to Macau next year following its successful debut Sunday.

TEDxSenadoSquare is held by Attic Association, founded by a group of young volunteers, which aims to inspire and initiate positive action, to encourage youth participation on social affairs, strengthen local connection and stimulate contributions to society.

TEDx is a local, self-organized and independent event that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. The TEDx format was created by TED to include local elements into the curating process. DB