Club scholarship honours 29 students for their outstanding achievements

23/03/2011

The Hong Kong Jockey Club today (23 March) awarded scholarships to 29 tertiary students in recognition of their outstanding academic performance and commitment to serve the community.  The grant will support the academic expenses and living costs of the scholarship recipients for three years.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony, witnessed by Hospital Authority Chairman Anthony Wu, Jockey Club Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges and Executive Director, Charities, Douglas So, along with representatives from the city’s tertiary institutions as well as families and friends of the scholars, the scholarship recipients pledged to continue serving the community and contributing to society.

 “Our scholarship scheme not only recognises and confirms the outstanding performance of the students, it also helps them establish positive values,” Mr So said. “They are being encouraged to become actively involved with community services, so as to nurture their spirit to serve the community and become responsible citizens.”

Mr Wu encouraged the scholars to expand their horizons and set clear goals in life. He suggested that students learn keep an open mind. “Life is unpredictable. Not everyone has a smooth path,” he commented.  “While there may be ups and downs, what’s more important is to think how to get back up again, to cherish everything you have and not take things for granted.”

The 29 scholarship recipients for academic year 2010/11 – 21 from Hong Kong and eight from the Mainland – are all first-degree students at one of Hong Kong’s eight UGC-funded tertiary institutions and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA).  They were nominated by their respective institutions on the basis of outstanding academic ability, as well as active participation in community services.  Each student receives a grant totalling around HK$290,000 over the three years of his or her study to cover tuition fees, academic expenses and living costs, subject to continued academic excellence and participation in community services.

“I’ve been to Rwanda to work as a volunteer, raising money and constructing a sports ground for an orphanage,” says global business student Chris Cheng from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. “The Club’s scholarship will help materialise my dream to establish a social enterprise in future to help the needy.” Fiona Chou, a quantitative finance and risk management science student from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, also shares the same dream to serve the underprivileged. She has received a Volunteer Gold Award from the Social Welfare Department for her contribution to society.

Her schoolmate, Elvin He from Xian had considered giving up studying medicine in Hong Kong due to the pricy tuition fee. “Fortunately, the scholarship can help alleviate the financial burden of my parents and help pursue my dream to become a doctor. Now I can inherit my father’s profession and save lives in future.”

Drama student Christopher Ying from HKAPA has been involved in many renowned musical plays and movies, including High School Musical and Batman: The Dark Knight. “Art is as important as my life; however my road to art is not easy. My parents had objected to my choice before, but now I have proved that I am on the right path and gained their recognition.” His fellow music schoolmate, Wong Wai-yin won the VII International Competition for Young Pianists in Memory of Vladimir Horowitz in Ukraine in 2008 and held a piano recital at the Hong Kong Arts Festival last Thursday (17 March).

Apart from setting up the Scholarship Scheme, the Club through its Charities Trust has provided funding to establish the Jockey Club Scholars Alumni Association. This unique group of cross-institution and cross-faculty alumni organises community service programmes for the needy. By supporting the scholars and encouraging them to make good use of their skills and talents, the Club hopes to instil in them a strong sense of commitment to society. One of the Alumni Association’s initiatives that has proved especially successful is a project for local secondary schools called “Schoolala”, which helps students realise their goals and dreams through a range of workshops and activities.

Throughout the years, the Club has attached great importance to Hong Kong’s education and made donations according to the changing needs of society. Back in the 1950s and 60s, the Club set up education funds and made donations to establish many primary and secondary schools, so that children who used to go to the temporary schools on the rooftops of buildings could have a much better environment to study. In the 70s, the Club also funded the construction of various tertiary institutions. In recent years, it has set up The Hong Kong Jockey Club Life-wide Learning Fund to subsidise students participating in extra-curricular activities and support a number of projects for young people, including SkyHigh Creative Partners: A Jockey Club Initiative for Innovative Minds in Tin Shui Wai to help young people realise their artistic potential and creativity, and The HKFYG Jockey Club LEAD Centre to promote young people’s interest in engineering, arts and design.

About The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship Scheme

The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarship Scheme was established in academic year 1998/99 by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, originally as a 10-year project.  It aims to provide an average of 27 scholarships a year for local and Mainland students to pursue three-year, first-degree courses at the eight UGC-funded universities in Hong Kong and the HKAPA.  To dovetail with the Government’s switch to a new structure for senior secondary and higher education, better known as the 3-3-4 system, the Scholarship Scheme has now been extended to the end of academic year 2011/12, the last academic year before the new four-year curriculum is introduced at Hong Kong’s tertiary institutions.  The Club’s total contribution for the Scholarship Scheme will amount to HK$107 million. Up to and including the 2010/11 academic year, 318 students have been awarded the scholarship.

The Hong Kong Jockey Club

Founded in 1884, The Hong Kong Jockey Club has become one of Hong Kong’s best known and respected organisations, providing the public with world-class sporting entertainment as well as being the city’s major non-Government community benefactor, now donating more than HK$1 billion a year to charitable and community projects.  It has been a part of Hong Kong through good times and bad, sharing the city’s growth and development with its people, and is dedicated to enhancing the quality of life for future generations.