In his closing remarks, Mr Anthony Chow spoke about the challenges crippling cities of today: ageing societies, degrading and overlooked mental well-being, and slow progress on the sustainable development goals.

Mr Chow reiterated Professor Heckman’s urge to focus on new-age innovation while imbibing learning from the previous generation. He also spoke passionately about Professor Yunus’s determination, and how we were like seeds which if not nourished well, would turn us into ‘Bonsai People’. Playing sports, he noted, was not just for well-being but served as a catalyst for social change and equity. He lauded the devotion of Mr Michael Phelps and Mr Yao Ming to social welfare through their respective focus areas. Reinforcing what Mr Phelps had said during his lunch talk, he encouraged everyone to remove ‘cannot’ from their vocabulary so as to infuse more optimism and drive into their goals.

Speaking about the aggressiveness required to accelerate and deepen impact, Mr Chow said we should not shy away from the hard issues, like how urbanisation might be impeding the SDGs. We could take inspiration from Professor Sandel’s presentation, exploring the limits of markets to deliver social impact. Looking forward, he opined that strong partnership and deeper collaboration were two key levers for success. Their potential was still underestimated, he believed. It was through long-term collaboration that we could all tackle global issues like global warming – but the clock was ticking. He closed by thanking all delegates and encouraging them to continue the dialogue. He was hopeful that this was a good start for us all to go back and make our own cities better places to live.