BXAI

Tomohiro HASHIMOTO is a Japanese political science graduate student from Waseda University and an AFLSP Scholar at Zhejiang University where he studied Master of Public Administration.  When Tomohiro first visited China at the age of 16, he was surprised at the differences between the country in front of him and the one shown on television back in Japan.  Since then he has been particularly interested in researching solutions to China’s domestic problems.

Mutual understanding across cultures is something that Tomohiro has a large amount of personal interest and experience in.  When studying abroad in Hangzhou, Beijing, and other Chinese cities, he was able to see the diversity of Chinese people on a regional level.  Similarly, while speaking about his AFLSP experience, Tomohiro valued how he was able to better understand regional diversity by observing the differences between scholars based on their nationality.

AFLSP Scholar Chen Hua (Martin) is a theoretical physics major at Kyoto University where he researches quantum gravity.  As a scientist who often finds it difficult to initiate conversations, Martin found that the way he spent his summer—socializing with different scholars during the BXAI Summer Program—very different from how he would normally spend it.  Nonetheless, he was able to find a great sense of community at Bai Xian.

“I think a good community isn’t about whether or not you’re very social,” Martin said.  “It’s about [whether] you can really talk about something important in that community [without being afraid].”

Martin considers the interactions he had with fellow Scholars the most meaningful part of the program.

“Every day we would have lunch and talk together and have quite a deep discussion,” Martin said, saying how such experiences helped broaden his worldview.  For instance, he remarked the way in which the media portrayed certain nationalities turned out to be quite different from what he experienced first-hand.

Jackson TSE is an AFLSP Scholar from Peking University where he is pursuing a Masters in China Studies at Yenching Academy.  Born and raised in Hong Kong, he is passionate about expanding educational access in developing Asian countries.

Jackson has held an interest in social entrepreneurship since high school when he co-founded Project Laos, a nonprofit organization that equips Laotian students with educational resources such as teachers, textbooks, furniture, and computers.  He hopes that by increasing educational access he can help economic development in the Asia Pacific.

“I think the quickest way to do that is working to improve the educational institutions in Asia,” said Jackson, believing that a good education is a prerequisite to the economic success of any country.  According to him, every child should have the same access to education regardless of where they come from.

Jackson hopes to gain experience in multinational corporations to understand how the private sector affects educational policies.  In the long-term, he plans to use that insight to increase educational opportunities for people.

An AFLSP Scholar and Zhejiang University graduate, ITO Yoshimi has since been working as a researcher at the Embassy of Japan in Beijing.  “Here I have obtained many opportunities to understand Chinese society, such as interviewing Chinese scholars and communicating with people from the media,” said Ito.

While studying global governance and regional strategy at Keio University, Ito discovered a deep interest in Chinese society and culture.  In 2014, after discussing with a school advisor, she suspended her studies at Keio University and pursued a Master of Public Administration at Zhejiang University instead.  “I think living in China is important for me to obtain firsthand information for my research.  And the AFLSP helped me meet a lot of friends with different cultural backgrounds,” said Ito.

KIM Hyun Kyung is a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology graduate with a Master of Philosophy in Environmental Engineering.  As an AFLSP Scholar, in 2015 she participated in the BXAI Summer Program as a Scholar and joined in 2016 as a group facilitator.

Kim deeply appreciated the value of diversity within her group.  Her group in particular, which she praised for being very active and consistently coming up with good ideas, included scholars from countries such as Ghana, Malaysia, China, and Japan.

“They had different backgrounds, which gave them different ideas, so that was definitely good,” said Kim.  Although the topics were similar to the ones in 2015’s program, the speakers were different and provided new insights.  Furthermore, while Kim’s field of study makes her well acquainted with environmental issues, she was intrigued by other issues such as poverty or the role of women in society.

Colin (Pang He) is a Chinese MBA graduate from the Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University.  This year he spent five months at Yale University’s School of Management on an exchange student program. Colin is currently working in Sony (China) in Beijing.

What Colin appreciated most about last year’s BXAI Summer Program were the friendships that allowed him to engage difficult topics without the fear of resentment.  While he believes that a strong business approach is the best way towards solving today’s social issues, he don’t mind disagreeing with Scholars who don’t share his business-minded opinions.

“I’m very open and I didn’t receive any resentment because everyone is open too,” he said.  “Our assumption is we’re young people and we’re open to anything.  We welcome and embrace conflict.”

After graduating from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with a Master of Philosophy in Mechanical Engineering, Shi Tuo joined CAPCO, a financial consulting firm.

Currently placed at HSBC, he has been helping with the KYC (Know Your Customer) project, participating in a wide spectrum of financial activities.  “We are at the frontline in identifying potential money laundering activities and terrorist financing, ” says Shi.

Shi has made many good friends throughout his two years of AFLSP activities.  “Every student and professor I met was dedicated to their study or work, with full responsibility.  They made me believe being responsible for every piece of work was a precious attitude and would make positive impact on my career.”

Graduated from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology with an MPhil in Chemical Engineering in 2014, QIN Yiming is currently working as a research assistant at City University of Hong Kong.  She will pursue her doctoral degree at Harvard University on Engineering and Applied Sciences this autumn.

“I believe our research on the sources and effects of pollutants in the atmosphere are important for preventing and mitigating air pollution,” saidQin.  Chasing her dream of being an academia, Qin aims to explore the frontiers in the area of air pollution