With start-ups being hailed as engines of economic growth around the world, HKMU has been sparing no effort to support innovation and entrepreneurship on campus over the past decade. Through the annual MetroChallenge organised by the Student Affairs Office (SAO), which provides seed funding to help students and recent graduates apply their business ideas in real-world settings, a total of $4 million has been granted since 2017.
This year, our Graduate Employment Survey revealed a clear trend of growing numbers of graduates who have started or are planning to start their own business. With this in mind, the University has decided to further promote the entrepreneurial spirit among members of the HKMU community by setting up the HKMU Startup Fund (HKMUSF) with an initial fund of HK$50 million, with eligibility extended to staff and alumni.
Vice President (Research and Student Development) Prof. Ricky Kwok Yu-kwong says, 'The University encourages all members of the HKMU community to unleash their creativity and step out of their comfort zones. We believe that the experience they gain in the process of starting a business would benefit their career development and personal growth.' The new initiative has gained full support from the University Council. Several Council members who are entrepreneurs and have previously invested in successful start-ups will also join the management team of the HKMUSF to share their experience and wise counsel.
Meanwhile, the SAO, as a unique platform for fostering entrepreneurship among students, continues to run different types of training and activities. The Entrepreneurship Month held in February presented a series of sharing sessions covering design thinking, business models, pitching skills and social enterprises. On 25 and 26 February, the HKMU Entrepreneurship Weekend Market gave students the chance to try their hand at entrepreneurship at D2 Place, Lai Chi Kok. Twenty stalls offering a diverse range of products were set up and run by the students. Complemented by workshops and student musical performances, the weekend market attracted over 2,000 visitors.
Following the close of application for this year's MetroChallenge in late May, nine teams stood out from the pool of participants and each received a HK$100,000 Implementation Fund and a range of entrepreneurial support. On 6 July, the winning teams presented their proposals and met with seasoned entrepreneurs at the inaugural HKMU Entrepreneurship Day. The event also featured a keynote speaker, Chairman and Managing Director of Grandion Group and member of the University Council Mr Alan Cheung, who shared his valuable experience of establishing and managing a successful business while speaking on the topic of unconventional strategies for entrepreneurial success.
The Student Affairs Office has been organising various career education programmes to help students explore their career interests and prepare themselves for joining the workforce. Among them is the Fountain of Knowledge (FoK) programme, which aims to enrich students' learning beyond the classroom through a wide range of non-academic activities that help broaden their horizons, enhance their language skills and expand their personal networks. Meanwhile, the Student Ambassador programme seeks to recruit passionate students to lead different roles in key University events, while developing their interpersonal and leadership skills as well as career readiness competencies through a series of training workshops.
During this academic year, a total of eight FoK activities were held with themes covering Halloween, the World Cup, Chinese martial arts, cuisine culture and company visits. The Student Ambassadors took different positions in each activity and played a major role in event design, planning and implementation. During the process, they learnt from professionals in various fields, developed their organisational and communication skills, and became familiar with different aspects of business etiquette. The highlight of the year was the Networking Dinner held on 14 April, where Ms Natalie Chung Sum-yue, a member of the HKSAR’s Green Tech Fund Assess-ment Committee, was invited to share her experience in an expedition to Antarctica, marking a perfect end to the FoK programme.
The coordination work of Meaning Behind Cuisine is the most memorable and beneficial to me. From designing the event run-down, planning the workflow and arranging the logistics, to writing the MC scripts and receiving guests, every detail was taken care of by our group of student ambassadors. This experience helped a lot in honing my communication and organisational skills.
I was the master of ceremonies (MC) for the cuisine culture event and the Networking Dinner. This authentic experience allowed me to practise the emceeing skills I learnt from the workshop, such as creating the right vibe and responding quickly on the spot. Later I even got the chance to serve as the MC of Talk of the Metropolis, which was an eye-opener and a real honour for me.
I was delighted to be selected to video and photograph six of the events and be involved in the subsequent editing work, which gave me a great confidence boost. I'm a bit of an introvert and taking part in these events allowed me to meet a lot of people and make new friends. This not only helped widen my social circle but also improve my communication skills.
This year's Creative Arts Graduation Show was held from 14 to 23 July with film producer Mr Gordon Lam and individual artist Mr Felix Ip being the officiating guests of the opening ceremony. Under the theme 'Imagination is your playground', graduates from five programmes explore their fantastic imagination and dreams by showcasing their infinite creativity in various types of artwork.
Note:
AMVE: Animation and Visual Effects
CIE:Computing and Interactive Entertainment
CAMD: Creative Advertising and Media Design
CWFA:Creative Writing and Film Arts
PHTO: Cinematic Design and Photographic Digital Art
Set in the future Metropolis of Animals, the animation presents the breathtaking adventure of two animal characters, a sheep and a fox. Embodying black comedy elements, Hui Cheuk-wing and Yau Hoi-yu's animation explores the reality behind fur trade and reveals the law of the jungle.
