Students’ Unlimited Creativity Unveiled in ‘Master Code’ Award and Kick-off Ceremonies

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 28 June 2021 – Since 2016, Hong Kong Education City (EdCity) and Microsoft have co-organised the annual Master Code Competition. The award ceremony of ‘Master Code 2020: Create a Zero Hunger Future with AI’ was held on June 25. The organisers have also announced that the theme of ‘Master Code 2021’ is ‘Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI’, aiming to enhance students’ understanding on the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in healthcare and wellbeing, where students can make use of their coding skills, along with creativity to design innovative solutions ensuring healthy lives and promoting wellbeing at all ages, so as to co-create a healthy future.

Witnessed by a bunch of guests who joined in-person and through online, Mr Victor Cheng, Executive Director of EdCity unveiled the ceremony by his opening remarks. He expressed, ‘Technology is for mankind. As the masters of our future society, students should learn how to solve problems through logical thinking and to explore possibilities in improving our lives by utilising innovative technology. The participating schools last year performed impressively and presented professional designs. We were glad to see students applying the knowledge they learned in designing creative proposals to achieve “Zero Hunger”, which illustrated their spirit of global citizenship. This year, we are very honoured to jointly organise the “Master Code 2021” Competition with Microsoft for the sixth year. The theme of the competition aims to let teachers and students enjoy coding, at the same time to raise their awareness towards both physical and mental health. Artificial intelligence can lead the society to a healthier life – as long as we use AI creatively and ingeniously, a future filled with health is only a step away.’

Ms Serena Cheung , the Director of the Public Sector Group (PSG) at Microsoft, said ‘Artificial intelligence plays an important role in driving digital transformation; therefore, it is important to equip our next generations with AI-related skills and to help them be future ready. We are honoured to co-organise the annual “Master Code 2021” Competition with EdCity. The competition allows students to apply their programming skills and creativity in designing a practical solution to social issues, so as to contribute to a better society. There are many impressive proposals with a shared goal to achieve “Zero Hunger”, and I am impressed by how they leverage digital platforms such as Minecraft and PowerApps to present their innovative ideas. I look forward to learning more innovative insights into how to “Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI” from the upcoming competition.’

The competition saw the enthusiastic participation of students – with 14 vivid and diverse submissions and some with a global perspective showcasing students’ broad worldview. A judging panel evaluated the submissions and selected the teams from St. Anthony’s School, Tung Chung Catholic School (Secondary Section) and Carmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School as the champion of the Minecraft Education Edition – Primary School and Secondary School Divisions, and AI Application Design – Secondary School Division respectively. Highlights of their works include:

Students from St. Anthony’s School built a Zero Hunger Farm in Minecraft. They utilised Face API for facial recognition to reduce food waste by calculating food portion according to the user’s age and gender. The farm is also equipped with smart food ordering machines and food storehouses. A particularly thoughtful feature is the smart protective cover automatically created by the robot Agent. The winning entry by Tung Chung Catholic School (Secondary Section) features an ‘Unlimited Design AI-assisted Farm’. Within the farm, there is an International Food Exchange, where facial recognition is used to regulate currency exchange. Together with voice recognition, it helps users from around the world to overcome language barriers and facilitate communication and fair food trade. This entry is revealing students’ world vision. With the theme ‘Bug Food Matter’, the team from Carmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School leverages AI Builder and machine learning to analyse pests, which allow farmers to identify pests and thus come up with a solution to get rid of them. The team also builds a chatbot through Power Virtual Agents, which responds to users’ questions and provides more information about the pests . (Details of the awardees available in the appendix)

The new edition of the competition has three divisions: Minecraft Education Edition – Primary School (P1 to P6) and Minecraft Education Edition – Secondary School (S1 to S6), and AI Application Design – Secondary School (S1 to S6). The level in all divisions is according to 2021/22 school year.

There is no limit on the number of participating teams a school can take part. Each team must be comprised of two to four students, and each student can only participate in one team in each division. Each team is required to design one or more solutions with Microsoft Azure AI to improve human health. Students can select one or more areas from the four specified areas to create their solutions. These areas are improving or monitoring users’ health condition, assisting users in maintaining positive mental wellness, promoting the development of medical technology and cultivating positive living habits. Once the specified area has been selected, each team has to illustrate the current situation and problems, then how AI can be used to solve the matters. The Minecraft Education Edition requires participants to design and present the strategies / solutions using Minecraft: Education Edition, and optionally to add Microsoft Azure AI APIs. The AI Application Design requires participants to design a prototype made with at least one Microsoft Azure AI capability embedded to demonstrate the strategies / solutions.

