Council comings and goings
As usual, the OUHK Council underwent changes over the year that injected new ideas and energy into this core decision-making body. In 2019, Chairman of the Council Mr Michael Wong Yick-kam (Pic 1) was reappointed in his position by the Government, with Ir Dr Conrad Wong Tin-cheung (Pic 2) newly appointed as Deputy Chairman. Dr Wong brings with him a strong reputation for public service, being a member of the Advisory Council on the Environment, member of the Energy Advisory committee and member of the Trade and Industry Advisory Board. The pair represents solid and experienced leadership for the Council over the next three years. Other reappointments of members whose terms expired in the year included those of Dr Albert Chau Wai-lap, Ms Diana Chen Ningning, Mr Arnold Cheng Ka-kui, Dr Chow Pak-chin, Prof. John Lee Chi-kin, Treasurer Mr Peter Wan Kam-to and Mr Gary Yeung Man-yui. With gratitude to their past contributions, the Council bid farewell to outgoing Deputy Chairman Dr Silas Yang Siu-shun, and members Mr Paul Chong Kin-lit, Prof. Michael Hui King-man, Dr Gerald Siu Chi-shing and Mr Henry Tong Sau-chai who retired at the end of their terms.
The Council has also welcomed a number of new members. One is Ms Catherine Mun Lee-ming (Pic 3), a Partner at Li & Partners, whose term began in June 2019. Four more new members began their terms in 2020. Prof. Joan Zuo Zhong (Pic 4), Director of the School of Pharmacy in the Faculty of Medicine of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, became a member from 1 February, while Mr Alan Cheung Yick-lun (Pic 5), Chairman and Managing Director of Grandion Industrial Limited, Dr Homer Tso Wei-kwok (Pic 6), Chairman of the Supplementary Medical Professions Council, and Mr Peter Yan King-shun (Pic 7), Chief Executive Officer of Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, all took up their positions on 20 June. Their combined and varied industry experience looks set to inject fresh insights into the Council’s deliberations.
LiPACE: from Institute to School
Although its acronym remains LiPACE, the full name of this important OUHK fixture has recently been changed to reflect its status within the University. Previously an ‘Institute’, the full name of LiPACE is now the Li Ka Shing School of Professional and Continuing Education. The change has been made to position LiPACE on the same level as the University’s other Schools, and to reflect its current programme mix. Increasingly in recent years, LiPACE has expanded its traditional part-time programme offerings for working adults to include a significant number of full-time programmes for secondary school leavers.
Special welcome to new principal officers
In addition to Prof. Lui Yu-hon who re-joined the OUHK as Vice President (Resources and Development), the University also welcomes Mr Raymond Chiu Chi-wai (Pic 8) who was appointed as the new Director of Finance and Facilities Management. Congratulations also go out to two colleagues newly promoted to unit heads, namely Ms Agnes Choi Bik-yee (Pic 9), Director of President’s Office and Director of Quality Assurance, and Ms Shi Xuemei (Pic 10), Director of Mainland and International Affairs.
Two arts extravaganzas
Each year, the University’s Creative Arts Department produces a graduation show that showcases the best of its creative talents. The theme for the 2019 graduation show, ‘Mind ‧ Blowing’, aptly summarised the challenging and stimulating work produced by the year’s graduates. Running from 21 June to 1 July 2019, the show kicked off with an opening ceremony and screening at which leading government officials officiated, including Director of Leisure and Cultural Services Department Ms Michelle Li Mei-sheung and Acting Deputy Secretary for Education Ms Elaine Mak Tse-ling, accompanied by local Chinese ink master Prof. Wucius Wong. Work by over 300 graduates went on display in the show, spanning a huge variety of genres and styles. It was exhibited over three storeys of the Jockey Club campus, and supplemented by weekend screenings of film pieces.
By contrast, the graduation show for 2020 moved online in response to the coronavirus situation in Hong Kong. Under the theme ‘Variations’, a virtual exhibition was staged on a special Graduation Show website from mid-July onwards. The 2020 show included work from one more creative arts programme, the newest Bachelor of Arts with Honours in Computing and Interactive Entertainment. Earlier, creative arts students were able to show their work at a real-world outlet when the OUHK collaborated with K11 Art Mall for the second year in a row to present a series of screenings of film works by students and graduates. The screenings kicked off in January 2020 and continued through the first quarter of the year, giving the public the chance to see film highlights such as the award-winning OUHK animation Amaryllis.
Great graduation moments
Graduation is always a highlight of the year for final-year OUHK students, and for many, a must-do activity is taking photographs in and around the OUHK campus in their graduation robes. The Alumni Affairs Office of the Public Affairs Unit commissioned a number of specially designed graduation decorations and photo backdrops for the graduating Class of 2019, which were mounted at strategic locations around the university from mid-November until early December. Incorporating bold colourful images and inspiring messages, the backdrops made perfect scene-setters for photographs of graduates with family and friends.
Proving that no one is ever too old to learn, LiPACE’s ninth Elder Academy produced 120 new graduates in 2019. The LiPACE Graduation Ceremony in July 2019 was an occasion to celebrate the learning achievements of many fine minds who have continued to pursue the acquisition of knowledge even in their golden years. At the ceremony, graduates were presented with Lifelong Learning Certificates to recognize their achievements, and a number of special awards were also handed out to outstanding learners and instructors.
Keeping alumni involved
To help counter the mood of doom and gloom generated by the pandemic, the Alumni Affairs Office of the Public Affairs Unit put together three major campaigns for the University’s valued alumni. In May 2020, alumni were invited to take part in a ‘Cheer You Up’ WhatsApp Sticker Design Campaign by converting their creative talents into WhatsApp stickers that are either appropriate for everyday use, or that deliver motivational messages. The campaign received an array of original submissions, and the sticker packs created from the choicest work have proved highly popular— with a download rate of 17,000 times to date. The Alumni Affairs Office took this further by launching a ‘We Care’ campaign series in August, making use of some of the sticker designs to produce face mask folders that were sent as gifts to alumni, and setting a five-day ‘Mood Changing Challenge’ to help chase away the blues.
Another initiative to reconnect with ‘lost’ alumni was a phonathon campaign extending from June to August, for which two OUHK interns were engaged to make contact with over 4,000 alumni. Seven hundred of these renewed ties with their alma mater by joining the Alumni Link membership scheme, while many others updated their correspondence or email addresses with the University.
Award presentation 2019
Every year, the University’s Human Resources Unit holds an Award Presentation Ceremony to honour some of the OUHK’s best performers over the year. This year’s ceremony, held on 3 December 2019, saw the President’s Award for Distinguished Achievement awarded to the team from the School of Nursing and Health Studies that runs the Jockey Club Home Health Watch Programme, in recognition of the amazing job they have done in enhancing the well-being of thousands of vulnerable elderly through the programme. A number of prizes for outstanding teaching and research achievement were awarded in the form of the President’s Awards for Teaching Excellence and the Katie Shu Sui Pui Charitable Trust— Outstanding Research Publication Award. Staff who have devoted their careers to serving the University were also not forgotten, with 111 colleagues in total receiving Long Service Awards, of whom 67 were recognized for 25 years of service and a further 17 for devoting three decades of their lives to serving the OUHK!
