In the past two years, the era we live in has encountered a period of unprecedented uncertainty. The lingering pandemic, the turbulent global political climate, and the ups and downs of the economic environment have thrown us into endless conflicts, confusion, and critical states. The once-familiar "common sense" is constantly being challenged. It’s difficult to expect "rationality," or to return to being "normal." The constant critical state is the transitional period of the new and the old order. It is also a time when social contradictions and the essence of human nature are fully revealed under this order.

These truths and contradictions pose difficult problems to the people of this era.

Facing, grasping, and responding to these problems is the basic responsibility of writers and content creators.

People live in the turmoil of this era, but only a few actively choose to be "on-site"—indeed, being "on-site" is not only a passive state, but also an active choice: refusing to return to the status quo, realizing we are present in the era, consciously observing, recording, and examining the reinforced and neglected problems in a rigid structure. Such "being on-site" requires keen insights into an era, an open mind devoid of indolence, and most importantly, writing and recording sincerely and courageously.

In the past three years, Matters has witnessed the continuous emergence of such "on-site writing". Deeply aware of the difficulty of such attempts, Matters and the Hong Kong Renaissance Foundation launched the "On-site Non-fiction Writing Award”, hoping to professionally and financially support writers who are persistent in recording in the front line of the era.

In an era filled with uncertainty and danger, we hope to face the challenges with you together.