A sharing corner for you
Community Voices is a corner where readers can share their thoughts with other members of the FLASS community. We welcome submissions on education-related topics, inspirational life experiences, heartwarming stories that took place at EdUHK, and whatever else you believe would be a meaningful contribution.
In this issue of FLASS FORWARD, a number of graduates from the Master of Public Policy and Management programme and the Master of International Relations and Development programme in the Department of Asian and Policy Studies (APS) share with us how their studies at FLASS have broadened their horizons about public policy-making and international relationships, as well as their career aspirations. Several graduates from the Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in the Creative Arts and Culture programme in the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA) also share with us how their studies have deepened their passion for art.
Hermes Pun Kam-lam; Lo Hiu-fung; Ding Xin; Liu Dongxu; Au Ho-yin; Lee Cho-yu; Cresignia Lun Yuen-yan; Galilee Cheung
Hermes with the certificate of The Mr Clement Woo, MH, Scholarship 2021/22.
The library is where Hermes spent much of his time at EdUHK.
I worked in Hong Kong for two years after finishing my bachelor’s degree in translation and interpretation in 2019. During the years of 2019-2021, the world was undergoing big changes, and I was pondering over whether I should embrace some changes for my future development. After realising my interests lay in human resources and policy analysis, I started looking for related courses.
I came across MPPM, which provides a wide selection of courses from Human Resources Management, Organisational Behavior, Strategic Communication and Social Services Management to Managing Public Finance, International Public Management and Public Policy Governance. The programme was designed in a sophisticated manner. As I believe such knowledge will be crucial in the coming future, I enrolled in the MPPM programme for the 2021/22 academic year.
Since my first bachelor’s degree is related to neither administration nor policy management, it was a bit challenging for me to pick up unfamiliar theories and concepts. My worries were over once the programme started. The course structure and syllabus of the programme were very clear, helping me to gradually build up a framework from the fundamentals to a more sophisticated level. It also provided me with sufficient case studies and tutorials to put the knowledge into practice.
The MPPM programme has given me tremendous opportunities to explore the area of public policy through hands-on projects related to policy evaluation. The most important thing I learnt from my studies is about agenda setting. Through the programme, I also accumulated more in-depth knowledge about policy formulation. Working as a research helper during my studies, I gained precious research experience from collecting data.
To my juniors studying the MPPM programme, I encourage you to share your opinions and ideas with the professional teaching crew of APS to understand how they think and simultaneously inspire new thoughts in you. Apart from this, try linking different ideas from different courses of the programme together. I hope you can develop a wider and deeper thinking and enjoy the process of research.
My appreciation goes to the department that granted me The Mr Clement Woo, MH, Scholarship. This is a recognition of my efforts and aspiration to study in the area of in public policy and management. I’d also like to thank Mr Clement Woo for his passion and generosity in funding the scholarship, which encourages and supports students like me to pursue further studies in public policy and management.
Regarding my future career plan, I am looking for opportunities to work in the community services and public sectors. By working in these sectors, I will be able to gain more practical experiences and have a better understanding of the actual local situation.
With a strong passion for serving the community, Hiu-fung now holds management positions in youth and community service centres.
Hiu-fung in full protective gear (right), volunteers to help at testing stations.
My father served as a district councillor in 2004. Under his influence, I participated in community work from an early age. In 2016, I was elected as the youngest district council member of the Tai Po District Council. After finishing my term as a council member, I continued to serve the community and support youth work in various capacities. Since the onset of COVID-19, I have mobilised volunteers in Tai Po to support the Government’s anti-epidemic work, including packaging and distributing anti-epidemic materials, and assisting in crowd control at testing stations.
After serving the community for a number of years, I realised that I needed to strengthen my public management skills to improve my community management. Therefore, I enrolled for the MPPM programme after my term at the district council ended. With an aim to nurture future leaders for public service, the programme bolstered my knowledge and skills in policy analysis and public service management.
Currently, I hold management positions in youth and community service centres, with policy research, community services and youth work being the main focuses of my work. The best thing I have learnt from the MPPM programme is a solid academic foundation for policy research, enabling me to analyse the impact and effectiveness of a new policy more accurately and comprehensively. In this way, I could put forward policy suggestions that demand less effort to achieve, but at the same time generate greater results. By applying the solid theoretical framework learnt from the programme, I could handle practical problems encountered at work better. I also learnt how to think critically about the pros and cons of a policy initiative so that my work could bring improvements to the community more effectively.
After working in the financial PR industry for a number of years, Ding Xin feels the need to study again to gain more knowledge about international relations and geopolitics.
Ding Xin has two international scuba diving licenses. Outdoor activities help her relieve pressure both at the workplace and during her studies for her master’s degree.
After graduating with a degree in journalism, I worked as a financial reporter for a while, where I found my interest in financial PR. I subsequently changed my job to the financial PR field, where I worked for over seven years. As a financial PR professional, my main duties were to provide consulting services on overseas media relations and investor relations for my clients, who were Hong Kong-listed enterprises from banking, financial, pharmaceutical and the energy sectors. Having worked in the field for a number of years now, I have noticed that international relations and geopolitics have become a significant cause of the volatility in the financial markets. I felt the desire to gain more knowledge about international relations and geopolitics.
