News and Achievements

Annual Gathering of INSPIRE Mentorship Programme

The Annual Gathering of “INSPIRE” Mentorship Programme was held at Jockey Club Auditorium on 27 October 2021. This occasion provided an opportunity for PolyU to express our wholehearted gratitude to all the 109 highly-esteemed Mentors, who facilitated the holistic education experience of the 349 student Mentees through heart-to-heart communication and positive role modelling, and promoted their all-round development in Academic Year 2020/21. The event was kicked off by President Jin-Guang Teng, who delivered a welcome address, and followed by Prof. Haitian Lu, Chairman of Task Force on “INSPIRE” Mentorship Programme, who shared updates on “INSPIRE”. A video prepared by Mentees was played, where they shared their takeaways from the Programme and expressed their heartfelt gratitude to their Mentors. After group photo-taking of PolyU representatives and Mentors, a sharing session between Mentors and Mentees was conducted. Dr Charles Lam, Managing Director, Real Estate of Baring Private Equity Asia, and Mr Stephen Au, Managing Director of MTECH Engineering Co. Ltd., along with 4 of their Mentees, came onto the stage and talked about their experience of the Programme. As a token of appreciation to Dr Lam and Mr Au, Prof. Ben Young, Vice President (Student and International Affairs) and Prof. Albert Chan, Dean of Students presented a souvenir to them respectively at the end of the sharing session to wrap up the event.

Dean of Students Talk Series: Reborn as an Astropreneur

Dr Gregg Li, aka Dr G, the executive chairman of The Orion Astropreneur Space Academy (Hong Kong), delivered a Dean of Students Talk titled “Reborn as an Astropreneur” on 22 October 2021. Dr G shared why space entrepreneurship is the new frontier, its importance, and how can one take the first step to become an astropreneur. Facilitated by Prof. Albert Chan, Dean of Students, a Q&A session was conducted after Dr G’s interesting sharing. To express our appreciation, Prof. Ben Young, Vice President (Student and International Affairs) presented a souvenir to Dr G as a conclusion of the talk.

Grand Opening Ceremony of the Global Student Hub

The Grand Opening Ceremony of the Global Student Hub was successfully held on 18 October 2021 (Monday).  The official ceremony was graced by the presence of the Deputy President and Provost Prof. Wing-tak Wong, together with the Central Management Team and over 70 staff members and students. Addressing the ceremony, Prof. Wing-tak Wong said, “The Global Student Hub is a new on-campus facility.  It is a key step towards further promoting student development, integration and internationalisation. The University is not just providing a new physical space for student activities, it is providing a place to help develop our local and non-local students’ ability to connect with peers from diverse backgrounds and to become more open-minded in embracing cultural differences  – an invaluable quality in our inter-connected world.”  Student performers from the Hall Dance Team and the Indonesian Student Association, non-local students and orchestra members added colours to the occasion with their cultural performances.

PolyU Blood Donation Campaign 2021

Riding on the success of the PolyU Blood Donation Campaign held since 2018, PolyU’s Student Affairs Office and Global Engagement Office, in collaboration with the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service (BTS), organised the Blood Donation Campaign from 5 – 7 Oct (Mobile blood drive) & 25 – 28 October (Promotion vehicle to drive collection to PolyU Donor Centre). Over 550 students and staff members participated in the blood donation campaign, with 414 units of blood collected successfully. Among these successful blood donation cases, 72% or 299 of them were first-time donors. In recognition of PolyU’s continued support in driving blood donation on campus and promoting a positive message to the public, Dr C K Lee, Chief Executive and Medical Director of the Hong Kong Red Cross Blood Transfusion Service, presented the “Elite Partnership Award 2021” to Prof. Ben Young, Vice President (Students and International Affairs). Newly launched in 2021, the award recognises some very enthusiastic partners in the commercial and community sectors that contribute to blood donation in Hong Kong.

President's Sharing Session with Students

With the commencement of a new academic year, over 150 students joined the President’s sharing session and exchanged views with the Central Management Team (CMT) on 27 September 2021. President Teng gave a presentation on the University’s latest development and achievements, and CMT replied to questions raised by participants. The major areas of concern raised by students include postgraduate study, outbound exchange, catering service, and research support and development.  The sharing session is a great opportunity for the CMT to communicate with students and move forward to build a better PolyU together.

