A team of four FBE students won the Merit Award in the 2019 Deloitte Tax Championship. The team entered the National Contest themed Leading to success: be bold, be creative held in Chengdu from 25^th to 27^th October 2019. Participating students in the competition were from top universities in Greater China to exchange knowledge and insights on tax and business, particularly in international tax and outbound M&A activities this year.

Deloitte Tax Championship is an international competition promoting education, research and innovation in taxation by supporting an array of national and local programmes across Greater China. It also act as a platform for university students to apply their tax knowledge and receive professional tax training.

Thanks to Dr. Christina Ng, Principal Lecturer in Accounting and Law, for being the advisor of the team, and congratulations to all the team members.

Sharing from the Awarded Students (TBC):
KAT Shun Shun, BBA(Acc&Fin)
MA Wanqiu, BBA(Acc&Fin)
GU Yidie, BBA(Acc&Fin)
LAU Hiu Yung, BBA(Law)&LLB

The Kick-off Ceremony of Faculty of Business and Economics Mentorship Programme 2019-20 successfully took place on 23 October. We were delighted to welcome a record high of mentors with diversified business background, most of whom are alumni, friends and supporters of the Faculty, as well as about 70 student mentees to embark on this year’s mentorship journey.

Professor Hongbin Cai, Dean of Business and Economics kick-started the event with a warm welcome to our mentors and mentees. He expressed gratitude to mentors for their generous support to the Faculty over the years, and hoped mentees this year could get the most out of the programme.

Three young alumni Mr. Udara Senevirathne (BEcon&Fin 2017), Senior Officer – Business Development, New World Development Company Limited, Mr. Teddy Chiu (BBA(Acc&Fin) 2018), Analyst of Accenture and Ms. Natalie Law (BBA 2019), Analyst of Citi Private Bank, who had previously participated in the Mentorship Programme as mentees had shared their career insights and study tips with current students.

The Faculty strives to provide opportunities for students to connect with the real business world. Mentoring is especially valuable in empowering students by sharing of mentors’ knowledge and experience, encouragement and inspiration. Through regular mentoring sessions in the academic year, we believe students can gain professional and personal developments.

HKU Business School Shenzhen Alumni Dinner cum HKU-PKU EMBA Welcome Dinner 2019 was successfully held in Shenzhen on 9 October. Nearly 200 alumni, students, and guests gathered in this memorable evening.

Speaking at the dinner, Professor Hongbin CAI, Dean of Business and Economics expressed gratitude to alumni and students for their support to the Faculty over the years, and hoped they would continue to render their support to the Faculty’s future development.

“Alumni is the key driver of the rapid growth of the Faculty. Leveraging on the synergies and development potential brought forth by the strong connection between Shenzhen and Hong Kong, the Faculty will fully grasp the opportunities in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and play a key role in nurturing world-class business talent,” Dean CAI said.

Event highlight of the day was the speech made by our special guest, Dr. Song LI, Founder of Zhenai.com. Zhenai.com is now the largest paid matchmaking website in China and Asia. The registered members of Zhenai.com reaches approximately 200 million and the annual revenue is expected to be nearly 3 billion yuan in 2019.

Dr. Li shared his entrepreneurial journey of walking away from a lucrative investment banker job to start his own business. He emphasised that a successful entrepreneurship relies heavily on the access to potential market. Market shows that entrepreneurships usually fail due to a lack of market demand.

He concluded by advising the audience “to be flexible and to be tough”. He said, “And you have to be brutally honest with yourself about your idea. Entrepreneurship is a journey of exploration not only of your mind, but also of the journey itself”.

In the future, we hope to host more alumni activities, and work closely with alumni and students to create a network in connecting Hong Kong, China and the world.  We also look forward to joining hands with alumni to lift our Faculty to new heights.

     

     

Four undergraduate FBE students took part in the HKSI Institute Scholarship Programme 2019 and were awarded Champion, 1st Runner-up, 3rd Runner-up and Finalist.

Since its launch in 2004, HKSI Institute Scholarship Programme has provided university students an avenue to widen their horizons and advance their career development for the financial industry.

