UK Higher Education and Distinguished Alumni Achievements Celebrated in International Awards
6 February 2017 (Hong Kong) – The British Council is pleased to announce the finalists for a prestigious award celebrating the outstanding achievements of the UK’s international alumni, with fourteen awards ceremonies taking place this year in Egypt, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, Turkey and the USA.
Legendary shoe designer and UK alumnus Professor Jimmy Choo, OBE, is Global Ambassador of the Alumni Awards and will join the award ceremony to be held in Hong Kong on 16 February 2017.
Top alumni have been selected from more than 1,200 global applicants, many of whom were nominated by their host UK universities. The Study UK Alumni Awards, created by the British Council in partnership with UK higher education institutions, are intended to recognise outstanding success in Entrepreneurism, Professional Achievement, and Social Impact by people who have studied at UK higher education institutions within the last 15 years.
One of Hong Kong’s finalists in the Entrepreneurial Award category is Samuel Chan Sze Ming. Samuel graduated from the University of Warwick in 2010 with a master’s in International Political Economy, and from the University of Nottingham with a Bachelor’s in Economics.
Samuel is a leading educationalist, columnist and consultant in Hong Kong. He helps to bring transparency to the UK school placement sector and standardise UK independent school applications through the introduction of the testing system, UKiset, to Hong Kong. He values the culture of mutual respect he took from his UK education as a significant factor in his success to date. Samuel believes his UK study experience exposed him to equality, teamwork and the sharing of ideas.
One of the finalists for the Social Impact Award is Linda Wong Sau Yung, who graduated with a master’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Kent in 2002. Linda founded and became the Executive Director of RainLily, the first non-profit rape crisis centre providing support to victims of sexual violence in Hong Kong.
Linda credits her UK education with strengthening her theoretical foundation of gender equality and broadening her vision globally, both of which are crucial for a good social worker. She is passionate about striving to achieve zero sexual violence through educating the younger generation.
[See below for the full details of the nine finalists]
Applications were received from alumni from more than 125 UK universities in England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales. They were then reviewed by judging panels in the applicant’s country of entry, and their respective university.
Chris Rawlings, Director of British Council Hong Kong, added, ‘I am delighted that the British Council’s Alumni Awards 2017 is celebrating UK alumni from Hong Kong for the second year. As leading ambassadors to UK education, I hope that the success of our Alumni Awardees, past and present, can demonstrate and remind us all of the value of studying in the UK.’
Professor Jimmy Choo OBE said, ‘I’m delighted to support the Alumni Awards 2017 as Global Ambassador. Studying in the UK was an experience that changed my life and contributed to my success today. It is an honour to be supporting today’s recent outstanding UK university alumni by sharing their success stories and positive impact on the world.’
For full details on all of the finalists, please refer to
https://www.britishcouncil.hk/en/study-uk/alumni/alumniawards
Interviews with Professor Jimmy Choo OBE and the finalists are available on request and the award winners will be announced after the ceremony.
Media Contact:
Mavis Ma (Communications Manager) 2913 5260 / mavis.ma@britishcouncil.org.hk
Study UK Alumni Award categories:
Professional Achievement Award
Recognises alumni who have distinguished themselves through exemplary leadership and achievements in their professional industry, and who can demonstrate the highest level of integrity and character in their professional career.
Entrepreneurial Award
Successful applicants in this category will be active in initiating, or contributing to, innovative new business opportunities with strong growth prospects.
Social Impact Award
The Social Impact Award acknowledges alumni who have made an exceptional contribution and commitment to creating positive social change and improving the lives of others.
Hong Kong finalists:
|
Finalist - Professional Achievement Award
|
Larry Campbell
Middlesex University
Larry Campbell is Head of Financial Services Strategy at KPMG and is one of the leading global experts in the application of strategic knowledge management across financial services. As former Group Chief Knowledge Officer at HSBC, Campbell studied the use of advanced publishing and knowledge management techniques to improve operations, communications and business development across the bank worldwide, and built a pioneering professional services practice within the company that is a model for the industry.
Campbell’s UK education at Middlesex University was part of a unique arrangement between himself, HSBC and the university to formally study the business impact of his work and document its applicability academically across the financial services industry.
A respected management consultant and strategist, Campbell uses his expertise to help a variety of financial services clients. As a guest lecturer at the University of Oxford, he imparts his expertise in knowledge management and change management to other professionals and publishes research papers regularly.
|
|
Finalist - Professional Achievement Award
|
Lucy Christie
University of Glasgow
Lucy works as a sub-editor for Young Post, the student section of the South China Morning Post, to make sure complex and important news reaches Hong Kong students in a way that is interesting, engaging and easy to understand. Her work ensures young readers develop an interest in the world around them, and have access to objective, useful knowledge that is relevant to them. She also mentors junior reporters to help develop their ideas and writing skills to publication standard.
Studying at the University of Glasgow allowed Lucy to be curious, and freely question and challenge ideas: crucial skills in her industry. Studying Spanish and working abroad for a year changed her perspective from local to global and improved her communication skills.
