HKU PGSA Newsletter 2014

The HKU Postgraduate Campus Life Survey

To address issues which PGSA can help to improve so that the campus life of postgraduates in HKU can be enhanced,

we conducted a HKU postgraduate Campus Life Survey earlier in Jun 2014. The results of the survey are also published

on our website.

Demographics

Newsletter

Newsletter 2013/2014

The HIGHLIGHTS The

An organization of the postgraduates, by the postgraduates, and for the postgraduates.

2013/2014 The Newsletter

Majority are satisfied with their

academic life and did not face any

problems in their study.

We will help to address the problems

raised (major problems include

language, writing, coursework and

workload).

29% are not sure or not aware of whom

to seek help from. We will work on this

to provide more detailed information.

As a rule of thumb, look for:

1. Graduate School (for academic

related issues, including issues with

supervisor. In some cases, they may

refer you to the faculty office)

2. CEDARS (for non-academic issues

including accommodation and campus

life)

3. PGSA (for advice on whom to seek

for. We, as a collective of students with

experience in HKU can help in giving

advice on whom to seek for and at the

same time help to communicate with

the relevant personnel)

Majority are satisfied with life in HKU

overall, we will help to address the

problems raised (problems include

social life, accommodation and

canteen).


Majority have small social circle and

wish to enlarge their social circle.

PGSA has been organizing various

social activities and we will continue to

provide more activities for

postgraduates to enlarge their social

circle and make more friends.

27% felt that language is a problem in

HKU, majority of these are Cantonese

related, followed by English, and then

Mandarin.

24% felt that their income is not

enough for living and tuition fees.

Besides those that do not have an

income, accommodation appears to be

the problem for those who did not get

hall on campus. We will keep an eye

on the rate of PGS as well.


21% encountered accommodation

problems. Problems include hall

application (unclear process and little

transparency) and high rental (for off

campus).

1 being very dissatisfied

5 being very satisfied


We also gathered useful feedbacks and suggestions from fellow postgraduates. These suggestions include constructive

feedbacks for past activities, suggestions on activities and services that PGSA can provide, as well as how PGSA can

better serve the postgraduates. We also note that there are some areas that we can improve and we thrive to make them

better. We will look at and work on the issues and problems. For the issues that involve the university, we will

communicate with the relevant personnel directly and through the representatives in various university committees. We

thank you for your participation and together we can enhance the campus life of postgraduates in HKU. If you have any

further feedbacks or wish to talk to us, feel free to do so by dropping us an email.

PGSA Orientation 2013

PGSA Orientation, one of the biggest events in the coming academic year, was launched at the beginning of the new

semester. The orientation program included several activities.

HKU CEDARS Orientation 2013 – Parallel Session for PGSA was held on August 30, 2013. General information about

HKU and PGSA was introduced to new postgraduate students during the session. Professor Ben Young, the Assistant

Dean of Graduate School gave a welcome speech to briefly introduce the postgraduate life in HKU. Ms. Yu Miaomiao, the

President of PGSA, gave lecture about the history and nature of PGSA as well as the current Executive Committee and

the planning of activities in 2013-2014. Mr. Xu Siyang, the outgoing President reviewed the previous activities held by

PGSA during 2012-2013 and shared experience and tips of HK and HKU life. Ms. Elaine Chan, the Clinical Psychologist

of CoPE, introduced the service of CoPE, including the person enrichment workshops and programs.

During the orientation, PGSA set up counter at Run Run Shaw Podium for New Member Recruitment. The PGSA Member

Online Registration System was opened to use this year. PGSA’s first formal membership cards were distributed among

our members from this year. With the effort of EXCOs and helpers, PGSA recruited about 450 members this year. All new

members received Welcome bags which contained PGSA notepad, PGSA envelop and other souvenirs.

The Notebook Ownership Programme continued to run this year. It provided considerable discount of notebook to all

postgraduate students. Three phrases of roadshow were held on campus during September. Online order system was

also available. The notebooks can be collected started from October.

72 new members joined the City Tour on September 7, 2013. It was a small trip started from the east gate of HKU, then to

central, and ended at the Stanley Bay. This tour helped the newly admitted postgraduate students to explore the beauty of

Hong Kong.


About 90 new members participated in the Welcome Party which was held in Global Lounge on September 9. With the

interesting small games, the party provided a good chance for new postgraduate students to meet new friends and to get

to know each other.


Sparking Biotech Innovation in South China: What Role Does Hong Kong Play?

