Hong Kong's education system 'turning out bureaucrats' not entrepreneurs, expert warns

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Serial entrepreneur and CEO of media company Outblaze Yat Siu addresses a panel at the inaugural SCMP Game Changers forum. Photo: SCMP Pictures

Published: 5:30pm, 26 Mar 2015Updated: 7:09pm, 26 Mar 2015

Hong Kong needs to do more to promote creativity and entrepreneurship for young people if it is to succeed in developing a strong ecosystem for start-ups, an experienced business founder warned today.

Serial entrepreneur Yat Siu, founder and CEO of digital media company Outblaze, said the city should learn from the Finnish education system, which places less emphasis on formal exams.

“If you think about my children going to school and the way they’re being educated, I think that’s not very helpful for creating a creative, playful mindset because essentially it’s still turning out bureaucrats,” Siu said at the South China Morning Post's inaugural Game Changers forum today.

Siu was speaking on a panel focusing on how start-ups and larger corporations can encourage innovation.

He said that a diverse workforce can lead to more creative thinking, as a group of people from around the world think and bounce ideas off each other in different ways.

“We are trying to connect completely different cultures and mindsets in a diverse workplace where people can rub off ideas and this can only work, unfortunately, if you bring in people from all over the world,” Siu said.

Dominic Allon, managing director of Google in Hong Kong, said it is important for businesses to create opportunities for all staff to collaborate and put forward suggestions.