17th Congregation of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
Speech by Mr Wong Chung Hang

As a student of a part-time evening course of the then Hong Kong Polytechnic, I graduated in 1978. It gives me a lot of pleasure today to be here to speak to you, a young generation of full-time students graduating from the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), which is now more than 17 years old. On this happy occasion of the university’s 17th Congregation, it is an honour for me to join in celebrating the accomplishment of your studies in the Faculty of Construction and Environment, which again is another new name for the faculty.

I was here last year to receive the Outstanding Alumni Award of the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI), some 32 years after my graduation from PolyU. The award makes me feel that I am one of those active members of the PolyU big family, although I was only a part-time evening course student. Time flies. Things and ideas change from time to time. No one can predict what would happen 30 years later. This is particularly true for young people like you. You have a lot of opportunities and challenges ahead of you.

As a graduate from the Faculty of Construction and Environment, you will have a bright future, given the opportunities arising from the current development in our infrastructural projects and the availability of advanced land surveying and geo-informatics technologies. We have been quick to take advantage of the satellite positioning systems, the geo-spatial data processing software and the powerful survey equipment we had in recent years. As a result of our efforts, products like the on-line maps, digital orthophotos, satellite images, point clouds of the terrestrial laser scanners, airborne geo-referenced LiDAR data and 3D geo-spatial data have widely been used by surveyors and professionals alike.

PolyU is the only university to run land surveying and geo-informatics programmes in Hong Kong. For a long time, LSGI has made great efforts in scientific research and at the same time focused on teaching. LSGI has continued to equip our graduates with the most up-to-date surveying knowledge for the whole profession to progress steadily towards the common goal of promoting the most advanced technology to Hong Kong’s construction and property development industry.

I have participated in many LSGI teaching activities. I was a mentor to a few PolyU Higher Diploma and Bachelor of Science students between 2002 and 2004. I was the external examiner for the BSc (Hon) Geomatics Programmes from 2002 to 2007. I have served as the Chairman of the LSGI Departmental Advisory Committee since 2008. I witnessed the success of both the students and the teaching staff in the past 10 years. LSGI has continually practiced Outcome-based Education and Work-integrated Education. My office, the Survey and Mapping Office of the Lands Department, will continue to provide LSGI students with the required cadastral information to complete their land boundary survey projects during their studies in PolyU.

My work experience with the Faculty of Construction and Environment has been extremely good and pleasant. The Faculty has gone from strength to strength in search of excellence in the past few years. I am confident that it will continue to play an important role in cultivating our young generation of surveyors and fostering their mastery of not only technical knowledge, but also a vision to serve the community. I would like to take the opportunity to wish the Faculty even greater achievements in fulfilling its missions.

I firmly believe that we should move with the times and embrace all the opportunities, otherwise we will be left behind. I am also convinced that there are boundless opportunities in our professions. We will be involved in a much wider scope of our services to the community. We have to make better use of our knowledge and the technologies available to us. As a newcomer to work in society, you should always do your best. You will need to upgrade yourselves from time to time in order to realize your full potential at work.

There are many ways of achieving success in life. All require your own“can-do” spirit. You have to maintain your competitive edge. You should not ignore any opportunity to learn from the experience of others. You have to set goals for your careers. After setting a goal, it is also important to inspire thinking. You need to have the courage to put your aspirations into practice. And you have to show a sense of responsibility at all times.

I enjoy speaking to you on this happy occasion. The 17th Congregation marks the beginning of our graduates’ contribution to benefit society. I wish you all good luck and great success in the years to come.

Thank you for your attention.