Seven FLASS students receive the President Honour accolade in recognition of their academic excellence and good conduct

President Honour title is given to graduates who have demonstrated consistent academic excellence throughout their university studies and exhibited a good conduct. In 2022/2023 academic year, seven graduates from FLASS were granted that title. Graduation is an occasion for celebration. It is also an opportune time to reflect on what one has gone through in one’s university life. The follow are some of the stories of how the President Honour awardees have spent their years at the University.

Alex Yuen Yui-chit, a graduate of Bachelor of Arts (Honours) in Creative Arts and Culture and Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Visual Arts) from the Department of Cultural and Creative Arts (CCA), has enjoyed painting realistic paintings since he was a secondary school student. He said studying visual arts at University was a natural choice for him. It allowed him to fully exploit his potentials and substantially expand his perspectives on arts.

The five years at CCA has left Alex a lot of fond memories, but there were two that were particularly unforgettable. “‘The West Kowloon Community Art Creation Project’ was especially memorable. Because of the project, we had many opportunities to observe and understand Yau Ma Tei and Jordan first-hand. As a wrap-up for the project, our class needed to work together to produce the ‘Journey to the West Kowloon’ exhibition. During the preparation process, we learnt how to communicate with others, overcome difficulties, and solve problems. The strong team spirit that came out from it meant a lot to all of us,” said the CCA graduate who is now a visual arts teacher at a local primary school.

The graduation tour to Mongolia gave Alex another sweet memory to cherish. Alex had never been to a developing country like Mongolia before that tour in which he discovered that there were different kinds of happiness in the world. “During the tour, we did volunteer works like organising games for Mongolian kids and helped repair a local farm. When we gave papers and pens to small kids to draw, they were very happy. When they had a football to play with, they were filled with joy. The tour taught me that even though children in other parts of the world don’t have material possessions as abundant as kids in Hong Kong, they have their own ways to find happiness,” Alex joyfully recalled.

Hailing from Hebei Province, Sabrina Dong Jinghan became a geography teacher in a local secondary school after finishing her studies of the Bachelor of Education (Honours) (Geography) (Five-year Full-time) programme. “I have liked travelling since secondary school and found that geographical knowledge can enhance my understanding of a place. Different places have different landscapes, which reveal its physical environment, human society, and their interactions. Studying geography helped me understand the diversity of our planet Earth,” she said.

As a geography major, Sabrina and her classmates went to places like Sai Kung Geopark, Hoi Ha Wan Marine Park, and Tai Wai Nullah to carry out field works, which have left her with many blissful memories. One of these was about how she spent her first birthday in the city. “My classmates and I were having a fieldtrip in Wu Kai Sha to understand coastal management. During the trip, we observed the landscape and geological features around a beach. After which, my classmates invited me to have dinner together and celebrated my birthday. This was my first birthday celebration in Hong Kong.  I felt touched,” she recollected.

Serving the local community through the Wofoo Leaders’ Network of the University was another memorable experience for Sabrina. “I served as a service leader of the University Student Affairs Office and later a committee member of the network. The platform involved people with very diverse background: some committee members grew up locally, some came from mainland China like me and some from other cultural backgrounds. Despite these differences, we shared a common passion to serve people. Participation in the network helped me understand the authentic side of local community. It has helped me integrate into Hong Kong,” Sabrina said.

Studying part-time while working full-time always means extra difficulties. Without denying the hardship, Dorcas Ho Tsz-yan said she was grateful that she found a lot of support from her teammates. “There were many group projects under the Bachelor of Health Education (Honours) (Three-year Part-time) programme. As my teammates were all part-time students, we understood the challenge of managing a job and university studies at the same time. We worked closely together on our group projects and supported each other to achieve the group tasks. It wasn't until I left EdUHK that I truly understood my deep connection with my class mates,” she said.

Dorcas has continued working in a dental clinic during daytime throughout the three-year programme. During three years of studies, Dorcas needed to work with her teammates to design various inflection prevention and control, and health education programmes for targeted groups assigned by teachers. In one of her coursework, Dorcas and her teammates visited a home for juvenile delinquents to encourage them to quit smoking shisha, aka tobacco waterpipe. “Young people like hanging out with shisha, and many of them believe shisha is less harmful than cigarettes. We designed a programme to make them aware of the fact that no matter whether it is shisha or cigarettes, smoking can seriously damage their health,” Dorcas said.

“I shared the joy and pride of all the awardees of the President Honour title. They exemplified the very meaning of academic excellence. I am glad to know that they all had wonderful time learning, endeavouring to complete their projects and getting along with their classmates at this University. I am sure the knowledge and experience they acquired here, and the unforgettable memories with their classmates and teachers will continue to support them as they embark on the next stage of their lives,” Professor Li Wai-keung, Dean of FLASS, said.

Students on the President’s Honour accolade are: