Teacher-student bonds beyond A-Team
Dr Irene Siaw Siw-chu and students
I regard my students as my friends. As teacher and students, all connections end with graduation, but friendships are much longer lasting.
Dr Irene Siaw Siw-chu (Head of Office of Student Development and Services, Associate Professor, Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration)
After running for a decade, the A-Team Student Development Programme has now become a signature brand of the Lee Shau Kee School of Business and Administration. Every now and then, news of A-Team members winning laurels in external competitions brings elation. The well-trained A-Team students are known to have a commanding presence on the stage and can navigate large-scale events with ease. Surely any discussion of the A-Team cannot go without mention of the programme's person in charge, Dr Irene Siaw, whose protégés — four of whom she invited to attend this interview — caught up with her enthusiastically as soon as she appeared.
To begin with, the A-Team is a typical elite student training programme, which recruits the School's top students in their second or third year through interviews, with the goals of enhancing their integrated skills, encouraging them to reach out to the community and helping them transcend themselves through competitive challenges. It is effective, as demonstrated by graduate Yo Yo Chan, who says, “Thanks to the A-Team, I built up quite an extensive industry network before graduation. Some had even learnt about me from the media exposure I had!”
But more than hardware resources, there is a secret weapon to the A-Team's success: the dedication of Dr Siaw and her team. Irene, as her students address her, completely turned around the serious, strict image associated with senior university professors. Timson Lau, who joined the A-Team this year, observes, “She never parts with her phone at events. She's always busy taking pictures of students and guests.” Among the guests are top management representatives of large companies. The pictures can mean a lot to newbies in the job market.
Timson met Irene when he was in Year 1. A member of the team formed for the intercollegiate Tax Debate Competition had to withdraw, so Irene invited him to take over on a colleague's recommendation. Entering Irene's office with a bit of anxiety, Timson found himself chatting with someone approachable, who encouraged him with pictures of senior-year students winning competitions. “In my first year, I was rather withdrawn,” he recounts. “But Irene said to me, 'you should take the initiative to strike up conversations and look for like-minded students to participate in competitions together. ' Only then did I start making breakthroughs.”
For Andy Sun, one of Timson's like-minded teammates, his most memorable experience with Irene was in a recent case competition. The night before the required paper was due, he was overwhelmed by the amount of still-unsorted work. Breaking down in tears, he gave Irene a ring. “There was no particular reason for that,” recalls Andy. “I just thought of her and made the call without a second thought.” It was a Saturday evening, but Irene picked up the call in the middle of a gathering of friends and calmed the student down right away.
The students also look up to Irene as a powerful role model. As Jason Wong expresses, “I want to gain her recognition in various respects because she sets the standard — and she always knows whether we're up to standard. I won't doubt myself as long as I get her approval.”
Irene's concern for her students has attracted many of them to seek her advice in the face of life decisions. This is especially true for Yo Yo, who was exceptionally admitted into the A-Team by Irene when she was just in Year 1 and remained on team for four years. “When I was a student and after I started working, she's always been there,” she says. Indeed, Irene even went as far as to deliver a ticket for the graduation ceremony at the door of Yo Yo's workplace with her husband, knowing that the graduate was too tied up to pick it up on campus. For Yo Yo, “Irene is not just a university professor. She's my life mentor and even my second Mama.” There is nothing she will keep from her mentor.
The apprentices' heartfelt words left Irene in joyful tears and sometimes embarrassing smiles. “I don't want them to call me Mama,” Irene says with a chuckle. “And I don't actually think I'm treating my students much better than other teachers do. I just do as I would naturally, regarding them as my friends. As teacher and students, all connections end with graduation, but friendships are much longer lasting.” Like friends, Irene knows the temperaments, strengths and weakness of her individual students. This has allowed her to place them in suitable positions in which they can achieve their best.
Interviewed students
Yo Yo Chan Hiu-tung (Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours in Business Intelligence and Analytics 2022, A-Team member 2018–2022)
Timson Lau Tin-san (Year 2, Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours in Global Marketing and Supply Chain Management, A-Team member from 2023)
Andy Sun Andi (Year 4, Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours in Professional Accounting, A-Team member from 2021)
Jason Wong Chun-san (Year 3, Bachelor of Business Administration with Honours in Professional Accounting, A-Team member from 2022)