The Great Learning Forum entitled “Sparking Biotech

Innovation in South China: What Role Does Hong Kong

Play?” was co-organized by PGSA and OBR-HK chapter

and held on Tuesday, 29th April, 2014 in the Rayson

Huang Theatre at the University of Hong Kong. We

brought together venture capitalists, industry leaders and

entrepreneurs from both Hong Kong and Mainland

China. Here are the panel members: Reinhard

Renneberg, Professor in biotechnology in HKUST;

Stephen Lee, Partner in Ventac Partners; Eddie Ching,

Manager in Biotech Cluster, Hong Kong Science &

Technology Parks Corporation; Xueping Chen, Co-

founder, Director and CTO in

Vitargent International Biotechnology

Limited; Mingjie Zhang, President in

Shenzhen HANK Bioengineering

Limited. The panel discussion was

followed by a networking reception

with food and refreshments. With

students, postdocs, and faculty from

HKU, HKUST and HKCU, as well as

industry professionals from local

startups, biotech companies, and

venture capital firms, this event

provided an amazing opportunity for

all to have a freely open discussion on

the future of biotech in Hong Kong.

Dating Workshop for Postgraduate Students

Are you longing for a dating relationship? Are your clear about what you expect in a relationship? In April 2014, PGSA

invited Ms Elaine Chan, Ms Olivia Jung and Heidi Tseng from CEDARS to provide a dating workshop for our postgraduate

students. In this three-hour workshop, Ms Chan provided professional advices on how to develop and maintain a healthy

relationship with one’s boyfriend/girlfriend, and answer to the questions in a relationship. Fellow postgraduates students

got know more about (i) how to get a better self-understanding about expectation on lover relationship, (ii) gender

differences and (iii) communication and interpersonal skills.


Crossing Borders with Dance

In April 2014, the Postgraduate Student Association (PGSA) in association with CEDARS presented “Crossing

Borders with Dance”, a unique dance workshop series. We had invited dance professionals from Indian Dance, Belly

Dance and African Dance to organize workshops at HKU for free!

Below are short descriptions of our dance instructors and photos from our dance classes:

Indian Dance

Oxana Banshikova is a

Bharatnatyam performer, teacher

and choreographer from

Kazakhstan. She is a scholarship

recipient from the Indian Council

for Cultural Relations and was

awarded a Diploma in

Bharatnatyam Classical Dance

from the world famous Kalakshetra

College of Fine Arts (Chennai,

India) after completing a four-year

course. She has also received a

diploma in Nattuvangam (rhythmic

dance accompaniment) from

Kalapeetam Music School

(Chennai, India).

African Dance

Oulami Sooj, established in early

2005, the African Drumming and

Dance Connection Company was

set up to inspire people to learn

about African culture and art, with

a mission to honour African

rhythms, make beautiful music and

dance. Director Makha Diop was

born and raised in Senegal, West

Africa where he grew up playing

djembe, a traditional African drum,

and other percussion instruments.

Makha progressed quickly with his

drumming and soon became a

member of the Africa Djembe

group. This unique and talented

group of drummers regularly plays

at local and international festivals,

and has performed in front of many

famous people, including Bill

Clinton, Nelson Mandela and Pope

John Paul the second, who visited

Makha's hometown, Goree Island.

Belly Dance

Suzette Ackermann was born in

Durban, on the East coast of South

Africa. She found her passion in

dance, theatre and music from a

young age. She started her dance

training in ballet and later moved

on to modern and contemporary

stage, while studying theatre.

Suzette is well known for having

her own personal style, a blend of

traditional with new. She believes

that dance is a celebration of life, a

way of expressing oneself through

movement in a more artistic way,

rather than dancing for ego or

competing to be the best.


“Insight of Financial Sector” – Youth Career Development Forum

Do you aspire to join the financial sector and want to know the career tips about it? Do you want to set up you own

business after graduate? Staying and studying (and for most locals growing up) in Hong Kong, we are all familiar with the

sector as Hong Kong is the financial hub in Asia and one of the top world financial centres. For many graduates, financial

sector is their first aim in career.

In this forum, postgraduates have met the tycoons in the industry. The speakers shared their successful experience from

practice and offered advice for entering the sector in career planning. Moreover, they offered their view on the

development of financial sector in the post-financial-crisis period. For those who have interest in setting up a business,

they could also find out how investors assess a new business.