Master Code 2021 will be open for registration in late June, and there will be a series of activities, such as Minecraft workshop and AI Application Design workshop, for teachers and students. The registration will close on October 22, and the deadline for accepting entries is 6 pm on November 2. Finalists will be required to give a 10-minute presentation about their proposals to the judging panel in late October 2021, and the award ceremony will take place in December.

For details of Master Code 2021, please visit: https://www.edcity.hk/coding/en/

Appendix: Winners of Master Code 2020

Champions

First Runner-Up :

Second Runner-Up :

Notes to the Editors

Please download high-resolution photos here.

Photo Descriptions

Photo 1: Prize-giving guests include Mr Victor Cheng, Executive Director, Hong Kong Education City (Left 5), Ms Serena Cheung, Director, Public Sector Group (PSG), Microsoft Hong Kong (Right 5), Prof Yeung Yam, Principal Investigator, CUHK Jockey Club AI for the Future Project (Middle), Ms Law Tik, Senior Service Manager (Charity Services), St. James’ Settlement (Left 2), Ms Esther Ng, Acting Assistant Education Manager, Oxfam Hong Kong (Left 1) and representatives of supporting organisations and strategic partners shared the joy of the winning teams and witnessed the launch of ‘Master Code 2021: Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI’.

Photo 2: Mr Victor Cheng, Executive Director, Hong Kong Education City (Left 3), Ms Serena Cheung, Director, Public Sector Group (PSG), Microsoft Hong Kong (Left 4) and representatives of supporting organisations and strategic partners officially launched ‘Master Code 2021: Reimagine Health and Wellbeing with AI’.

Photo 3: St. Anthony’s School, the Champion of the Minecraft Education Edition – Primary School Division, builds a Zero Hunger Farm, which replaces manpower with kiosk machine in order to reduce the risk of disease transmission. Also, they utilised Face API for facial recognition to calculate food portion based on the user’s age and gender.

Photo 4: Tung Chung Catholic School (Secondary Section), the Champion of the Minecraft Education Edition – Secondary School Division, features an ‘ Unlimited Design: AI Farm Assistant ‘. Within the farm, there is an International Food Exchange, where facial recognition is used to regulate currency exchange. Together with voice recognition, it helps users from around the world to overcome language barriers and facilitate fair food trade.

Photo 5: Carmel Divine Grace Foundation Secondary School , the Champion of the AI Application Design – Secondary School Division, develops ‘Bug Food Matter’, which leverages machine learning to analyse pests. It allows farmers identify pests, then come up with solutions.

About Hong Kong Education City

Hong Kong Education City (EdCity) provides a one-stop professional education portal (EdCity.hk) with information, resources, interactive communities and online services. With the vision of ‘Actualising Future Ready Education’, EdCity continuously develops and introduces new services in the last 20 years, and endeavours to promote and support all schools in Hong Kong to adopt eLearning and innovative education.

#HongKongEducationCity

SINGAPORE – Media OutReach – 28 June 2021 – SAP (NYSE: SAP) announced that Proxtera, an intelligent and open global network of B2B marketplaces that creates seamless buying and selling opportunities and business services for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in Asia, is joining Ariba Network, the largest digital business network in the world. By joining Ariba Network, Proxtera will now be part of one collaborative, intelligent, global business network with access to new demand channels to grow its business in an increasingly digital and networked economy.

On its end, Proxtera is currently developing Proxtera Plus for its network of 350,000 businesses and SMEs. Proxtera Plus aims to provide a smooth search, product match and transaction experience for large buying organisations with a deep and diverse range of buyers and sellers from wholesale eCommerce platforms across Asia via Proxtera’s trade network of marketplaces, for example, Eezee, GlobalLinker, SGeBiz, and Sourcesage 99SME B2B. It also aims to help with compliance of purchases against internal corporate policies and enable quick digital approvals. Proxtera Plus is intended to make closing purchases easier, supported with secure payment rails and integrated fulfilment options.

Lim Kang Song, Proxtera Chairman, remarked, “Proxtera’s mission is to enable SMEs around the world to thrive in the new normal of the digital economy and access new trade opportunities previously thought out of reach. Proxtera aims to help SMEs as they recover from the impact of the pandemic and to bring us one step closer to an open, more collaborative future where businesses of all sizes, including SMEs, have great trade opportunities afforded to them as traditional corporate ecosystems.”

“It’s clear that no business does business alone. This is part of our broader vision to reimagine how businesses, including SMEs, can collaborate with a network of global trading partners across supply chains, economies and industries, and empower companies to move faster and smarter than ever before,” commented Paul Marriott, President, SAP Asia Pacific Japan.

Proxtera’s goals is to connect over 350,000 SMEs to new trading partners across a growing list of countries in Asia including Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Philippines, India as well as in Africa with Rwanda and Kenya. With each trade, Proxtera envisions to offer a host of integrated digital tools and services that helps marketplaces, platforms and SMEs more quickly, access, evaluate and act on business opportunities. The target is for SMEs to join the Proxtera network via its eCommerce platform partners to benefit from access to enterprise buyers.

About Proxtera

Proxtera’s mission is to connect the small and medium enterprises of the world by creating an open connector for B2B marketplaces, trade associations, and financial and business providers that service SMEs. Proxtera was launched in late 2020 and is the commercialisation of Business sans Borders (BSB) an initiative of the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) and Infocomm Media Development Authority (“IMDA”) that was announced in Nov 2018. Proxtera enjoys international support from corporate investors, professional investors, and government agencies from Singapore and beyond. Find out more at www.proxtera.com or via email contact@proxtera.com to connect.

About SAP

SAP’s strategy is to help every business run as an intelligent enterprise. As a market leader in enterprise application software, we help companies of all sizes and in all industries run at their best: 77% of the world’s transaction revenue touches an SAP system. Our machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT), and advanced analytics technologies help turn customers’ businesses into intelligent enterprises. SAP helps give people and organizations deep business insight and fosters collaboration that helps them stay ahead of their competition. We simplify technology for companies so they can consume our software the way they want – without disruption. Our end-to-end suite of applications and services enables business and public customers across 25 industries globally to operate profitably, adapt continuously, and make a difference. With a global network of customers, partners, employees, and thought leaders, SAP helps the world run better and improve people’s lives. For more information, visit www.sap.com.

Strives to be the “go-to” E-commerce gateway for Asian products with customers worldwide

HONG KONG SAR – Media OutReach – 28 June 2021 – YesAsia Holdings Limited (“YesAsia” or the “Company“; together with subsidiaries, the “Group“; SEHK stock code: 2209), a Hong Kong-headquartered E-commerce platform operator engaging in the procurement and sale of Asian fashion and lifestyle, beauty and entertainment products to customers around the world, has announced its proposed global offering (“Global Offering“) of shares (“Shares“) in Hong Kong and proposed listing on the Main Board of The Stock Exchange of Hong Kong Limited (“SEHK“) today.

YesAsia intends to offer 39,540,000 new shares (“Offer Shares“) at an indicative offer price range of HK$3.00 to HK$3.33 per Share (“Indicative Price Range“). About 35,586,000 Shares or 90% of the Offer Shares will be available for placing with institutional and professional investors (“International Offering“) while about 3,954,000 Shares or 10% of the Offer Shares will be available for subscription by the public in Hong Kong (“Hong Kong Public Offering“).

UOB Kay Hian (Hong Kong) Limited is the Sole Sponsor and the Sole Global Coordinator of the Global Offering.

CS Logistics Holdings Ltd., and Triple Surge Holdings Limited have agreed to subscribe for HK$30 million and HK$15 million worth of Shares, respectively, as cornerstone investors.

The aggregate net proceeds to the Company from the Global Offering, after deducting related underwriting commissions and incentive fees in connection with the Global Offering and assuming an Offer Price of HK$3.165, being the mid-point of the Indicative Price Range, will be approximately HK$93.5 million, which are intended to be applied as follows:

• approximately HK$50.5 million or 54.0% for increasing marketing efforts for customer acquisition and retention;
• approximately HK$18.8 million, or 20.1% for enhancing platform content, IT capabilities and creating satisfactory user experience to promote benefits and uniqueness of Korean beauty and fashion products;
• approximately HK$15.0 million, or 16.1% for expanding logistics fulfilment capacity and enhancing warehouse efficiency; and
• approximately HK$9.2 million, or 9.8% as general working capital.

YesAsia is engaged in the procurement and sale of Asian fashion & lifestyle, beauty and entertainment products to global customers. The Group primarily sells products through its online platforms, complemented by a portion of sales of entertainment products through its offline B2B sales channel. Its principal business activities can be divided into two business segments: (i) sales of fashion & lifestyle and beauty products on its YesStyle and AsianBeautyWholesale platforms; and (ii) sales of entertainment products on its YesAsia platform and through its offline B2B sales channel.

