Welcome to the May 2021 issue of the newsletter of the Hong Kong Laureate Forum!

In light of the prevailing situation of the COVID-19 pandemic, the progress of global and local vaccinations, as well as the global position on safe travel, the Board of the HKLF has decided after careful consideration that the Forum, originally scheduled to be held on 15-20 November 2021, would be deferred for one year to November 2022.

The Secretariat of the HKLF has contacted all participating Shaw Laureates, applicants and our working partners individually on the deferment. We will also notify all stakeholders upon the scheduling of a new date of the inaugural Forum next year and the drawing up a new programme overview. The Secretariat of the HKLF will continue to go full steam ahead with our preparation to ensure that the inaugural Forum would be a great success.

The HKLF has just celebrated our 2nd anniversary on 14 May 2021, to mark this occasion, this issue of newsletter will feature the hot topic of weather and climate change as our main theme. We are delighted to have received support from the Director of the Hong Kong Observatory (HKO), Dr CHENG Cho-ming, and former director of the HKO, Mr SHUN Chi-ming, in preparing this issue of newsletter. Two articles in this issue, one on challenges in weather forecasting and the other on the Meridian are indeed contributed by them. They have also agreed to take part in a series of short videos for the HKLF to share their experiences in the pursuit of science and as the director of the HKO.

Our online quiz game “Science Hunt” ended in early April 2021. Congratulations to winners of the game. They have all collected their prizes with glee. We would like to take this opportunity to thank Xiaomi Corporation for their sponsorship of most of the prizes for this game and THE NEXT! To keep up the momentum of promoting science in the community, we have launched a new game called “Your Fame, Its Name” on 10 May. It is an amusing game as participants are required to write a short piece on a fun scientific term currently in use, which is named after a famous person, cartoon character, or fictional character. So put your thinking cap on and join in the fun and game.

Please stay tuned to our website and social media for the latest news of the Forum, coming episodes of videos and our new game!

Last but not least, the Shaw Prize 2021, which began the nomination process in early September 2020 and ended on 30 November 2020, will announce the winners in the three prize categories on 1 June 2021.