Below is the list of guest speakers:

1. Mr. Fang Fang (方方), Former Asia Vice Chairman and CEO of China, J.P. Morgan Investment Banking;

2. Mr. Zeng Xiaosong (曾曉松), Partner and Head Greenwoods Asset Management Hong Kong;

3. Ms. Yang Xiaodan (楊小丹), Assistant General Manager, China Life (Overseas);

4. Ms. Ren Pinjie (任頻捷), Co-founder, Talker Inc;

5. Mr Hou Anyang(侯安揚), Investment director of Front Sea Asset Management Ltd. In Shenzhen;

6. Ms Candice CHEUNG, Senior Student Advising Officer, CEDARS, HKU


HKU-PGSA Career Workshop: Step on Career Path in Hong Kong

It’s our common desire to start our career in Hong

Kong after graduation. However, few of our

postgraduates are able to achieve this goal when leaving

the university. Hence, Postgraduate Student Association

organized PGSA career workshop & alumni sharing in

December 2013 to help current postgraduates and

provided career-related resources and experience. We

invited Mrs. Jean Brokeshire, Chief Student Advising

Officer from CEDARS, to give us a plenary talk about

resources and guidance in job hunting.

Lots of data and statistics were included in her lecture

concerning past employment status of postgraduates.

Candidate employers of postgraduates from different

disciplines were also listed in the presentation. The

information she conveyed was so popular that we

needed to provide a Google Drive link to share her

presentation slides with the audience.

Our second speaker was Mr. Liu Dongbai from

Gangpiaoquan. After introducing activities held by

Gangpiaoquan, he also shared personal experience as a

graduate from Hong Kong Baptist University and how he

managed to find a job in HK. Also, he gave advice for

fresh graduates to set sail for career. After tea break, all

participants were grouped together with our six alumni,

who shared their experience and perspectives in job

hunting, and exchanged their views on issues of

common interest. The workshop started from 10am and

ended three and half hours later, about 90

postgraduates were attracted to join our event, which is

rare for an activity held in Sunday morning, especially

during examination period.

With the positive feedbacks from audience, such service

by PGSA career workshop will be continued in the

coming semester. See you there, dear friends!


The Volunteer team

The social program office of HKU PGSA established a

volunteer team in March, 2014 to set up a close link with

society and try to serve the community at large. We

encouraged students to involve in community services,

environment protection and so on actively through

joining our team. In one way, students are taught how to

apply their professional knowledge and skills to the

public and also, they share the spirits of sacrifice and

devotion. This team at the same time is treated as good

image and reputation of PGSA, like a window to the

outside.

After sending out enrollment form to all postgraduates,

we got hundreds of responses and only 50 of people

were admitted to the team by our selection criteria. The

finalists are not only the students who are keen on

volunteer work and willing to sacrifice, but also the ones

who are capable in the planning, organization and

implementation of the service projects.

By far we have successfully held several activities since

its establishment; here we concluded some highlights of

them.

Glass Bottles Recycling in Lan Kwai Fong

Environmental protection is a practice of protecting the

natural environment on individual, organizational or

governmental levels, for the benefit of both the natural

environment and humans. In HK, there is a fact that the

landfills are almost full and it is appreciated if all the

wastes can be recycled. Under the cooperation with “2G

Together” (同心網絡), our first activity "玻璃回收建明天"

was held on 4th, April. With the instruction under the

responsible officers from them, we collected about 1T

empty bottles and had a better understanding about how

does bottle recycling function in HK.

Here is a link for you all to know about this project：

http://glassrecycling.hk/

Recycled Glass Bottles Painting Workshop

It is essential to cultivate the children with awareness of

environment protection so that we conduct a painting

workshop by using our recycled glass bottles. Our

second activity " 玻璃繪畫工作坊" was held on 12th April.

After all our team members gathered in Sai Wan, we

helped to initiate the workshop beside the road. The

responsible officer from "同心網絡" gave us a briefing

before the formal commence and then allocated us the

duty according to our preference. Some of us were

charge of the project promotion to the public, while

others were helping in color drawing with children. Our

activity ended up in the afternoon and the children were

very satisfied with this meaningful workshop.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_environment

http://glassrecycling.hk/


Easter Egg Painting Workshop on Easter Day

With the quickening pace of daily life, parents spend

fewer and fewer time with their children. In order to

enhance their accompanying time, we conduct a

painting workshop again for children on Easter Day.

The activity was to assist the kids paint their own

Easter Egg at Sai Ying Pun Community Complex. 15

of us joined to work with other local service crew to

deliver this workshop. Four sessions of painting were

carried out from 11 am to 5 pm with near 100 children

participated. Everybody there including the kids, their

parents and also ourselves enjoyed the process a lot,

you can see their happy faces in images attached

below.

