Malaysian scientist Thein Swee Lay became the first female winner of a Hong Kong prize for her pioneering genetic work that could lead to revolutionary treatments for sickle cell anaemia and thallasemia. Dr Thein Swee Lay graduated from Universiti Malaya (UM), sharing the 2024 Shaw Prize for Life Science and Medicine along with US colleague Stuart Orkin for discovering molecular mechanisms underlying fetal-to-adult haemoglobin switch and gene therapies capable of treating both diseases.
Hong Kong Arts Council announced the winners of this year’s Hong Kong Heritage Awards, honoring works that depict modern society. Pakistani artist Sameen Agha won the Grand Prize with his sculpture A Home Is Terrible Place to Love depicting a house collapsing like cardboard box. A ceremony was held at Four Seasons Hotel to present this award.
Winners will not only be presented with cash prizes but will also be honored at a special presentation by judges based on criteria including relevance to Hong Kong’s unique historical status, research methodologies and methods, use of research materials rigourously, clarity of analysis/citation of evidence used and overall assessment of quality. Winners also have an opportunity to exhibit at the Hong Kong Museum of History.
Since their establishment, the HK Heritage Awards have become an international platform for scholars to celebrate their accomplishments in Hong Kong heritage studies. 2023 saw an unprecedented 37 projects submitted as nominations – and judges commended all entries, which presented a variety of topics and methodologies.
Friends of Hong Kong Museum of History raised funds in 1996 to establish a prize for postgraduate students studying the relationship between historical developments and changes in society in Hong Kong. This award encourages independent learning skills development among postgraduate students. The winner will receive both an engraved gold medal as well as a cash prize of HK$25,000.
The Hong Kong Heritage Prize, previously known as the First Book Prize, was reinstated in 2020. The judging panel takes into account an individual scholar’s early contributions as a scholar as well as how research results translate into society and economic development – while taking into account compliance with prize charter.
The HK Heritage Prize is one of the flagship programs of the Society for Hong Kong Studies, an academic institution in higher education with the mission to promote and foster research on Hong Kong-related subjects. Supported by Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, it seeks to attract world-class scientists, research teams and their supporting institutions from around the globe into Hong Kong for this inaugural edition. A panel will assess candidates based on scientific research conducted, impactful work done as well as compliance with their Prize Charter.