Ng Cheuk-him, Tam Wai-yan, Choi Yung-yung, Chung Ho-wai and Liu Tsz-ching designed an advergame for the energy drink Monster Energy to enhance users' experience of the brand through interactive games, advertising videos and social media challenges.
Yeung Lap-zhing, Tse Tsz-man, Leung Tak-yip and Chu Ching-man produced a film about a secondary school boy's encounter with a girl who, despite having amblyopia, is devoted to photography. Unfortunately, they are separated by an accident. After many years, the boy finally faces his past and tries to look for a new direction in life.
Adopting mixed reality (MR) technology, Lam Tsz-fung, So Yuen-kak, Wong Wai-hin and Kam Ho-fai created a racing game in which the players can see virtual game elements displayed in reality by wearing MR glasses. Players can then use hand gestures to remotely control the mini-car in the real world.
Wu Lok-hang presents an art installation in which two persons from different time zones and cities stand in front of a camera and connect with each other through movements and language. They also engage with the audience from time to time to explore the meaning of 'presence'.
The Student Affairs Office (SAO) held its first large-scale physical career fair since the pandemic from 7 to 9 March, bringing fresh graduates and students over 2,000 job vacancies and internship places from over 100 employers coming from more than 20 sectors. Meanwhile, the School of Open Learning organised a Career Week from 24 to 29 April, providing a series of career-related webinars for distance-learning and part-time stu-dents, equipping them for future career development.
The SAO recently launched the Me&U Career Mentorship Programme, inviting alumni in different industries as mentors to share their workplace experience with students. The programme features various workshops and mock interview sessions to help student mentees get prepared for the workplace under the guidance of alumni mentors.
Funded by the Katie Shu Sui Pui Charitable Trust, the first post-pandemic tour to the Greater Bay Area (GBA) was held between 18 and 21 June. Nearly 30 student leaders visited various enterprises and famous landmarks in Guangzhou and Shenzhen, as well as Sun Yat-sen University to further deepen their understand-ing of the GBA's business, academic and cultural developments. The journey's sponsor, HKMU Honorary Doctor and alumna Dr Katie Shu Sui-pui also joined the tour with President Prof. Paul Lam to set off on the journey.
In the HKSAR Government's Self-financing Post-secondary Scholarship Scheme this academic year, 941 full-time students were awarded a total of HK$16.7 million. Both the awards and total amount of scholarships reached a record high.
Student of the Creative Advertising and Media Design programme Natalie Ng Wing-yee and student of the Applied Psychology and Business Management programme Raphael Tang Yiu-ting received the For Our Future Scholarship from the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation for their outstanding academic performance and passion for community affairs. They were each awarded a scholarship of HK$50,000 and will be arranged to join exchange activities in Greater Bay Area cities.
HKMU athletes proved their sporting talents in University Sports Federation of Hong Kong (USFHK) competitions this year. In taekwondo, Wong Tsz-hin and Wong Shuk-han won gold medals in the Men's Black Belt (under 80 kg) and Women's Black Belt (under 49 kg) events respectively, while Cheung Ho-chai captured the second runner-up in Men's Black Belt Poomsae (Style 7 and KeumGang). Overall, HKMU ranked fourth in both the men's and women's divisions.
Apart from these achievements, the University's dragon boat team won the second runner-up in the Mixed Small Boat race of the USFHK Dragon Boat Championship, while in the USFHK Annual Athletic Meet, Cheng Cheung-hung finished the Men's 100 m final with a gold medal.
Two business teams returned from intercollegiate case competitions with flying colours. A five-student team was crowned champion in the Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport in Hong Kong (CILTHK) Student Day 2023, while a team of four won the second runner-up in the HSBC/HKU Hong Kong Business Case Competition 2023, making it the third year in which HKMU won the top three positions.
Photo credit : Swire Properties Placemaking Academy 2023
Four B&A and A&SS students teamed up and participated in the Swire Properties Placemaking Academy 2023. Their creative proposal for the White Christmas Street Fair stood out among the ten participating teams and they were offered a six-month paid apprenticeship to execute their idea for the event.
Four students of the Creative Advertising and Media Design programme won the Best Craft of Copy award in the HK4As Students' Award 2022 with their work 'Feed the boars, you are a loser!'.
Two S&T students attained recognition for their innovation projects. Chan Kit-lam's project, VR Metaverse in Kowloon City, won a gold award in the tertiary or above stream of the Greater Bay Area STEM Excellence Award 2023 (HKSAR), while Ramsha Minhaj received a third-class award in the information technology category at the 9th Hong Kong University Student Innovation & Entrepreneurship Competition with her project Brain Computer Interface Feedback System for Dementia Patients.
Five E&L students won prizes in the 10th Hong Kong Outstanding Prospective Teachers Award coorganised by the Hong Kong Prospective Teachers Association and the Hong Kong New Generation Cultural As-sociation: Wong Wing-ki won a silver award; Alde Lorenzo Alfonso Dela Cruz, Lau Ka-ki and Yam Tsz-yan each obtained a bronze award; and Lam Hoi-ching received a merit award.