It has always been my dream to go back to school for further education. Since I had already achieved my career goals, I decided to return to school to pursue my master’s degree. To be honest, I wasn’t sure if the decision to go back to university to study was the right one until I became a student of the MIRD programme. I was even apprehensive that I would not be able to adapt to the campus environment after leaving school for seven years. Thankfully, I felt soothed by the campus life. Rushing to catch the shuttle bus to campus, finishing group assignments with my lovely classmates, and discussing with our helpful professors: every moment of my studies at EdUHK proved that my worries were unnecessary. Studying for the MIRD programme in EdUHK is really a decision made under the perfect conditions—at the right timing, in a favourable place and with all the supportive relationships surrounding me.
I am grateful that the department granted me the MIRD Taught Master Excellence Scholarship to support my studies. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank all our professors at APS. They have diverse academic backgrounds; they hold distinctively different but inclusive worldviews and offer different answers to the same question. Through their teaching, we learnt what “critical thinking” was.
It is pretty stressful to study under the pandemic. We need to keep a good work-life balance during both work or study. That’s why I did a lot of sports—hiking, swimming, dancing, and Pilates—to help me relieve stress. I have even earned two international scuba diving licenses.
Life is about continual learning and then breaking the glass ceiling. I am looking forward to applying what I’ve learnt to make a real impact and to continue to contribute my knowledge and experience to the finance industry.
The MPPM programme attracts many international students to enroll. Dongxu (right) likes making friends with students from various places around the world.
I have always had a strong interest in social service and public policy research. To strengthen my academic training in these areas, I decided to study for a master’s degree in Hong Kong when I was in my third year of undergraduate studies. After a preliminary study of the various programmes offered by universities in Hong Kong, I found that the MPPM programme provided by EdUHK best met my academic and career aspirations and I applied for it.
I was a social work major in my undergraduate study. In a study tour during my undergraduate years, I joined a social service course organised by Yan Oi Tong in Hong Kong, which ignited my interest in NGOs. Aligning with my interest in NGOs, I chose the Management of Social Service and Social Policy and Aging courses during my MPPM study. These two courses taught us the daily operation of an NGO and knowledge about social services. Dr Choy Bing-kong and Professor Joe Leung Cho-bun, the teachers of these courses, were very experienced experts in the field of social work in Hong Kong. Their rich social work experience, amiable character and thought-stimulating teaching approach helped me to absorb the knowledge in the classroom. The study experience with the MPPM progamme had a profound impact on my career plan: it prompted me to choose social services as my career.
The MPPM programme not only taught me “hard knowledge” like social service theory, but also inevitably enhanced my “soft skills” including language and communication skills. The Department of Asian and Policy Studies is a place where teachers and students from very diverse backgrounds get together. During my studies, I made friends with students from Thailand, Singapore, Myanmar, Hong Kong and other places. Studying and travelling with them gave me numerous chances to practice my English and Cantonese. As a result, my English and Cantonese improved a lot.
After completing the MPPM programme, I immediately applied for Social Career’s summer internship programme and became a Market Research Intern of the company. Social Career is an NGO that matches the employment needs of NGOs with people who want to take up volunteering work. The research skills and the ability to communicate in different languages acquired through the MPPM programme helped me to complete my tasks during the internship. After more than two months of internship, I successfully passed the company’s assessment and secured a full-time business analyst post at the company.
I believe people need to continuously improve themselves and adjust their life plans according to their understanding of themselves and external situations. I encourage my fellow juniors to study hard and get a higher GPA. My other advice is to make full use of resources provided by the MPPM programme to sharpen your language skills so as to achieve “biliteracy and trilingualism”. All of these will enhance your competitiveness and give you more possibilities in the future.
The BA(CAC) programme provided me with various opportunities to enrich my learning experiences, and encouraged me to step out of my comfort zone and explore different possibilities. My adventurous journey in the student exchange programme widened my horizons, broadened my knowledge and allowed me to understand the importance of cultural diversity, which also inspired my creativity and innovative mindset.
The University also assists students’ art creation through financial and technical support. During the four years of study in the BA(CAC) programme, I found my passion in life: ceramic art. I was subsidised to curate my first art exhibition with fellow classmates and participated in different art projects. These valuable experiences are beneficial to my personal and career development.
During my four years of study in the BA(CAC) programme, I have exposed myself to various art forms and developed my great passion for promoting Hong Kong arts. The programme allowed me to participate in different art activities, including an internship, community services, and education programmes. All these experiences guided me to explore the arts and cultural industry and connected the classroom theories to real-life experiences.
My undergraduate experience influenced my decision to pursue a postgraduate programme that is related to the arts industry in Hong Kong. I am now studying for a Master of Arts degree in Cultural Management at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. I believe this can build up my knowledge on top of my previous experience and help me achieve my goals as a professional arts administrator.
During my studies in the BA(CAC) programme, I developed a strong interest in community engagement, especially in the corporate sector. After graduation, I pursued my postgraduate studies in Environmental, Social and Governance. I obtained a Master of Social Science degree in Corporate Environmental Governance at The University of Hong Kong.
Currently, I am a Management Trainee at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities division, supporting one of the world’s top ten charitable donors, which proactively identifies and initiates projects that anticipate future community and social needs. My vision and mission are to devote my strengths and efforts to create innovative, sustainable and inclusive impacts for the betterment of our society.
It was a wonderful experience to have the opportunities to explore various art forms and perform a range of duties during my studies. This experience developed my flexibility and ability to take up multiple tasks when working for different arts and cultural organisations, ranging from theatre and performing arts groups to schools to heritage to overseas museums.
I am currently working at a multi-disciplinary experiential design studio as a producer. Meanwhile, I am curating a music programme series with faculties and alumni from the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts. I treasure the great friendships and connections built with all kinds of people in the arts, culture and education fields. These have been the most valuable and essential gifts in my life.
