This year’s luncheon, held on 9 April 2019 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre, attracted some 350 senior management from a wide range of industries. In addition to showcasing students’ achievements in various disciplines, it also provided them with a platform to build an interpersonal network – in case potential employers among the crowd discovered their potential!

Social Work student Ivy HEUNG Pun-yau and Translation and Interpretation student Water CHAN Man-lok were grateful to be offered the unique opportunity to represent CLASS by attending the luncheon. Prior to dining with the guests, they shared their experiences in joining the College’s International Community Service-Learning Programme and Elite Leaders Programme at the Student Work Exhibition.

Yearning for a volunteer experience combining community service and cultural visits, Ivy was thrilled to discover that CLASS runs a service-learning programme in Myanmar in partnership with Phaung Daw Oo Monastic Education School. “I did not know much about Myanmar before, so this country was quite mysterious to me,” she says, recalling her impressions of the Southeast Asian nation. “During the four weeks in Mandalay, I collaborated with my partner in teaching mathematics lessons and organising activities for the students. We adopted an activity-based style which is quite different from the traditional transmissive teaching style, and the students enjoyed the lessons very much!”

Participating students were also divided into groups to plan visits on different themes, such as food culture, religion and education, outside service hours. Ivy’s group arranged visits to sacred places in Buddhism, the dominant religion in Myanmar, and Christianity, which is the faith of only a minority of the population. “It has been a year since we returned from Myanmar, but I constantly miss my days there… not only did I put my knowledge and skills acquired at CityU into practice, but I was also influenced by the simple lifestyle and the warm-heartedness of the locals,” Ivy says. “Since then, I maintain a less materialistic lifestyle and a habit of saying ‘hello’ to everyone I meet – though it’s a bit awkward doing so in Hong Kong. I believe I can influence others to become nicer.”

The employers agreed that university students could broaden their horizons and achieve personal growth through joining similar overseas exchange activities.

Water told the employers that she had learnt a lot through the Elite Leaders Programme. This was established in 2016 to develop students’ leadership skills through joining various activities, such as overseas study tours, workshops on public speaking and personal image, and leadership training. These activities, according to Water and other participating students, are challenging but rewarding.

The employers also shared valuable insights with the students, such as future prospects for the social service sector in Hong Kong that Ivy was particularly interested in.

Following the exhibition, all participants sat down for the luncheon. Professor Way KUO, President of CityU, extended a warm welcome to all guests in his opening remarks and said that university education should go beyond transmitting knowledge to transferring it, in order to nurture better students and contribute to society. The keynote speaker, Willy LIN Sun-mo, chairman of the Hong Kong Productivity Council, then delivered a talk titled “How INNOVATION Drives Our Future”, in which he emphasised the importance of innovation today and that embracing technology will help create a brighter future for humans.

The talk, and the sharings of other guests, help keep students abreast of the latest developments both worldwide and within various industries, and will definitely help them plan and pave their career paths.