SPORTify: Wellness and Multicultural Experience

To promote physical wellness and foster cross-cultural connections on campus, the Students’ Union, with the support from the Student Affairs Office (SAO), piloted a student integration and wellness campaign, SPORTify programme. The programme offers free walk-in sessions at the sports facilities on weekdays. Students from different backgrounds are welcome to join and play sports with their peers. The programme was successfully launched this summer. Eight free sports sessions were scheduled in August 2021 engaging both local and non-local students. The free sessions covered four types of popular sports including Badminton, Basketball, Table Tennis and Tennis. Since the onset of COVID-19 pandemic, students’ university life has changed drastically. Many regular face-to-face activities inevitably went online or were even cancelled under the anti-pandemic measures. The new norm undoubtedly limits social interactions among peers. The Students’ Union with the great support from SAO drives this campaign to reactivate students’ social life in a wellness context. Amid challenges, this pilot activity was well received by more than 30 students across different disciplines, including undergraduates and postgraduates from various countries/regions. ‘SPORTify players not only get the chance to exercise and stay healthy but also meet new friends to develop multi-cultural connections,’ commented one of the fans of the Students’ Union Sports Affairs Group. A casual basketball group was formed behind the scenes. 10 sports lovers have been connected after the foremost SPORTify basketball session held on 6 August. Johnny, one of the members in the group, shared that ‘There were only 10 of us in the group in the beginning. More students joined the group after getting word-of-mouth recommendations from active basketball players. We are from different years of study, disciplines and backgrounds. It is so cool to make new friends across the campus. SPORTify offers a really nice opportunity for students to create bonding! We are now a group of over 40 basketball freaks. Can’t wait to play the 4th game together and definitely more to come!’

Online PolyU Orientation Info Day 2021

Hosted by the Student Affairs Office, over 1,300 students joined the Orientation Info Day on 27 Aug 2021, and experienced the online orientation via Zoom. Supported by 11 different PolyU administrative offices and 23 student organisations, students learnt about the University support services, holistic student development programmes and student activities through lively communication activities such as online games, presentations, and dialogues with staff and senior students. They were inspired to step up their efforts and start their new exciting journey in PolyU.

Talent-to-Gather Cyber Series

The end of the examination period marks the best timing “to RELAX, HAVE FUN and GATHER”. The “Talent-to-Gather” cyber series, which is the first-ever student-led virtual talent show series aiming at inspiring students to unleash their potential and strengthen cross-cultural exchange, was held on 28 May 2021. It is one of the signature programmes supported by PolyU’s Got Talents teams under the Student Affairs Office. PolyU’s Got Talents Teams are established to promote integration and celebrate diversity through the sharing of arts, culture and talents. The acoustics team of the Students’ Union and student groups from South Korea and Africa were invited to showcase their talents and share different cultural backgrounds. The chill and healing busking by the PolyArts kick-started the live show, followed by some energetic groove from the African percussion team. Before the end of the show, participants enjoyed the powerful KPOP hits by the Flamingo Girl Dance Team of the Korean Student Association. The ‘Talent-to-Gather’ show was professionally supported by the student crew from Exposure Studio Productions (E.S.P.) with live broadcasting from the studio of the Educational Development Centre. Students not only got a glimpse of music and dance cultures from different parts of the world, but also enjoyed the opportunity to re-connect with peers. Peer facilitators from the Global Student Ambassador Programme (GSAP) also shared their multi-cultural experience in the live chatbox while enjoying the show. The talent show was well received by over 60 concurrent audiences and the 45-minute live-streaming event reached over 220 views from different countries and regions. Before the PolyU’s Got Talents busking can resume on campus amid the pandemic, the ‘Talent-to-Gather’ cyber series offers all a perfect platform to share art, culture and talents while staying connected with each other.

Dean of Students Talk Series: Tian Hou - One Woman, Two Names, Three Places

Dr Liu Tik-sang, Associate Professor of Division of Humanities and Director of the South China Research Center, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, delivered an online Dean of Students Talk titled “Tian Hou: One Woman, Two Names, Three Places” on 19 April 2021. As a talk under the Knowledge and Exploration Series, Dr Liu introduced various aspects of the Chinese deity Tian Hou to the attendees, including its origin, temple architecture in Hong Kong, and diverse traditions in Hong Kong, Fujian as well as Taiwan. After Dr Liu’s informative and fruitful sharing, Prof. Otto C. C. Lin, the Honorary Professor of Industrial and System Engineering, facilitated the Q&A session and shared his experience in Mazu worship in Taiwan. Participants showed their interests in the topic and raised various questions to Dr Liu. For example, reasons behind Tian Hou’s popularity, how to preserve cultural heritage, and difficulties encountered while doing research fieldwork were discussed.

Dean of Students Talk Series: Confucius on Entrepreneurship

In response to the positive feedback of the 1st Talk on “Laozi on Innovation”, Prof. Otto C. C. Lin, Senior Advisor to the President and Honorary Professor of Industrial and System Engineering, delivered the 2nd Talk titled “Confucius on Entrepreneurship” for the Dean of Students Talk Series on 9 March 2021. This time, Prof. Lin talked about the meaning of being an entrepreneur, Kong Fuzi’s ideologies, and how can Confucius beliefs be applied in entrepreneurship. Prof. James Lee, Chair Professor / Yan Ai Foundation Professor of Social Science, former Dean of School of Humanities and Social Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, facilitated the Q&A session online after Prof. Lin’s sharing. The participants raised questions to Prof. Lin regarding business advice, views on famous entrepreneurs, and much more. The session was filled with fruitful conversations among Prof. Lin, Prof. Lee and the participants.