10
SPOTLIGHT
APR 2015
UMP
大學廣場
Jason Choi (Engineering / Year 1)
Jeffrey (left) was swimming in the Dead Sea
A talk for building the innovation ecosystems
Six days passed in the blink of an eye, but it has been
fruitful to let us have a taste of the Israeli entrepreneurship
and innovation. However, the story has not yet ended.
Although the start-up environment cannot be imitated, we
will share the spirit with peers and utilize what we have
learnt there.
Entrepreneurship was the first word I heard when I learnt
about the Techcracker Lab. This word alone was striking
to me — in a nutshell, it stands for the experience of life,
the instance of dream catching. But as it turned out, this
was only a small beginning of the programme. There has
been a lot more.
For one-fifth of our lifetime, many have spent their days in
a tiny city, seeing a one-sided picture of how a place can
be. But when we realign our perspectives globally, there
is a lot more, and that’s one thing the experience in Israel
has taught me. Cities abroad certainly could have much
more land than Hong Kong, but every place has its own
challenges. Needless to say, Israel has its geopolitical
challenge and its scarcity in natural resources. Yet it
has found its way into one of the most technologically
advanced countries. It is a miracle.
Notwithstanding, what is important is to believe that we
can craft miracles. Only through the Israelis’ belief and
persistence did they come to the point they are in now.
Be hopeful and not afraid of failures. Hong Kong may not
foster small businesses and IT sector very much, but on a
global scale it is already easier to launch a start-up here.
We only need to believe we can, then we will make it. To
have the faith in oneself is imperative.
The programme itself was very fun and enjoyable. The
military training and the night spent in the desert were a
unique experience. Meeting with entrepreneurs, listening
to talks and eventually pitching our own idea taught me
how start-ups were really about. Throughout the six days,
we also constantly exchanged our ideas, and this is where
creativity comes through.
The experience in Israel is unique, and it has set my
foundation for my future adventures to come. One day, all
of us will find our roles and give back into the community.
their seniors. Thus, with minimum emphasis on hierarchy,
Israeli people are open to question the traditional ways
of working and welcome innovation to improve the living.
Israeli entrepreneurs’ desire to make a better world has
encouraged them to come up with innovative ideas and thus
outstanding start-ups.
Apart from being guided to shoot real gun and learnt their
unique self-defense system, Krav Maga in Caliber 3, we
also had chances to explore the culture and famous spots
in Israel. The ‘coolest’ part of the trip to me was definitely
swimming in the Dead Sea (I would say floating instead).
As we know, it is the world's saltiest bodies of water that
the density is high enough for us to float on it as we jumped
into the sea. Even though it was only 3 °C, we were so
excited that we jumped straight to the Sea. The Dead Sea
is also famous for being the Earth’s lowest elevation on
land which is 429 metres (1,407 ft) below sea level.
