Scholars' Update
Stephanie
Cheung, Roshan
Melwani and Muyi
Yang completed
their Master of
Public Policy
studies on a high
note.
|
|
|
Sustainable
Development
Goals
(SDG)
Impact
Lab in
Spain
Stephanie
Cheung joined
Oxford SDG
Impact Lab which
placed her in
Majorca, Spain.
She worked on
policy
recommendations
to alleviate the
problem of
over-tourism
during peak
seasons and its
corresponding
environmental
and social
issues,
including
seasonal
unemployment.
|
|
|
Climate
Action
with
United
Nation
High
Commission
for
Refugees
(UNHCR)
in
Geneva
Roshan
Melwani is
interning at the
UNHCR in Geneva,
Switzerland, he
is working at
the Office of
the Special
Advisor on
Climate Action.
He has been
assisting the
Special Advisor
in designing and
implementing
UNHCR’s climate
finance
strategy, as
well it’s
engagement at
COP27 and other
international
climate and
humanitarian
policy
processes.
|
|
|
Advising
on
energy
and
climate
change
policies
in
Sierra
Leone
Muyi
Yang spent
his summer
serving as an
Oxford Fellow to
directly advise
Yvonne
Ali-Sawyerr, the
Mayor of
Freetown,
Capital of
Sierra Leone, on
policies
regarding
energy, urban
transportation,
and climate
change. Working
along with the
consultants from
C40 Cities, he
helped evaluate
and improve
policies and
programs that
make Freetown a
more habitable
and sustainable
city for all
residents.
|
|
Labour,
Get
Off
Your
Moral
High Horse
Sharon
Chau wrote
an
article
“Labour,
Get
Off
Your
Moral
High
Horse” published
in
the
Trinity
Term
issue
of
the
Oxford
University
Labour
Club’s
publication
“Look
Left”.
|
|
|
|
Brian
Wong is
recently
appointed
to
the
Advisory
Board
of
the
Oxford
Student,
a
student-run
newspapers
at
Oxford,
and
formally
appointed
Co-founder
to
the
Oxford
Policy
Advisory
Group
which
provides
policy
guidance
to
tackle
global
challenges.
Congratulations!
|
|
|
|
Dennis
Ngan has
recently
been
promoted
to
the
Deputy
Executive
Manager
(Engagement)
of
the
Hong
Kong
Jockey
Club
Charities
Trust
(HKJCCT).
His new
role
is
to reinforce
HKJCCT’s
image,
profile
and
voice
leadership
both
locally
and
internationally,
and
gain
stronger
public
profile
and
reputation
as
the
biggest
community
benefactor
in
Hong
Kong.
Congratulations!
|
|
|
Out
In
The
World
Chris
Wong founded
Out
In
The
World,
Yale
Jackson
School's
very
own
LGBTQ
student
organisation
aimed
to
strengthen
student
affinity,
promote
diversity
and
inclusion,
and
highlight
the
policy
challenges
facing
queer
people
worldwide.
He
held
the
inaugural
event
in
November
2022
on
qurring
in a
global
affairs
career.
He
was
also
appointed
to
the
Diversity
Equity
and
Inclusive
Council
of
the
Jackson
School
as a
student
representative.
|
|
|
Fries
on
the
Pier
Dongfang
Guo has
co-hosted
a
podcast
channel
called
"Fries
on
the
Pier".
The
channel
invited
guests
from
all
walks
of
life
to
discuss
the
meaning
of
life.
|
|
|
|
Sharon
Chau is
awarded
a
Rhodes
Scholarship
to
pursue
MSt
in
Women’s,
Gender,
and
Sexuality
Studies,
and
the
Master
of
Public
Policy.
Well
done!
|
|
|
Events Organised/
Spoken/
Attended
|
|
As
part of her
work, Qingling
Kong conducted
field missions to
Tanzania, Uganda,
and Côte d'Ivoire
respectively in
July, October, and
November 2022, to
provide
technical backstopping
to stakeholders and
partners in
government agencies,
universities, and
the private sector,
aimed at enhancing
higher
technical education for
youth
high-level skills
development.
|
|
|
|
Qingling presented
her research paper at
the Tenth
Pan-Commonwealth Forum
on Open Learning
organized by the
Commonwealth of Learning
held in Canada, from 14
to 16 September 2022.
Under the thematic area
of fostering lifelong
learning, she shared
insights on leveraging
university-industry
collaboration on
enhancing youth skills
development and empower
the youth in the context
of
Tanzania.
|
|
|
James
Chan held
two press
conferences on 15
and 22 November 2022
to launch
“A Guide on
Equal Access to
Justice for Persons
Who are Deaf and
Hard of Hearing”
(the Guide) and "A
Study on
Comprehensive
Sexuality Education
in Secondary Schools
of Hong Kong” (the
Study) for the
Equal Opportunities
Commission,
respectively. Both
Guide and Study were
covered by the local
media extensively.
|
|
August
2022
Ankie
Ng shared
her
journey
on
founding
Shifted
and
creating
social
impact
with
Yr
12
students
at
Chinese
International
School
during
the
International
Baccalaureate
Induction
Week.
|
|
|
|
September
2022
Ankie spoke
on a ‘ESG and
Outcomes-based
Financing’ fireside
chat at the
‘Metaverse x
Universe’ Scaleup
Impact Summit, a
flagship conference
of the annual
StartmeupHK Festival
by InvestHK.
