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	CUBA team won the Championship of the Business Administration Paper Competition
	“Globalization: Sound Marketing Mix for a Global Insurer” was the title of this year's Business Administration Paper Competition organized by The Hong Kong Federation of Business Students (HKFBS). The HKFBS was set up in 1985 with memberships (now over 10,000) from the eight local tertiary institutions. Its annual BA Paper Competition is renowned for its professionalism and wide support from the local business community and government bodies (for details, please visit http://www.hkfbs.org.hk/)
	This year's event marked the 19th year of the competition and it received record breaking numbers of applications and students' participation. All in all, over 140 teams with more than 500 business students from the eight local institutions joined the competition. Based on written summary reports submitted, academic advisors at each of the eight institutions selected one team to represent their school.
	Prof. Gordon Cheung, the Academic Advisor at CUBA, selected the team of Cheung, Yau, Leung & Chan based on their overall performance of a comprehensive and logical written report, presentation skills and team spirit. On February 4, 2005, the CUBA team took part in the semi-final round. The eight competing teams presented their marketing plans and debated with each other in front of the Evaluation Committee comprising eight professors and two representatives from Zurich Life Insurance, the Title Sponsor. The four teams selected for the final were from the Baptist University (BU), CUHK, HKUST, and PolyU.
	Less than two weeks before the Final Round, the CUBA team concentrated on polishing up their PowerPoint presentations, rehearsed their oral presentation, and sharpened up their background knowledge and materials. They also attended a training session offered by Prof. Stella So and Prof. Gordon Cheung on presentation skills. The Final Round was held on the afternoon of Saturday, February 19, 2005 at the HK Convention and Exhibition Centre. The hall was packed with more than 300 cheering students, friends, and parents. In addition to the four finalist teams from HK, a team from Tsinghua University was invited to the Final Round. It consisted of an oral presentation followed by a Q&A, with a debating session for the two short-listed winners. The Evaluation Committee was expanded to nine academia and seven prominent business leaders. Mr. Bernard Chan, the Insurance Functional Constituency Representative to The Legislative Council, SAR presided as the Chairman of the Committee.
	The preparatory work put in by the CUBA team paid off: BU and CUBA teams were short-listed as the two teams entering the final debating session. The CUHK team did an excellent job exposing the underlying weaknesses of the opponent's marketing plan and the audience was clearly impressed by the witty and heated exchanges of the two teams. After long deliberation, the Evaluation Committee finally reached a decision naming the Champion of the Zurich BA Paper Competition, 2005 as the team from CUHK. As the winning team, Cheung, Yau, Leung & Chan will share a cash prize of HK$8,000 and diamond pearl pendants worth HK$5,000.
	From Steve, Christine, Catherine and Ceci
	"Joining the HKFBS BA Paper was like taking an extra major course; the difference was that this course was much more realistic as we have gained a lot. First, we could learn much more about the industry of the researched topic. During the Semi-Final, we benefited a great deal from other groups' performance. We were not as good as some teams, but we did not give up. Instead, we identified our unique strength, persuaded ourselves that we were in the correct direction, and modified our report and presentation materials so that they became more convincing; only after we have been convinced of ourselves can we persuade others to believe in us. During the Final presentation, we were very confident of our own ideas; we were not only presenting, but persuading others enthusiastically and sincerely by consistently stressing our theme. Before the Final, we did not expect much; we just wanted to try our best. With this mind set, we won! Nothing is impossible if you do believe in yourself!"
CUHK team (from left: Cheung Sau Ying, Christine, Yau Sin Sze, Ceci, Chan Fung Ting, Catherine and Leung Siu Fung, Steve) presenting their proposal in the Final. CUHK team in the Q & A Section of the Final. CUHK team, the Champion team, receiving the award from Mr. Bernard Chan (centre), Chairman of Evaluation Committee of the Final.
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