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Undergraduate Office (UGO) Monthly Announcement – March Issue

Recent Events:

(A)

Student Enrichment Activities

FinMan/CUHK Conference

The Advisory Committee on Human Resources Development in the Financial Services Sector of the HKSAR Government (the FinMan Committee) in collaboration with CUHK organized a conference on 15 March 2008 (Saturday). This half-day conference was very successful and attracted over 700 participants from the financial and business sector, the tertiary education sector, and the general public.

It was our honour to have Professor K.C. Chan, SBS, JP, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, HKSAR Government (財經事務及庫務局局長陳家強教授) as our keynote speaker; and Mr Kenneth Wong, Managing Director of Goldman Sachs (高盛(亞洲)有限責任公司董事總經理黃匡傑先生) and Professor Linus W.L. Cheung, JP, Adjunct Professor, Department of Marketing, Faculty of Business Administration, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (香港中文大學市場學系客座教授張永霖先生) as the moderators of the two panel discussions.

The conference focused on the forthcoming human resources challenges in the financial services sector of Hong Kong. The first panel discussion addressed the prevailing needs in manpower faced by financial institutions and how these needs translated into the skill mix, knowledge and quality expected of university graduates. The second panel discussion was a sharing of practical experience by a group of university alumni who have been working in the local financial services industry. The feedback from the guests and participants was highly positive; they found the conference very inspiring and fruitful.

From left: Prof. Kalok Chan, Head and Chair Professor, Department of Finance, School of Business and Management, The Hong Kong University of Science & Technology; Professor Andrew C.F. Chan, Associate Dean, Faculty of Business Administration, CUHK; Professor T.S. Lee, Dean of Faculty of Business Administration, CUHK; Professor K.C. Chan, SBS, JP, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury, HKSAR Government; Professor Kenneth Young, Acting Vice-Chancellor, CUHK; Prof. J.B. Kim, Associate Dean (Postgraduate Programmes & Research), Faculty of Business, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University; Prof. Amy Lau, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Programmes), Faculty of Business and Economics, The University of Hong Kong.

From left: Professor Raymond So, Associate Professor, Department of Finance, CUHK; Miss Rachel Miu (繆美詩小姐), the Master of Ceremony of the FinMan/CUHK Conference

Owing to concerted efforts of all the contributing parties, the conference was a great success.

Let's hear the students' feedback:

Wong Sung On Joe, Insurance, Financial and Actuarial Analysis Year 2:
“Attending the FinMan Committee and CUHK Conference of Forthcoming Human Resources Challenges in the Financial Services Sector opened my eyes towards this dynamic financial market. I was inspired by the keynote speech by Professor K.C.Chan about contributing my financial and actuarial knowledge towards the advancement of Hong Kong as the international financial market. I believe my major programme is really training me to accomplish this goal. Also, the sharing of students on their real-life insights in banking helped increase my understanding of banking and finance.”

Au Suk Ying Ginny, Integrated BBA Year 2:
“After attending the Conference of Forthcoming Human Resources Challenges in the Financial Services Sector in Hong Kong, I learnt a lot about the important skills required to be a successful job applicant in Hong Kong. For example, in Panel Discussion I, the panelists suggested that soft skills are more important than hard skills. Among the skills mentioned, adaptability to change is necessary for the fast-moving financial industry. Sometimes, I am too confident and think that my method or solution is the most efficient. Other suggestions are inferior and so I am not willing to change. However, after attending the conference, the discussion really impressed on me the point that if I want to be successful, adaptability to change and being open-minded is very important.”

CUBA Undergraduate “Heart to Heart Talk” on 7 March 2008

Guest speaker: Mr Gilbert Chan, Executive Director and Senior Counsel, Goldman Sachs (BBA alumnus, 1977)
Time: 7:00pm – 9:00pm
Venue: LT2, Mong Man Wai Building, CUHK Campus
Topic: Law and Management: A New Chemistry

Mr Gilbert Chan is a BBA graduate of the University. He is currently working in Goldman Sachs, a leading investment bank, as Executive Director and Senior Counsel. Prior to joining Goldman Sachs, Mr Chan had been working in the ICAC for nearly 30 years and was promoted to the Director of Investigation of ICAC before he left the organization. Mr Chan shared with our business students and EAS applicants about the importance of the law in the business environment, and the dynamics between law and ethical standards in the business sector. The participants appreciated the talk very much. The talk not only gave them remarkable insights but also aroused their interest in law.

3^rd – 6^th left: Professor Andrew C.F. Chan, Mr Gilbert Chan and his wife, and Prof. Raymond So

From left, standing: Mr Gilbert Chan and Professor Andrew C.F. Chan

Below are a student’s reflections from the talk:

“It was a marvelous experience attending the talk given by Mr Gilbert Chan, the former Director of Investigation of ICAC. He is now the Executive Director and Senior Counsel of Goldman Sachs. Mr Chan shared with us his inspiring experiences working in the ICAC and his wisdom in how we, the next generation, could be a positive agent of change in society. During the talk, he made use of several interesting cases to highlight the importance of business ethics. He stressed the importance for enterprises to exhibit corporate social responsibility. Goldman Sachs is an investment bank that only does business with companies that make a positive impact on society. This makes Goldman Sachs stand out among global investment banks. This is also one of the reasons Mr Chan joined Goldman Sachs, as he thinks that they share his belief — to be a positive agent of change in society.

