Powerful Conversation by John Naisbitt - Megatrends 2020:
The Role of Education and Innovation in the Shift from West to East

As the Chinese saying goes, “A short conversation with a wise man is worth reading thousands of books.”Perhaps you have read the Megatrend books written by John Naisbitt, but listening to his speech in person is surely more enlightening. Adding to that are interactive comments and discussions facilitated by local experts in the academic and media fields, together they have outlined a big picture of global economic and cultural trends.

To celebrate the Centenary of The University of Hong Kong, HKU SPACE invited John Naisbitt, author of a many Megatrend books, and his wife Doris to share with us their judgments on the most important trends in the shift from West to East with special focus on the role of the young people of Asia. The lecture was a great success with participants enjoying the opportunity to learn and to better position ourselves in embracing future changes.

A Century of Excellence  The Center of Learning

Over 1600 people enrolled to join the lecture held on 3 March 2011, HKU students and alumni were among the crowd. Members of different media and organizations were also giving their whole-hearted support. With the Loke Yew Hall in the University of Hong Kong fully seated, HKU SPACE, organizer of the event, responded quickly and installed live video broadcast displays in 6 extra lecture rooms to cater for the overwhelming number of audiences, letting everyone enjoy the powerful speech delivered by John and Doris Naisbitt.

Dr. Jane Lee, Deputy Director and Head of College of Business and Finance, HKU SPACE gave brief introductions of the event moderator, Professor SP Chow and three commentators, including Dr Lawrence Fung, the Chairman of Hong Kong Economic Times Holdings Limited; Professor Shi Qi Ping, Commentator and anchorperson of Phoenix Satellite Television and Mr Leo F Goodstadt, Honorary Fellow of HKU and adjunct Professor, School of Business Studies, Trinity College of the University of Dublin.

Dr CF Lee, Director of HKU SPACE, then gave an opening speech welcoming all speakers and participants. He mentioned that Loke Yew Hall in which we were gathered was built a hundred years ago, standing together with HKU all these years, proudly developed as the regional education hub and a pillar of advanced research in Asia. Dr Lee said, “As we all aware, Hong Kong’s success is deeply rooted in its knowledge-based society, and innovation is the backbone of our future. We are conscious of our government’s efforts in encouraging the development of Hong Kong as the center of learning for Asia, with the education industry in its heart. Building on a century of excellence, HKU SPACE, as part of the HKU family, is pledging our commitment to continuing education in Hong Kong.”

“Education is Lighting a Fire”

Dr Jane Lee once again praised the achievements of the Megatrends series of works. She said, “Almost 30 years back, when ‘Megatrends’ was first published, Dr Naisbitt was one of the scholars who powerfully and convincingly showed to us how innovation and new technology in the information age were changing the world and transforming our life. As early as in the 1980’s, he was also very positive about China’s prospective rise to be a world player in industrial production. I am sure that we will be further inspired by Dr Naisbitt’s wisdom and encouraging foresights.”

Professor SP Chow took the lead to start the discussions and at the very first word spoken by Dr Naisbitt, a man with grey hair on his head but vitality on his face, hundreds of audiences listened with all attention and focus directed onto the stage. Dr Naisbitt talked about the main theme – education and innovation right from the start, with a quote from the celebrated Irish poet William Butler Yeats, “Education is not filling a bucket. Education is lighting a fire.” He said, “For all these years, too many of us are just filling the bucket, without helping young ones learning how to learn. Learning how to learn and knowing what to learn is the right way to ensure that we can have a great adventure by continuing to learn throughout our life.”

Yin and Yang - Merging the Opposites

Doris Naisbitt stated that it was heartwarming to meet with Hong Kong students during this trip and see that they are trying to make their dreams come true. Doris admitted that together with her husband, John Naisbitt, they are “beating” the university with their age combined. She said, “People always asked us whether we are thinking of our retirement.” To answer this question, Dr Naisbitt spoke again and said, “For me, I may be thinking about death once in a while. But retirement? NEVER!” The floor applauded.

Recently, the Naisbitts are spending most of their time in Europe and Asia, and they believe that in terms of economic development, China and Europe are on different paths. Doris explained that if China is a company, “they have one CEO and a board of directors which are really looking into the future. They are able to make long-termed strategic plans…to engage their workforce…to achieve the goals the company has. Well, if we look at Europe, we see 27 CEOs decided to build one big company… the problem is, this company has 27 CEOs with 27 hearts beating in different rhythm and pulling in different directions.”Doris thinks it is a big achievement for China to merge two seemingly unfitting opposites - communism and market economy 30 years ago and paved its way to form a new strong economic entity today. “Now China is again fitting together another two opposites – the efficiency of autocracy with the participation of democracy. And we believe this process has just started.” Just as what the Naisbitts mentioned in their book ‘China’s Megatrends: 8 Pillars of China’s Success’, the economic and cultural shift from West to East is apparent.

After the inspiring speeches of John and Doris, the commentators each delivered feedbacks and comments, asserting a positive note on the Naisbitts’viewpoints. Quoting Professor Shih’s words, “It is not the speed of change that matters much. It is the process that we should focus on.”Surely we all are living in a world where tremendous changes will not stop. But it is exactly how we can continue making progress in times of change.

Pls click below link to view the documentary :

http://www.hkuspace.hku.hk/video/detail/megatrends-2020/