Community Service

Community service allows those participating to reflect

on the difference they are making in society. Some

participants of a community service project may find

themselves gaining a greater understanding of their

roles in the community, as well as the impact of their

contributions towards those in need of service. With a

land mass of 1,104 km2 and a population of over seven

million people, Hong Kong is one of the most densely

populated areas in the world. Hong Kong's population is

93.6% ethnic Chinese and 6.4% from other groups. The

unison for people from diverse races is an important part

in the community and this time we hold a community

unison party to enhance the relationship and create a

favorable atmosphere for people coming from different

countries living in Hong Kong Island (mainly living in the

Centre, Sai Wan and Sheung Wan). This time, the

activity is sponsored by HSBC(Hong Kong and Shang

Hai Banking Corporation), 2GTOGETHER(同心網絡 ),

YWCA(Young Women's Christian Association) and so

on. In the party there are dancing & singing performance,

games, instant photography and the work for volunteers

are props preparation, game place arrangements, event

photographing etc.

We are looking forward to your participants in us upon

our team restarts again in September!!!

“2014-3-1 Caring for the elderly: Poon Choi feast”

“2014-3-1 老人關懷之盆菜宴”


University Lodge Visit

The “PGSA University Lodge Visiting” was

successfully held on Saturday, March 1, 2014.

Honorable guests attending this event included Vice-

Chancellor, Professor Lap-Chee Tsui; Dean of Graduate

School, Professor N. Rao; Associate Dean and Director

of Examinations of Graduate School, Professor M.L.

Chye; Associate Dean and Programme Director

(Outreach) of Graduate School, Professor B. Young;

Registrar, Mr Henry Wai; Dean of Student Affairs, Dr

Albert Chau; Director (counselling and Personal

Enrichment) of CEDARS, Dr Eugenie Leung; Director

(Campus Life) of CEDARS, Mr Patrick Tang; Director

(Careers and Placement) of CEDARS, Ms Jaime Fung;

Head of Research Services, Ms Ivy Mak; Administrative

Assistant of Graduate School, Ms Wendy Ho; Master of

Graduate House, Professor Billy Chow; Warder of

Morrison Hall, Dr Kenneth Leung; Master of Residential

College, Dr Sarah Liao; and Deputy Master of

Residential College, Dr Albert Ko.

The “PGSA University Lodge Visiting” has been a

conventional event of PGSA since 1993. It aims to

provide postgraduates a unique opportunity to interact

and communicate with the Vice Chancellor,

distinguished professors, student affairs directors as well

as PGSA Executive Committee members on issues

which concern them or on matters you would require

clarity in a friendly environment.

The tea gathering begins with welcome speech from

Professor Lap-Chee Tsui and the Chairperson of PGSA,

Ms. Yu Miaomiao. Further to this section, the “PGSA

Talk” was held between Vice-Chancellor, invited guests

and postgraduate students. Topics in this

dialogue included the University’s development, Campus

Life, Student Welfare, and Career Development. All the

distinguished guests and postgraduate students had a

wonderful time that afternoon.


Joint-U Party: “Key 2 Love”

On Saturday, Nov 30th 2013, the University of Hong

Kong PGSA in collaboration with the Chinese University

of Hong Kong CUPSA, and the City University of Hong

Kong CUPA successfully held a joint university single

party “Key 2 Love”. Over 200 students from the three

universities actively participated in this party and shared

a wonderful night!

Nine male guests and nine female guests were recruited

from the three universities for a “blind date” in the party.

Guests used selected “keywords” and video to show

their personalities and to attract potential lover. Q&A was

also allowed to help guests knowing each other. In the

last session of “Mutual Election”, the males and females,

standing in a row respectively, were asked to write down

1~2 person(s) he/she admired on the paper. Couples

would be made if the results from the male and female

coincide. Finally, four “couples” were successfully

matched. They not only stood out and accepted

benediction from all the audiences, but also received

“kick-off bags” with gifts to support their first date!

Besides, the highest number of being voted guests got

the Most Popular Award.

This Joint U party had achieved big success and got

good response. Through the activity, we realize that

postgraduates are really in need of these activities to

enlarge their circle of friends. We will continue to offer

this kind of platform for communicating and making

friends and to enrich the life of Postgraduates.

http://www.pgsa.hku.hk/

http://cupsa.cuhost.cuhk.edu.hk/

http://www.cityupa.org/

http://www.pgsa.hku.hk/?p=1113


International Liaison

The international Liaison Office is responsible for

hosting delegates from other universities and helping in

promotion for activities held in other universities. Below

are some of office’s activities last year:

On July 22, 2013, the International Liaison Office of HKU

hosted 25 representatives from the postgraduate

associations of Zhejiang University of Technology.