Participating students were required to write an 1000 word essay on the topic “How can your career development contribute to uphold Hong Kong’s status of international financial center?”. Selected finalists will be teamed up to work on a research project and presentation at Outreach Committee. Awardees will be offered cash prizes and job shadowing opportunities at renowned companies including CBH Asia and Morgan Stanley.

Sharing from the Awarded Students:

Champion – Choi Wai Hin, Darius

"HKSI Scholarship opened a gateway for me to explore the finance industry in HK. Throughout the programme, I was given platforms to network with industry experts, to present a topic to professionals and to meet like-minded individuals. This was an enriching experience."

1st Runner-up – Leung Ming Hin, Benson

''The HKSI Scholarship provided me with ample opportunities to explore finance and connect with industry professionals. From the job shadowing session to networking events, HKSI helped me develop skills that are deeply valued in the finance industry.''

3rd Runner-up – Cheng Chun Fung, Jonathan

“A fulfilling experience that provides me with invaluable insights to the financial markets in Hong Kong. It’s my great honour to join the scholarship programme and thanks for the strong support from HKSI, FBE, sponsors and mentors.”

In light of recent large-scale public activities and possible disruption to public transport services, the Edward K Y Chen Distinguished Lecture 2019 Survival in the Vibrant Chinese Economy: Fast Food Frontier (中國快餐業中的創新先驅), originally planned for Wednesday, October 16, will be rescheduled to Spring 2020.

We count on your continuous support for this long-established tradition of honouring our teacher and inspiring the next generations.

Please stay tuned on our faculty website and social media channels for updates.

Should you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us by email at fbecomm@hku.hk.

Professor Eric C. CHANG, former dean of FBE who recently retired, was a leading force behind the creation of the faculty. Looking back over his 20-year career at HKU, he talks about the challenges of building a new faculty and shares his thoughts on the challenges and opportunities ahead for FBE students.

20 years ago, when Professor Chang was invited to join the HKU family, the Faculty did not yet exist and HKU’s reputation for business studies was rather weak. At the time, he was working in the US as a professor at the DuPree College of Management of the Georgia Institute of Technology. He felt that Asia was becoming a major player in global business, and finally he decided to take the job.

“HKU did not have a faculty of business or faculty of economics, so I saw an opportunity to make a good contribution here,” he recalls.

It was a good decision, he says now. “I feel very lucky to be at HKU for these 20 years. It was the right place, at the right time, and with the right people.”

The faculty was formed in 2001 by the amalgamation of the School of Business and the School of Economics and Finance, a feat Professor Chang attributes to the man who had hired him, Professor Richard Wong, the founding dean of FBE.

“I’m grateful for the many talented people I had the opportunity to work with,” says Professor Chang. “The two schools became one faculty. It was not easy, but Professor Wong made it happen.”

The new faculty aimed to emulate about 80 percent of the US business school model, which was considered far more advanced than the UK equivalent, while keeping the British essence to create a unique Faculty of Business and Economics at HKU.

“I think we’ve largely achieved the 80 percent, but there is always room for improvement,” Professor Chang says.

One of the most difficult and key challenges has been finding a balance between research and teaching requirements. He felt that focusing on quality of research output rather than quantity was essential to building the faculty’s reputation, though that was at odds with the university’s practice. He also fought for better pay, a more supportive research environment, and fewer teaching hours.

For the future, Hong Kong needs to maintain its strengths in the rule of law and global-mindedness. But with the fast-changing world environment and the US-China trade war casting a long shadow, FBE students will also need to develop a specialisation in their business studies, such as cultivating a deep understanding of China.

Critical thinking skills can also give students an edge and help them develop logical analytical abilities that can be adapted to changing situations.

Lifelong learning is essential, he says. “The world is changing so rapidly. The knowledge you learn here in eight to 10 years is totally out of date. You have to keep learning.”

Professor Chang intends to follow this advice himself during retirement, along with occasional teaching, spending more time with his family and working with his church.

“I also need to keep self-learning and creative thinking to offer some insights to people. I value some education opportunities that I still face.”