YesAsia launched its key opinion leader initiative in January 2018, and subsequently its award-winning YesStyle Influencer Program in February 2019, which assisted YesStyle to reach a broader worldwide audience. As of June 2021, more than 150,000 KOLs and influencers from around the world have joined the Group’s influencer marketing initiatives, providing it with a broad base of millions of followers. Revenues generated from its influencer marketing initiatives accounted for 1.2%, 7.9% and 17.4% of the total revenue of YesStyle for the three years ended 31 December 2020, respectively. The Group’s YesStyle Influencer Program received the ”Technology Excellence Award” in September 2020, granted by Hong Kong Business magazine. Their social media coverage includes social media platforms, including Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Tiktok, Pinterest and Twitter.

Looking forward, the Group aspires to become the “go-to” E-commerce gateway that bridges Asian products with customers worldwide by reinforcing marketing strategies to boost customer base and enhancing customer loyalty; increasing global penetration to build stronger brand awareness; deepening its positioning as a Korean beauty product gateway; enhancing customer experience through further investment in IT systems and in-house-produced original content; and optimizing as well as expanding its logistics network and infrastructure.

Commenting on YesAsia’s business strategy, Mr. Lau Kwok Chu, Founder, Executive Director and CEO, said: “We had been able to achieve above-industry revenue growth during the Track Record Period even in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, mainly due to our continuous effort in strengthening our marketing strategy to support customer retention and acquisition as well as long-term ecosystem development such as engaging influencers and KOLs, our efforts in establishing and building the reputation of our platforms and customer services; and wider varieties and selections of fashion and beauty products offered by our Group than some of our competitors.”

“Our strengths rest with our established E-commerce platform with a global reach, our loyal and engaged customer base driving a virtuous cycle in our business ecosystem, our proven global E-commerce sales channel for Asian product suppliers, our innovative and effective marketing strategy to support customer retention and long-term ecosystem development, and our seasoned management team and diverse corporate culture. We believe these strengthens will continue leading our success in this industry,” Mr. Lau added.

The Hong Kong Public Offering is expected to open at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, 28 June 2021 and is expected to close at 12:00 noon on Friday, 2 July 2021. Allotment results and the Offer Price are expected to be announced or made available on Thursday, 8 July 2021. Dealings in the shares on the Main Board of the SEHK are expected to commence under stock code 2209 at 9:00 a.m. on Friday, 9 July 2021.

WHITE Application Forms and Prospectus can be obtained from UOB Kay Hian (Hong Kong) Limited or any of the designated branches of Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited; or on-line via the designated HK eIPO White Form Service Provider at www.eipo.com.hk. Applicants can also instruct the Hong Kong Securities Clearing Company Limited to effect their applications by using the YELLOW Application Forms or via electronic instructions.

YesAsia Holdings Limited

Offering Statistics at-a-Glance

Note:

(1) The calculation of market capitalisation is based on the 395,390,790 Shares expected to be in issue immediately upon completion of the Global Offering

Track Record

The following is a summary of the combined results of the Group for the three years ended 31 December 2018, 2019 and 2020

JAKARTA, INDONESIA – Media OutReach – 28 June 2021 – ECOVACS ROBOTICS, following the appointment of popular Korean Actor Hyun Bin as brand ambassador and the successful launch of their latest DEEBOT series, today kicks off the “May You be a Cleaning PRO like Hyun Bin” mid-year sale campaign, a special deal for consumers wishing for a cleaning experience done like a pro. Among Tokopedia, Shopee, Blibli & Lazada online stores for ECOVACS products, the most anticipated being the “PRO deal” with the new DEEBOT N8 PRO robot vacuum bundled with the Auto-Empty Station.

DEEBOT N8 PRO, together with the Auto-Empty Station, delivers a more powerful, worry-free and automated cleaning experience with a number of key features:

• Auto-Empty Station cleans the robot’s dustbin automatically after cleaning and is equipped with a large-volume 2.5L disposable dust bag. It dramatically reduces the need for direct human interaction to empty the dustbin for up to 30 days.
• TrueDetect 3D Technology enables DEEBOT N8 PRO to avoid collisions or getting stuck with its 3D structured light technology and a 3D scanning algorithm. It scans and detects objects, down to the millimeter level.
• TrueMapping Technology allows DEEBOT N8 PRO to intelligently and effectively navigate a user’s home, choosing which rooms and floors to clean, and customizing the optimum cleaning path for each respective floor map. The Virtual Boundary™ feature can be controlled via the ECOVACS Home App, allowing users to restrict the robot from entering and cleaning specific areas, if privacy is needed.
• ECOVACS signature OZMO™️ Mopping System can efficiently clean the whole house without the need to top up the water tank repeatedly. Sensors on the DEEBOT N8 PRO automatically switches between mopping mode or disabling cloth dampening, to guarantee a safer and deeper cleaning process. The DEEBOT N8 PRO also comes with an upgraded disposable mopping pad that effectively removes stains and keeps floors clean. It can remove over 99% of bacteria together with the use of OZMO™️ Mopping technology.

