Your Voice: Making space for female skateboarders, celebrating the Lion Rock Spirit (short letters)

Skateboarding, a non-conventional sport and activity, is now represented in the Olympics. However, female skateboarders are still discriminated against in this male-dominated space.

As one myself, I have personally seen how people’s deep misconceptions of women have affected my ability to participate. Women are told to be gentle and quiet, and to stay home.

But skateboarding requires us to jump and run to do tricks.

Parents may discourage their daughters from the sport, calling it “unladylike” or even too dangerous.

Social media campaigns tend to showcase male skateboarders as models, considering them more recognisable despite many talented and popular female skateboarders. Men also often discourage women from taking part at all.

One way of addressing the problem is to continue sponsoring female skateboarders travelling to global competitions. It would also be good to see woman-focused competitions.

The Olympics had male and female categories, which raised public awareness of the sport and showcased female skateboarders’ abilities and skills – equal to, sometimes better than and even unique from men’s.

Maasai Olympics: Giving indigenous Kenyan women opportunities through sports

Dorothy Chan Wing-yan, St Paul’s Convent School

The Spirit of Hong Kong Awards honours achievements that show dedication to the community, compassion and resilience. This year’s categories included cultural preservation, innovative entrepreneurship and sustainable conservation.

Awardees and finalists included scientific researchers, start-up founders, educators, advocates, and more. They all championed love and charity, devoting themselves to the public.

The 12th edition saw an increasing number of nominations from young people. Acts of service can be done irrespective of age, gender or area of interest.

If you are willing to sacrifice time and convenience and have a strong will and a passionate heart, you can make the impossible possible. That is the true Lion Rock Spirit of Hong Kong.

This award ceremony is a testimony to the strength our society and city have gained from unity. With great power comes great responsibility, and with great responsibility comes great power.

Every action we make, every word we speak and every emotion we evoke has a lasting impact on the lives we encounter. It is up to us to decide whether to use our powers wisely.

Charlie Cheng, Pope Paul VI College

If more exhibitions were held in Hong Kong, it would provide local artists with an excellent opportunity to showcase their art.

According to a 2017 report, 75 per cent of US artists made US$10,000 or less a year. The number was worse for female artists, at 83.6 per cent.

I believe the main reason is a lack of exhibitions displaying art for purchase. If more are held, these artists’ income will increase.

Exhibitions allow people from different cultures and communities to showcase their diverse art styles, techniques and crafts. Hong Kong is an international city and should try to attract people from all over the world to join these exhibitions.

Exhibition details could be posted on social media platforms. In particular, ones that teenagers use, such as Instagram, Facebook and Threads. Using hashtags like #Art and #ArtExhibition could boost views, as the algorithm will push these posts to people interested in learning more about art.

The government should set an affordable entry fee to attract more people. This way, the general public can view different works and hopefully purchase art.

These steps will help Hong Kong become a true art city.

Your Voice: Dignity for the LGBTQ community, choosing a future career (short letters)

Chenming Song, German Swiss International School

On December 12, after 14 nerve-racking games, 18-year-old Gukesh Dommaraju from India defeated the defending champion Ding Liren and became the World Chess Champion, the youngest player in history to receive the title.

Gukesh was the favourite to win: he had led India to victory at the Chess Olympiad in September.

Ding, on the other hand, had been having a rough year, going more than 300 days without winning a classical chess game.

The two players put on an incredible performance, with the lead bouncing back and forth between them. As the final game of the match began (No 14), the score was tied 6.5 to 6.5, with 7.5 needed to win. Most commentators assumed the game would result in a draw.

All went according to plan until move 55, when Ding decided to play Rf5, a catastrophic blunder.

After a few moments of calculation, it was clear that Gukesh had seen the winning sequence of moves. Trying to hold back tears, he stood up in disbelief.

For Ding, this was a brutal way to exit the world championship. But his fighting spirit was praised by Gukesh in the award ceremony.

As for Gukesh, he plans to become number one in the world by beating Magnus Carlsen.