Fountain of Knowledge

Mr. Philip S. K. Leung, B.Sc., M.Sc., MBA; Founder, Small Talks Circles; Founder/CEO, HelloJack! Limited

Mr. Leung, affectionately known as 'Phil' among university students, is the founder of Small Talks Circles. Owing to a troubled childhood and young adulthood Phil has developed a genuine penchant to work with young people. WWII decimated family wealth causing much distress among the Leung clans, who had to run for covers to make ends meet… At a tender age 'street kid Phil' endured 12 harshest possible years life could have presented… Fast forward three decades…during a casual meeting in 1988 with then Shanghai Mayor/Party Chief the Hon. Mr. Zhu Rongji, the seeds of a non-mainstream, social education forum had been sown… …Hong Kong parents/students are fixated on formal education at the expense of ‘other things' in life. A typical scenario is that, after having been in the workforce for years and even decades, graduates would get stuck in some mediocre positions not being able to see the light of day… Small Talks Circles attempts to add a new sight line to student life so much so that young men and women could find new skill sets and therefore a rewarding/fulfilling work life. 'Putting money where his mouth is' so to speak, Phil founded 'HelloJack! Limited in 2019 with an all-STC team – investor, featured speakers, alumni and current students. HelloJack! is a Home Improvement business powered by technology. The startup is said to be doing very well after only two years ! Phil studied Humanities at Kingsway College in Oshawa, Ontario; obtained his B.Sc. and M.Sc at the University of Manitoba; MBA from the Chinese University of Hong Kong; has had two tours of the INSEAD Senior Management Program in Hong Kong and Fontainebleau, France. Phil spearheaded Dairy Farm International’s first manufacturing joint venture in 1980 in Guangzhou and was appointed General Manager before he was poached to the Seagram Company in 1986 to lead the global giant’s investment in China, and was named Managing Director, Seagram China. He left a cushy corporate life twenty years later to venture into angel-type investments with projects in China, Vancouver and Toronto. Phil is a self-confessed classical music and art buff, his favorite subjects at dinner parties would be interior architecture, art, sports, or the great Russian composer Sergei Rachmaninoff… Phil’s pastime also includes scouting period furniture pieces of different origins. He played first and second violin at several orchestras while at high school and university – Hong Kong Youth Orchestra; Oshawa Symphony; Winnipeg Youth Orchestra; and the University of Manitoba Chamber Orchestra. At 19, he won first prize, Open Division, at the Peterborough Kiwanis Music Festival in Ontario playing Czardas by V. Monti. Phil picked up tennis late in his life and is known among the tennis circle as a tourney junkie!