After the inspiring talk, a group of short-listed students had dinner with the guest speaker and his wife. Mr Chan shared with us a lot of thrilling experiences and cases he came across in his career path. Moreover, he shared with us his view on how we, as university students, could equip ourselves. According to Mr Chan, having a chance to go on exchange would make one stand out. We also need to be alert and innovative. Overall, it was an excellent experience to hear the vision and wisdom of such a successful person. I learned a lot in this truly heart to heart talk,” said Jenny Yam, BBA-JD Year 1 student.

Global Business Studies Field Trip in Shenzhen

Date: 21 March 2008
Time: 9:00am – 1:00pm

A group of around 20 Global Business Studies students had their half-day field trip to Shenzhen during their Easter holiday. They visited an electronic company named “Zastron” and probed the management philosophies of the company. The visit reinforced their understanding of business concepts and helped them identify the similarities and differences between the operation of a company in Hong Kong and in the Mainland.

Professor Gordon Cheung, Programme Director of Global Business Studies (2^nd left) and the Global Business Studies students

Students’ Participation in Live Radio Broadcast “New Thinking in Management”

Several business undergraduate students met with business elites through participating in or rendering assistance to the radio programme “New Thinking in Management”.

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Jacky Lui, Global Business Studies Year 3, and Jennifer Lin, Integrated BBA Year 2, assisted in the radio programme featuring the topic, 建築的大未來”, on 23 February 2008 and 2 March 2008. The episode’s speaker was Mr Danny Ho (何智豪先生), Senior Industry Sales Manager, Connected Real Estate, Cisco Systems (Hong Kong) Ltd.

From left: Sun Beibei, Prof. Andrew C.F. Chan, Mrs. Angela Keung, Luo Feng, Xie Chenxi

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A Year 4 Professional Accountancy student, Fergus Chan, participated in the interview with Mr Ben Poon, Global Commercial Vice President, MEGLobal Asia Limited (環球乙二醇(亞洲)有限公司全球商務副總裁潘偉業先生) on 23 March 2008 on the topic “閱讀與管理”. George Lam, Global Business Studies Year 3, met and had a discussion with Mr Poon on 3 March 2008.

Front row, from right: Mr Ben Poon, Commercial Vice President, MEGLobal Asia Limited and Professor Andrew C.F. Chan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies)
Back row, right: Fergus Chan

(B)

Admission and Promotion

Overwhelming Results on EAS Applications – One-fourth of EAS Applicants Territory-wide Selecting CUBA Programmes as their First Choice

The final application figures of EAS were released in late March and the results were overwhelmingly positive. CUBA programmes continue to be the most popular choices among EAS applicants. One-fourth of EAS applicants territory-wide (i.e. 100 out of 422 applicants in Hong Kong) selected CUBA programmes as their first choice. Among 190 first-choice applications received by CUHK, 100 of them belonged to CUBA. In other words, over 52% of the CUHK first-choice applicants indicated their strong preference towards CUBA and considered CUBA programmes as their first choice. This figure also represented the greatest number of EAS applications received by CUBA since the launch of EAS in 2002.

Comparison of EAS First-choice Applications Selecting Business-related Programmes with 2 Institutions

Interview Day for Early Admissions Scheme Applicants on 1 March 2008

Early Admissions Scheme (EAS) is a channel for secondary 6 students who obtained outstanding HKCEE results seeking admission to universities. EAS Interview Day was conducted on 1 March this year. EAS applicants finalized their programme choices from 20 to 25 March 2008. The offer results will be released on 9 April 2008.

We would like to take this opportunity to express our gratitude to the following Faculty members who rendered their unreserved assistance to the Faculty on the EAS Interview Day by serving as interview panelists or hospitality team members.

Interview Panels
Department of Finance
- Prof. Chan Wai Sum
- Prof. Chow Ying Foon
- Prof. Han Li Ming
- Prof. Ng Chuk Yin Andrew
- Prof. Raymond So (for BBA-JD)
- Prof. Hugh Thomas (for BBA-JD)
- Prof. Jason Yeh

Department of Marketing
- Prof. Michael Hui (in capacity of Associate Pro-Vice-Chancellor)
- Prof. Jessica Kwong (for Global Business Studies)
- Prof. Stella So (in capacity of Academic Director, Undergraduate Studies in Business)

Department of Management
- Prof. Gordon Cheung (for Global Business Studies)

Hospitality Team
School of Accountancy
- Dr Alice Chui
- Dr Shirley Kan

Department of Finance
- Prof. Dennis Fan
- Prof. Albert Wong
- Ms Doris Chan
- Ms Ruby Ching
- Ms Ada Lai

School of Hotel and Tourism Management
- Prof. Leung Wai Kin
- Prof. Eliza Tse

Undergraduate Office
- Ms Betty Chau
- Ms Melina Iu
- Ms Michele Tang

Prof. Dennis Fan sharing with EAS applicants at the tea reception area.

