TEDxAmericanInternationalSchoolHK returned although due to COVID-19, the event was held virtually! This year speakers included students in both middle and high school. The theme, 2020 Vision, had talks that offered clarity on ideas worth spreading and a vision for the future. All speakers participated in TED-Ed Clubs to develop their talks. The best of the TED-Ed Club Presentations were offered a spot on the red carpet.

Since middle school, Jinyoung (Jean) Jang was interested about Biology and explored and studied until now. By applying biology to the real life, she realized that genetic engineering is emerging to the society right now. However, there are a lot of controversy between the use of genetic engineering and she believes that it is right and have a lot of potential to develop and use it. This talk focuses on the benefits of Genetic Engineering.

When Yuri Takamatsu moved back to Tokyo after spending six years in the United States, she realized how American sarcasm is not always so humorous in Japanese. This talk focuses on the difficulties of translating sarcasm.

Both the frequency and the mystical nature of dreams are what often causes them to be undermined in the mind of the public. However, the undiscovered applicability and possible meanings behind dreams will be explored in this talk. After thinking about a series of particularly memorable dreams she’d experienced through the years, Chenhey Chu realized that there could be potential value in the inexplicable images in dreams. 

Soovin Jang has moved to a ton of schools, and it was always hard on her being the “New Kid”. But because of these frequent changes, she learned that it was okay to be different, and that being unique is okay. This talk is about Soovin’s story of being the odd one out, how she overcame the challenge of being different, and how you can too!

Shanshan (Oscar) Wang was interested in ancient Greek myths from when he was 8 years old. The first time he read ‘Percy Jackson and the Lightning Thief’, he was very interested in the ideas presented in the book. In that book, it talked about ‘Fatal Flaws’, A weakness which all heroes have. And apparently, normal people as well.

Hallie Wong has studied in a Hong Kong local school for kindergarten and primary education, but later transitioned to international school for middle and high school. Her journey of both education systems led her to give a talk about the differences between both systems.

Juah Hwang grew up in an environment where all sorts of people telling her that stress is the reason for many diseases and causes of different things that made our lives worse. But when there is a negative, there must also be a positive, and so this speech is about the benefits stress has, and how it may be helping you.

Annie Li was a big fan of watching iPad or TV whenever she had free time when she was little. She didn’t notice what technology has done to her, and what it could do. When she graduated elementary and started her new life in middle school, she starts to see technology in a completely different way, the way that is forgotten by many people.

Mable Yim identifies as a Cantonese speaker. Her pride in her language has led her on a journey of raising awareness about language discrimination and promoting language equality. This talk focuses on language discrimination and equality.

Aarav Kothari loves the ocean and likes to go whale watching. He once saw trash over the dock when he was leaving and he was shocked. He wanted to change that part of no trash in the ocean. This talk focuses on what is happening to the ocean and how we can solve it.