After the announcement, many Hong Kong tycoons came out slamming the deal, accusing the government of favoritism and not opening the project up to public tender.
After Raphie blew away the crowd and judges (one of them offered him an internship at Facebook, another at Google), I had the opportunity to connect with him and chat about his project, how he learned to hack at the tender age of 15, and which companies excite him right now.
Aware of the potential of her project but unable to finance it she applied to a government tender scheme that allows small businesses or individuals to bid for one-off jobs with public bodies, such as cleaning or construction contracts.
Although the theatre is set to close at the end of May, the running of the venue will go out to tender with a view to it being reopened as a community project.