Theme: Unmasked

In the spirit of ideas worth spreading, TEDx is a program of local, self-organized events that bring people together to share a TED-like experience. At a TEDx event, TEDTalks video and live speakers combine to spark deep discussion and connection in a small group. These local, self-organized events are branded TEDx, where x = independently organized TED event. The TED Conference provides general guidance for the TEDx program, but individual TEDx events are self-organized (subject to certain rules and regulations).

125 Hall
125 Waterloo Road
Kowloon Tong, Hong Kong, n/a
Hong Kong

Aahan Gohil

"Playing God" De-extinction Analyst

Aahan Gohil was born in India and also lived in the UK, Singapore, and now Hong Kong. Despite moving around a lot as a kid, one thing remained the same: his love for dinosaurs. This love was ignited after watching all three Jurassic Park movies as a child. The theories introduced by the characters Henry Wu and John Hammond intrigued Aahan, as did their acts of playing god, their control over the replication of an extinct species, and the controversy surrounding it all. Aahan saw this as a great topic for discussion, and based his talk around the merits and disadvantages of playing god.

AIS Middle School Samba Band

Banda de samba

In the words of renowned percussionist, Dame Evelyn Glennie, ensembles such as the AIS Middle School Samba Band “make a difference to children’s lives. They show the power of the drum, and how this can be the glue that holds one person to another”. The mask that concealed such connections has now been removed and as such the spirit of drumming is very much rejuvenated within our community for all to enjoy. Low Surdo: Abir Malhotra, Savir Sarda, Tanmay Jain; High Surdo: Sahil Gandhi; Repinique: Joshua Sy, Minyoung Ka; Caixa: Eleanor Crandall, Keertidha Sundar, Emily Cheon; Conductor: Robert Kilvington-Shaw.

Ashlynn Wang

"House of Memories" Keepsake Collector

Ashlynn Wang was born in Taipei, Taiwan and spent her formative years in Southern China and California before moving to Hong Kong with her family in 2017. As a result of her bicultural upbringing, Ashlynn is fluent in both English and Mandarin Chinese. In addition, she has been studying Spanish for the past four years. By the time Ashlynn started high school at AIS, she had already moved seven times. Because of her transient upbringing, she often struggled with defining what was "home". When Ashlynn was seven, she placed the second tooth she lost in a paper shoebox. Although this was a peculiar action at the time, it eventually grew into a hobby of collecting keepsakes. Through her shoebox of souvenirs and trinkets, Ashlynn created a sense of permanence and self-identity. In this talk, Ashlynn tells the story of her transient upbringing and shares her shoebox of keepsakes with whomever walks her way.

Chenhey Chu

"Work in Progress" Embracer of the Incomplete

Chenhey Chu was born in Hong Kong, and has lived there for most her life. She is fluent in both English and Chinese. Chenhey is passionate about music and art in terms of both appreciation and creation, due to how often they are intricately tied to the expression of human nature and culture. Pursuing a fascination with art, Chenhey's visits to various museums eventually led her to consider 'unfinished' artworks, along with what they revealed about the artist. This curiosity caused her to recognize the prevalence of incompleteness in the world and why it should be embraced.

Ho Wing Valerie Leung

"Time For a Change" Body-Positive Champion

Valerie Leung was born and raised in Hong Kong. Valerie is fluent in English and is able to understand Chinese. Growing up as a teenager, body image always impacted her from enjoying the time she had with friends, family, and loved ones. The impact from social media and comments from others has influenced her to feel that she needed to look a certain way in order to satisfy herself and others around her in order to fit in, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning to adjust to online learning during the pandemic has led her to realize how much she's learned to grow from seeing her body image from just a reflection to something that's worth nourishing.

Palak Gandhi

"What's Queer About Representation in Bollywood?" Representation Advocate

Palak Gandhi was born in Mumbai and moved to Hong Kong when she was a year old. Palak is fluent in English and is learning Mandarin and Hindi. Growing up, Palak would watch Bollywood movies regularly, which helped in shaping her interest in how romances depicted in these movies had an influence on their audience. She also has an interest in the growing field of sexual orientations and wanted to bridge these two interests with each other. Her talk discusses the evolution of representation in Bollywood and various missteps Palak wishes would be improved on.

Sabhyata Joshi

"Watch This TEDx Talk Before You Die" Bringer of Change

Sabhyata Joshi was born in New Delhi and at the early age of 6 months, began accompanying her parents on their work voyages across the world. She anchored into the ports of Hong Kong at 5 and has resided her since. She quickly became fluent in English as she had been in Hindi. Her diverse environment opened her eyes to rising issues and inspired her to make a positive change. The only question was, how? With the help of friends who regularly send her inspiring and motivational videos, Sabhyata began exploring some of our world's major issues. When she realized that each one lead back to the same question of "what will finally get people to change?" she had found her talk topic.

Savya Sarda

"Get Lost" Proponent of Struggle

Savya Sarda was born in India, New Delhi. He has traveled to the Philippines, Hong Kong, Singapore, Japan, and China. Savya can speak three languages: English, Hindi, and Mandarin. Savya is passionate about this topic as it was a real life lesson for him. He wants to let others know that the best teacher in life is life and that they have to experience the difficulties first-hand to become independent.

Yashaswi Tiwari

"Everything Begins with an Idea" Ideator

Yashaswi Tiwari was born and raised in Singapore before moving to Hong Kong in the summer of 2014. Yashaswi is fluent in English and Hindi and is learning Mandarin too. Yashaswi is very curious and loves exploring new and creative ideas. She is willing to try new and unfamiliar things. Yashaswi is unconstrained and limitless when it comes to exploring ideas.