What makes a good teacher? How do we measure the successes of an educator? Some say, it’s to do with the number of A*s and As (or 7s, 8s, and 9s) these teachers churn out. Others suggest that it’s ref ...More
EJ Insight2023-01-27
11 people. 11 lives lost at the hands of a shooter. Another 10 wounded. A shooting that occurred in a city known for its large Asian population, coinciding with the Lunar New Year festivities. One amo ...More
EJ Insight2023-01-26
A nation that trumpets its own success, that heralds its ostensibly inevitable trajectory towards greatness, and that frames its relations with competitors and rivals as one defined by a moral hierarc ...More
EJ Insight2023-01-17
I was invited to address the Harvard-Sciences Po Conference last Saturday; the convenors had wanted a keynote on the intersection of media, technology, and geopolitics – and thus I obliged, with a for ...More
EJ Insight2023-01-16
A specter haunts the way we think about the youth in our city. The specter is a fundamental failure to take their agency seriously. The most obvious means by which this failure manifests, of course, i ...More
EJ Insight2023-01-06
One would be forgiven for thinking that the above is a most mundane proposition. After all, it is clearly true that geopolitics is a universal, all-encompassing, and ubiquitous phenomenon. Yet this st ...More
EJ Insight2023-01-05
A quick recap – there are four propositions that best encapsulate 2022: First, that geopolitics matters – and we are transitioning into an era of global geopolitical flux; Second, that governance matt ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-30
2022 is perhaps best summarised through four core propositions: First, that geopolitics matters – and we are transitioning into an era of global geopolitical flux; Second, that governance matters – an ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-29
There is something rather arcanely ivory tower-esque about this question – that makes it almost endearing to ponder. And the answer, I’d submit, is a resounding yes: atheists can and indeed should cel ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-23
Sound governance – and policymaking – must be both flexible and balanced. This seems obvious. Banal, even. Yet at times like these it is all the more important that we speak the truths of governance w ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-22
Much ink has been spilled on the nature of cultural exchange in Hong Kong – or, indeed, beyond. In the post-COVID era, as countries and cities alike seek to emerge from the turmoil and scars of the pa ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-16
The HKSAR administration’s decision to suspend the LeaveHomeSafe app and drop quarantine/semi-social isolation requirements for inbound travellers – effective from December 14 onwards – was a move tha ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-15
In this timeless classic that doesn’t age (just like the diva behind it), Mariah Carey belts, “I don't want a lot for Christmas… There is just one thing I need”. For thousands, if not millions of Hong ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-12
Former President Jiang Zemin passed away on November 30, at the age of 96. Jiang was by all accounts a remarkable figure. Born and raised in a revolutionary family, adopted by an uncle who died fighti ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-07
Soft power – the sum total of state capacity, influence, and impact, that can be attributed to predominantly the cultural, ideological, and discursive might of the state, as manifested through its abi ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-02
Leaders of both autocracies and democracies alike put on the impression that their regimes are flourishing – and that their way of governing is best. In practice, setting aside the fact that most of t ...More
EJ Insight2022-12-02
The Oxbridge interviews process can seem daunting – and there are many urban legends perpetrated in relation to how they are conducted, for what exactly they are conducted, and the calibre of candidat ...More
EJ Insight2022-11-25
To undertake tasks for which one may not be viewed as sufficiently equipped. To be asked to step up to challenges that are above one’s “pay grade”, “age range”, and out of one’s comfort zone. These th ...More
EJ Insight2022-11-24
There’s a saying in politics – a stance made public is a stance that one would never adopt. This is because, what one says in the public is one thing; what one professes to embrace in private quarters ...More
EJ Insight2022-11-16
There is a bitter irony to the fact that what could well have turned out to be the most pivotal partnership in the 21st century – the core pillars that would undergird the world’s response to existent ...More
EJ Insight2022-11-15