Admissions & Promotions to Secondary Schools / Institutions in March 2008

Date	School	Speaker
14 March	St. Paul's Secondary School	Professor Raymond So Department of Finance
17 March	CUHK FAA Chan Chun Ha Secondary School	Professor Gordon Cheung Department of Management
28 March	CUHK FAA Thomas Cheung Secondary School	Professor Gordon Cheung Department of Management

Outreaching to Wah Yan College, Kowloon

Professor Andrew C.F. Chan accepted the invitation from Wah Yan College, Kowloon and delivered a presentation to its secondary school students on “閱讀與學習” on 10 March 2008.

Professor Andrew C.F. Chan with the teachers and students of Wah Yan College, Kowloon

A subsequent meeting with the principal, the teacher and the students of Wah Yan College, Kowloon was arranged on 20 March 2008.

From left, front row: Professor Andrew C.F. Chan, Associate Dean (Undergraduate Studies), Faculty of Business Administration, CUHK; Mr Norman So, Principal of Wah Yan College, Kowloon; Mr Ivan Pong, 1999 EMBA alumni and Wah Yan College, Kowloon alumnus.

(C)

Faculty Members Attending Student Societies’ Function

Inauguration Ceremony of the 2008 Cabinet, The Business Administration Society

Date: 4 March 2008
Time: 6:30pm
Prof. T.S. Lee, Dean of the Faculty of Business Administration, and Prof. Stella So, Academic Director, attended the Inauguration Ceremony.

II.

Upcoming Events:

(A)

Student Enrichment Activities

Summer Internship

In order to equip students with the necessary skills and enable them to get connected with the real business world, we organize a summer internship programme each year. Participating students will be affiliated with companies in a wide range of industries including investment banking, commercial banking, marketing, consultancy, human resources management, and FMCG.

Study Abroad Programme

Each year, the Study Abroad Programme is arranged for students to offer them a chance to understand the business environment and culture of countries or cities outside Hong Kong.

III.

Student Achievements:

Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship (HKJC Scholarship)

Helen Mak, a Global Business Studies Year 1 student, was awarded the HKJC Scholarship this year. The HKJC Scholarship covers tuition, academic expenses, and living costs for the three years of study at the University. It is given to two Year 1 undergraduate local students at each university in Hong Kong.

Helen was shortlisted for further consideration by the University after the Faculty’s internal interviews held in November 2007. She competed with 15 other candidates from all Faculties in CUHK. After a heated competition, Helen was selected as one of the recipients of the HKJC Scholarship this year. It is the fifth year in a row for a CUBA student to be awarded the Scholarship. Past recipients of the Scholarship in our Faculty include:

Winner	Name	Programme
2004	Katherine Pang	Integrated BBA
2005	Tanita Woo	Insurance, Financial and Actuarial Analysis
2006	Pauline Si	Global Business Studies
2007	Joanna Yu	Global Business Studies
2008	Helen Mak	Global Business Studies

Let’s hear Helen’s comments:

“I am most grateful to be awarded the Jockey Club Scholarship, which is indeed a great honour and I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude to the Jockey Club for its generosity in offering me the scholarship, and to all the interviewing panels who offered me this precious chance to reach the final interview. I will certainly make the best of this great opportunity to network with other Jockey Club Scholars, as well as to take up the responsibility to serve the community.

Everyone is definitely unique and it is hard to categorize a set of good interview skills since there are many different styles. I am more of a risk-taker. In an interview, which is often short, you have to do everything you can to impress the interviewers who usually have to screen tens of candidates a day. The first job you have to do is to wake them up and get them to listen to you. Everyone has their own unique story. It is yours, and it cannot possibly be told by other people. So the hard part of interviewing is to display your real self in a natural manner, and to be creative in answering standard questions. They may come in simple forms like, “What is your family background?” It is not very effective if you take the usual approach talking about your family members and typical family life. Talk more about their unique nature or practices and back this up with impressing examples, like how your family endured hardship together, special ways of resolving conflicts, etc. Another note on taking risks is not to hesitate to give an opposing opinion. Not that you should be radical, but rather you should introduce another perspective on the issue that will leave a strong impression in your interviewers’ mind. This is particularly useful in creating an interactive environment because it often arouses people’s curiosity in how you think, especially since most Hong Kong students always agree, fearing to make mistakes. This sounds cliché but just be who you are during any selection process. Interviewers prefer that much more than an imitated style, which they can easily spot.”

Helen Mak, Global Business Studies Year 1, HKJC Scholarship recipient this year. Our heartiest congratulations to Helen!