Lucy hopes to expand her work to support students throughout their higher education experience and encourage the young people of tomorrow to broaden their horizons and reach their potential.
|
|
Finalist - Professional Achievement Award
|
Tse Ming Chong
Goldsmiths College, University of London
Ming Chong is a renowned contemporary photography artist and the founder and chairman of Lumenvisum. He is also Head of Design Foundation Studies at Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI). He has been devoting himself to promoting contemporary Hong Kong photography worldwide by curating numerous photography exhibitions and community art projects, including the project "18x24: Photo Adventure in HK" which earned him the Award for Arts Education at the 2014 Hong Kong Arts Development Awards.
Ming Chong says Goldsmiths College inspired him in his career development. It gave him ideas on how influential images can affect society, and so encouraged him to devote himself to photography education in Hong Kong.
Ming Chong is now developing a Visual Journalism programme for HKDI in response to the changing media landscape in Hong Kong.
|
|
Finalist - Entrepreneurial Award
|
Paul Chan Chi Yuen
London School of Economics and Political Science
Paul co-founded Walk in Hong Kong, a leading cultural enterprise in Hong Kong with a clear goal to rediscover the charm of Hong Kong, preserve its heritage and bring out the most immersive and authentic Hong Kong experience for visitors and locals alike.
Paul says his experience of studying in the UK broadened his horizons and led him to develop Walk in Hong Kong successfully. He valued the unique and personal exposure to the rich cultural fabrics, historical legacies and abundance of heritage buildings in London.
Paul is keen to save Hong Kong heritage and reinvent Hong Kong’s appeal through more unique walks and cultural experiences.
|
|
Finalist - Entrepreneurial Award
|
Samuel Chan Sze Ming
University of Warwick / University of Nottingham
Samuel is a leading educationalist, columnist and consultant in Hong Kong. He helps to bring transparency to the UK school placement sector and standardise UK independent school applications through the introduction of the testing system, UKiset, to Hong Kong.
Samuel values the culture of mutual respect he took from the University of Warwick as a significant factor in his success to date. He says it gave him exposure to equality, teamwork and the sharing of ideas.
Samuel hopes to make UK education more accessible through introducing scholarship schemes and organising interactive seminars.
|
|
Finalist - Entrepreneurial Award
|
Chan Tsz Kwan
Edinburgh Napier University
After 10 years’ study in the UK, TK Chan returned to Hong Kong to continue her work as an artist and become an entrepreneur. In 2013 she established BLINK Gallery, which aims to support local artists and to showcase Asian and Western contemporary arts.
BLINK Gallery was the first gallery from Hong Kong to participate in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in 2014 and 2016, attracting favourable media interest in both the UK and Hong Kong. TK also creates her own artworks inspired by natural phenomena in the UK, exhibiting and promoting these internationally.
Her UK educationhasprovided TK with a wide-ranging knowledge of art history and tradition, creativity and innovation, and the inspiration to enter the art gallery industry.
TK says the UK’s multicultural environment strengthened her international personality, as well as her skills that helped her to be successful in her international gallery business.
|
|
Finalist – Social Impact Award
|
Dr Yanki Lee
Royal College of Art
Yanki Lee is a design educator and researcher on social innovation. Trained as an architectural designer, since 2000 she has dedicated her career to improving people’s lives by developing new ideas to support active and creative aging.
Exposure to UK design policy helped Yanki to re-frame her career within a social perspective. Developing creative tactics to involve senior citizens, she believes design can transform our lives for the better.
Dr Lee is now applying action research and design methodology to conduct research that focuses on empowering citizens to confront and solve real-life problems, collectively making Hong Kong a more inclusive society for our future.
|
|
Finalist – Social Impact Award
|
Alexa Li Ho Shan
University of East Anglia /London School of Economics and Political Science
Alexa is now working for a local charity as a programme officer. She has organised large-scale story-writing and illustration workshops for local primary schools and community centres around Hong Kong, helping strengthen the literacy development of more than 1,200 students from low-income families.
Her UK studies, from the broad range of electives offered to the professional academic advice she gained, have provided Alexa with an opportunity to explore and develop her career interests confidently.
With the belief that ‘inspiration is contagious’, Alexa says the skills and expertise she gained from her UK education have helped her to inspire more young people to make more positive changes to local communities.
|
|
Finalist – Social Impact Award
|
Linda Wong Sau Yung
University of Kent
With a master’s degree in Women’s Studies from the University of Kent in 2002, Linda founded and became the Executive Director of RainLily, the first non-profit rape crisis centre providing support to victims of sexual violence in Hong Kong.
Linda received a Women of Courage Award from the US Secretary of State in 2016 for her dedication to promoting gender equality.
Linda credits her UK education with strengthening her theoretical foundation of gender equality and broadening her vision globally, both of which are crucial for a good social worker.
Linda is passionate about striving to achieve zero sexual violence through educating the younger generation.
|
The British Council is the UK’s international organisation for cultural relations and educational opportunities. We create friendly knowledge and understanding between the people of the UK and other countries. Using the UK’s cultural resources we make a positive contribution to the countries we work with – changing lives by creating opportunities, building connections and engendering trust.
We work with over 100 countries across the world in the fields of arts and culture, English language, education and civil society. Each year we reach over 20 million people face-to-face and more than 500 million people online, via broadcasts and publications.
Founded in 1934, we are a UK charity governed by Royal Charter and a UK public body. The majority of our income is raised delivering a range of projects and contracts in English teaching and examinations, education and development contracts and from partnerships with public and private organisations. Eighteen per cent of our funding is received from the UK government.