She shared her
experience about how
sustainable and
impact-led tech
start-ups can ensure
achievement of the
ESG goals while
scaling up and what
exactly is
Outcomes-based
Funding Financing
(OBF) and where Asia
is in terms of
building the OBF
ecosystem.
|
|
|
November
2022
Ankie helped
organize the
Sustainability panel
as an Organizing
Committee Member at
the
15th annual
Social Enterprise
Summit (SES)
(社企民間高峰會).
|
|
Asia
Philanthropy
Congress
As
part
of
his
work, Dennis Ngan took
part
in
the
closed-door
foundation
roundtable
session
of
the
inaugural
Asia
Philanthropy
Congress
organised
by
the Nippon
Foundation (the
largest
foundation
of
Japan)
at
Tokyo
in
mid-November
2022.
The
roundtable
set
up
common
agendas
to
deal
with
Asia
region’s
social
issues
by
facilitating
dialogue
among
foundations.
Senior
management
of
some
20
top
foundations
from
Asia
were
invited
to
the
closed-door
section.
|
|
|
|
Kwok
Scholars’
dinner
15
Kwok Scholars and 5
directors/ advisors/
friends of the
Association had a
dinner on 26 July
2022.
Attendees
reconnected and
ignited new
ideas.
|
|
|
Oxford
MPP
@10th
The
Blavatnik School of
Government marked 10
years of teaching
the Master of Public
Policy (MPP) in
September
2022. Some of
our MPP cohort
attended the
celebrations at
Oxford.
|
|
|
Finding
new light in
the holiday
spirit
The
last three years
have been
strange.
In
the summer of 2019,
I took a trip back
to Oxford, followed
by a weekend in
Tokyo, then family
holidays in Japan
again in autumn, and
finally ended the
year with a tour in
Burma with my best
friend.
We
celebrated New
Year’s Eve in
Yangon. We did not
know what’s
coming.
Things
began to change only
weeks later, in
January 2020 – from
Wuhan, to Beijing,
to cities in China
and rest of the
world. The rest has
become part of the
history labelled
with Covid-19. For
me personally it’s
almost three years
being lost without a
trace. Most of the
time I felt
isolated,
disoriented, and
defeated. But I have
never stopped
searching for the
light at the end of
the
tunnel.
In
September 2022, I
returned to Hong
Kong, after 6 years
since the last short
visit in 2016. Work
brought me back to
spend a few months
with the Asia
Pacific regional
office of a large
international bank.
My role has been in
reputation back in
mainland China for
the bank, and here
too. By reputation,
the function is
essentially a
combination of
cheerleading and
gate keeper to
maintain a healthy
public perception of
the institution, and
hopefully, if we do
everything right, to
improve the
image.
Since
arrival, many have
told me that Hong
Kong has changed.
The pandemic has
tested the
resilience of this
city and its people.
The economy was
deeply wounded and
so was the
confidence. And Hong
Kong has not been
alone in this. Where
I came from, cities
in mainland China,
have been and are
still going through
a very tough path to
put an end to and
rise above from
Covid-19.
Right
now as I am writing
down these words,
the future feels
uncertain in every
aspect of life.
Sometimes when I
looked back into
those Oxford years
in nostalgia and how
the scholarship from
Dr Kwok has changed
my life, the present
and foreseeable
future look both
pale into
insignificance by
comparison.
But
sometimes, I do
catch a glimpse of
light at the end of
the tunnel. It is
true that some of us
might be sailing in
difficult waters,
but now is more
important to fix our
eyes on the
lighthouse rather
than on the rocks
beneath which are
trying to stop us
from going where we
want to
go.
I am
very glad that I
finally had the
chance to work and
live in Hong Kong
and it has extended
into the holiday
season. The upcoming
Christmas is for
joyful celebrations
but also it is also
the time to pack up
our worries and
sorrow and replace
them with hopes and
dreams into the new
year. It is also
about finding new
light – just like
the vitality that is
coming back to the
city when we see
more travelers and
visitors in those
busier
streets.
And
I hope my families
and friends can all
find their new light
despite any sort of
circumstance. Love,
kindness, patience
and persistence –
with all these, and
a little help from
cheerful songs and
glittering Christmas
trees, we rebuild
our confidence on
solid foundations
and look expectantly
into the year of
2023.
Haining
Liu
|
|
|
|
|