Schedule included campus visit, introductions from

PGSA (By president Ms. Miaomiao Yu) and the visitors,

gift exchange, discussions about the PGs’ study and

society construction.

During Oct 18-20, 2013, PGSA president Ms. Yu

Miaomiao and IT officer Mr. Wu Wilson attended the

First Graduate Academic Forum of Shen Zhen University.

On Nov 21, 2013, PGSA hosted 43 visitors (including

postgraduates, academic staffs and professors) from

University of Riau, Indonesia. PGSA arranged campus

visit for them. A meeting session was held. The Vice-

president Mr. Zhang Alvin gave a briefly introduction

about PGSA and then followed a discussions about the

PGs’ study and society construction.

Membership & Alumni Affairs

In the 2013-2014 academic year, the Membership & Alumni Affairs Office operated smoothly as before. The main duties

for the Office include: to enter information of newly recruited members in the Orientation period, to manage and update

information of members in the year, and to provide information support when needed. In particular, when the PGSA

calendar was distributed and the PG Day was held, membership information became significant in the operation.

Information support from our Office helps a series of activities to be more successful.

At the same time, two online platforms, PGSA’s Facebook page and Weibo, are both managed by our Office. Not only

have we conveyed the message to our members, but also we have succeeded in establishing a preliminary network for

PGSA’s development in the future.


Minion on Campus and the 1000s of smiles we shared

The Postgraduate Student Association kick started two big initiatives at our University this year; namely, "The

Postgraduate Day" and "Share a Smile" Campaign.

The Postgraduate Day:

A day for our fellow postgraduates to get special gifts which can serve as souvenirs to our

dear outgoing postgraduates and something to cheer for our current postgraduates. On this day, you also got an

opportunity to take a photo with a heartthrob animation character of the masses along with fun filled activities throughout

the event. The gift set consists of a string bag, a 80 page long notebook, a 5 in 1 multicolored highlighter pen and a

combo sticky note set. We also reserved 400 specially designed heat-activated Mugs for PGSA members along with the

gift set.

Share a Smile:

“You'll find that life is still worthwhile, if you just smile.”

- Charles Chaplin

The only thing on Earth which we can share without losing anything is our smile. The idea of the campaign is

simple, “Smile at strangers and you just might change a life.” - Steve Maraboli. It is understandable that smiling at total

strangers is difficult but why not with people on the HKU campus? Why shouldn't we share our smile with our fellow

students at the lifts areas, canteens, sitting areas, residential halls and classes?

Within 3 days of starting the initiatives, we have made a few thousand people smile across 3 campuses and more

importantly across all ages. In the process of making others smile, we’ve discovered the kid in every one of us. With

positive interaction with others comes insight – with perspective comes self-realization.

As rightly said by Mother Teresa, “I will never understand all the good that a simple smile can accomplish.” It is hard to

know fully the extent of the effects of our initiative efforts, but it can go without saying that we made a positive impact on

the days of many. And who knows, perhaps some of the smiles we gave may have brightened the days of some, who

may have even passed it forward with smiles to others.


We discovered that the world holds much more than the materialistic things which we value it for. We saw how infectious

a smile can be and how excited people can become; some adults even became like 3 or 5 year old. We have made many

friends through these efforts both in the PGSA and out, and we have learned the power of kindness to others. We

certainly could afford to smile to friends and strangers alike more regularly.

In addition to that, others that happened this year:

Great Learning Forum: “How do scientific innovations shape and

change our society?” by Mr Richard Fong and Mr Nicholas

Brook

Survey for Postgraduate Hub with Graduate House.

In collaboration with Graduate House, we had a survey to gather

views from the Postgraduates on how they would like the

Postgraduate Hub will be. The Postgraduate Hub is currently

under renovation and lets us look forward to the new

Postgraduate Hub in the new semester!

Research Integrity Survey

We also had a research integrity survey this year. The results

had been sent to the Graduate School for their attention.

Free calendars for year 2014

HKU Postgraduates Careers Day co-organized with CEDARS and HKU CSSA.

PGSA-Nepal Cultural Night co-organized with Consulate General of Nepal.

HKU PGSA Newsletter 2014

Documents

Transcript of HKU PGSA Newsletter 2014