Mid-year promotion – Pricing and Availability

The “PRO deal” bundle with the DEEBOT N8 PRO and Auto-Empty Station has a special bundled price of IDR 7,990,000. The special promotion for other DEEBOTs, including the flagship series DEEBOT N8 PRO, is offered at a mid-year discounted price of IDR 5,990,000.

Dedicated ECOVACS DEEBOTs come with a free giftpack and vouchers available at the official stores. The mid-year promotion period will be on 1^st July to 9^th July.

For more information, please visit ECOVACS Official Stores on Tokopedia, Shopee, Blibli & Lazada.

About ECOVACS ROBOTICS

Innovating Since Day One – Creating the Intelligent Home.

At ECOVACS ROBOTICS, we care about innovating solutions to enhance your lifestyle. Based on a deep understanding of use cases and consumer experiences, we design robots that help you to “live smart, enjoy life”.

With over 20 years of design and industry-leading research, we have led the market as homes become more intelligent and responsive. We are building a world where your home asks less of your attention, becomes more seamless and powerful, and frees you to spend more time doing what you love.

#ECOVACSROBOTICS

KUALA LUMPUR, MALASIA – Media OutReach – 28 June 2021 – ECOVACS ROBOTICS, following the successful launch of their latest DEEBOT series, today kicks off the “Clean Like a PRO” mid-year sale campaign, a special deal for consumers wishing for a cleaning experience done like a pro. There will be storewide discounts of up to 57% on Lazada and Shopee online stores for ECOVACS products, the most anticipated being the “PRO deal” with the new DEEBOT N8 PRO robot vacuum bundled with the Auto-Empty Station.

DEEBOT N8 PRO, together with the Auto-Empty Station, delivers a more powerful, worry-free and automated cleaning experience with a number of key features:

• Auto-Empty Station cleans the robot’s dustbin automatically after cleaning and is equipped with a large-volume 2.5L disposable dust bag. It dramatically reduces the need for direct human interaction to empty the dustbin for up to 30 days.
• TrueDetect 3D Technology enables DEEBOT N8 PRO to avoid collisions or getting stuck with its 3D structured light technology and a 3D scanning algorithm. It scans and detects objects, down to the millimeter level.
• TrueMapping Technology allows DEEBOT N8 PRO to intelligently and effectively navigate a user’s home, choosing which rooms and floors to clean, and customizing the optimum cleaning path for each respective floor map. The Virtual Boundary™ feature can be controlled via the ECOVACS Home App, allowing users to restrict the robot from entering and cleaning specific areas, if privacy is needed.
• ECOVACS signature OZMO™️ Mopping System can efficiently clean the whole house without the need to top up the water tank repeatedly. Sensors on the DEEBOT N8 PRO automatically switches between mopping mode or disabling cloth dampening, to guarantee a safer and deeper cleaning process. The DEEBOT N8 PRO also comes with an upgraded disposable mopping pad that effectively removes stains and keeps floors clean. It can remove over 99% of bacteria together with the use of OZMO™️ Mopping technology.

The mid-year sale also includes the newly launched DEEBOT T9, a 9-in-1 robot vacuum with TrueDetect 3D 2.0 obstacle avoidance capabilities and TrueMapping 2.0 precise navigation that combines powerful vacuuming with the OZMO™ Pro 2.0 Oscillating Mopping System and a built-in mobile air freshener.

Mid-year promotion – Pricing and Availability

The “PRO deal” bundle with the DEEBOT N8 PRO and Auto-Empty Station has a discounted price of MYR 1,999. The special promotion for other DEEBOTs, including the flagship series DEEBOT T9, is offered at a mid-year discounted price of MYR1,899 and T9 bundle Auto-Empty Station, is offered at a mid-year discounted price of MYR2,449.

Dedicated ECOVACS DEEBOTs come with a free giftpack and Up to RM77 vouchers available at the official stores. The mid-year promotion period will be on 18th June to 7th July.

For more information, please visit ECOVACS Official Stores on Lazada and Shopee.

About ECOVACS ROBOTICS

Innovating Since Day One – Creating the Intelligent Home.

At ECOVACS ROBOTICS, we care about innovating solutions to enhance your lifestyle. Based on a deep understanding of use cases and consumer experiences, we design robots that help you to “live smart, enjoy life”.

With over 20 years of design and industry-leading research, we have led the market as homes become more intelligent and responsive. We are building a world where your home asks less of your attention, becomes more seamless and powerful, and frees you to spend more time doing what you love.

#ECOVACSROBOTICS