The Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation ("The Foundation") today announced the 15 awardees of the third “For Our Future Scholarship” programme at the presentation ceremony at Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre. The programme recognises local university students who demonstrate outstanding academic performance and dedication to community service. The 15 awardees of the scholarship were selected from over 210 applications from 13 tertiary education institutions in Hong Kong. Each awardee will receive a scholarship of HK$50,000.

All the awardees are multi-talented high academic achievers, who make use of their skills to serve society. One of the students, who is a veterinary student yet also an experienced performer and teachers of Chinese opera trying to promote this culture online, another student attained high academic results after a lacklustre early start, shared examination tips for students from similar underprivileged backgrounds through his own Instagram channel. There is also a student who studies Costume Technology has established her own brand to promote sustainability and donate part of the profits to charitable organisations.

Members of the judging panel included Mr Benjamin MOK, Acting Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; Mr Kenneth Leung, Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Commission; Mr Peter YAN, CEO of Cyberport; Prof. Bernadette TSUI, Former Associate Vice-President of HKU, and Mr Daryl NG, Chairman of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation.

Honourable Guests of the award ceremony included Mr Clarence LEUNG, Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs, HKSAR; Mr SONG Lai, Deputy Director General of Youth Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People Government in the HKSAR; Mr Daryl NG, Chairman of the Foundation; Mr Ricky CHENG, Acting Deputy Commissioner for the Development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area; Mr Kenneth Leung, Vice Chairman of the Youth Development Commission; Prof. Bernadette TSUI, Former Associate Vice-President of The University of Hong Kong, and Ms Winnie CHIU, Vice Chairman of the Foundation and President of Dorsett Hospitality International. Representatives from 11 tertiary educational institutions also attended, among them including Prof. Gillian CHOA, Director of The Academy of Performing Arts; Prof. Ricky KWOK, Vice President of Hong Kong Metropolitan University (Research and Student Development), and Ms Sophia YIP, Associate Vice President (Student Affairs) of Hong Kong Shue Yan University.

Mr Daryl NG, Chairman of the Foundation, delivered the welcome speech and said, “The ‘For Our Future Scholarship’ is an affirmation of the students’ academic performance and dedication to society. Through the examples of these outstanding students, our high hopes for Hong Kong’s young people are well placed. I am confident they will excel in different sectors and continue to contribute building a better Hong Kong.”

“The 14th Five-Year Plan supports the future development of Hong Kong in eight key areas (‘eight centres’), and together with the integration of Hong Kong into the fast-growing Greater Bay Area, more opportunities will be created for Hong Kong young people. Hong Kong is not just a super connector, but an important player in the development of the GBA and the country.”

Mr Clarence LEUNG, Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs said, “Youth development is crucial to the future and prospects of our country, nation and Hong Kong. The government gives youth work a top priority. Among them is the ‘Youth Development Blueprint’ released by the Home and Youth Affairs Bureau at the end of last year. We aim to provide more opportunities for the growth and development of young people, and promote their diverse development. The awardees not only have excellent academic performance but also use their knowledge to help the underprivileged, promoting social integration and development. They are role models for young people.”

Ms Winnie CHIU, Vice Chairman of the Foundation and President of Dorsett Hospitality International, who is passionate about arts and youth development, was invited to share her experiences and said, “The Greater Bay Area will become an important R&D hub for China; acting as a pilot for numerous projects before they are rolled out nationwide. It will offer attractive employment and career development opportunities for young people in Hong Kong and a chance to really make an impact on, what I strongly believe, is HK's new golden era. Our youth should take advantage of the Greater Bay Area development to embrace new possibilities for future development.”

To further support the awardees and enable them to realise their full potential, the Foundation has established the “For Our Future Scholarhip” Alumni Association. This platform will enable the awardees to initiate and execute various projects and help students build professional networks. The Association is headed by Mr Michael YAN, one of the awardees in the first “For Our Future Scholarship” programme.

The Foundation will also arrange experiential tour for awardees to explore opportunities for their future development in the Greater Bay Area. During the tour, they will visit places such as Qianhai and Nansha as well as the Hengqin free trade zone, scientific and technological organisations, universities and cultural attractions in the region.

“For Our Future Scholarship” Awardees Summary

One of the awardees of the “For Our Future Scholarship” Programme is Sammy CHIM, a Year 3 student studying Global Business at CUHK. Earlier in his studies, Sammy achieved only mediocre grades until he reached F.4. After attending Information Day at CUHK, he became determined to get into the university’s highly competitive Global Business Studies Programme and within 18 months earned excellent results (scoring 5** in 4 subjects) in the HKDSE.

After his admission into the programme, Sammy noticed that most students came from affluent families, with greater access to learning resources. Raised by an underprivileged family, he found the high cost of overseas exchanges to be a challenge. Nevertheless, Sammy persevered and attained a perfect GPA, enabling him to win scholarships that covered his tuition fees and overseas exchange costs.

To help other students from underprivileged backgrounds who struggled financially — especially during the pandemic — he set up an Instagram account in his first year for sharing tips on examinations and suggesting options for their further studies. He also invited other students to hold workshops on how students could pursue their educational goals. Today, Sammy aspires to set up an NGO offering affordable cultural exchange opportunities to low-income secondary school students.

Haley KWOK, a year 3 student in Enterprise Engineering with Management at Polytechnic University, switched to engineering, AI and robotics in her first year so she could follow her passion for STEM. Haley’s decision, however, went against the advice of her parents and teachers who urged her to continue studying arts and business.

Despite having a weak foundation in maths and science, she was determined to excel academically. Thanks to a professor who encouraged her, she is currently researching technologies such as IoT, human-machine collaboration and augmented reality. As a result of the hard work put in by Haley and her team, they won several prestigious awards, including the CA paper competition by the Hong Kong Institution of Engineers in 2021/22, the 8th Hong Kong Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition, and the HKICT Student Innovation Award. She now wants to pursue postgraduate studies in innovative technology that will contribute to Hong Kong's competitiveness.

The other awardees of the “For Our Future Scholarship” included Anson CHAN from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Anastasia CHAN and Yemina CHUNG from City University of Hong Kong, Marco LEE from The University of Hong Kong, Aria LEUNG from The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts, Grace LI from Hong Kong Shue Yan University, Natalie NG from Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Pearl NGAU from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Alison TANG from The University of Hong Kong, Raphael TANG from Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Anson YU from Lingnan University, Yannis ZHANG from Hong Kong Baptist University and Laughing ZHENG from The Education University of Hong Kong.

Photo Caption:

1) 15 awardees were recognised at the third “For Our Future Scholarship” programme. Honourable guests include (First row) Mr Clarence LEUNG, Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs (Middle); Mr SONG Lai, Deputy Director General of Youth Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People Government in the HKSAR (Third from left) and Mr Daryl NG, Chairman of the Greater Bay Area Homeland Youth Community Foundation (Third from right).

2) Mr Daryl NG, Chairman of the Foundation said, "The ‘For Our Future Scholarship’ is an affirmation of the students’ academic performance and dedication to society. I am confident they will continue to contribute building a better Hong Kong.

3) Mr Clarence LEUNG, Under Secretary for Home and Youth Affairs said, “Youth development is crucial to the future and prospects of our country, nation and Hong Kong. The awardees are role models for young people.”

4) Ms Winnie CHIU, Vice Chairman of the Foundation and President of Dorsett Hospitality International, was invited to share her valuable social experiences with the students.

5) Two of the awardees Sammy CHIM, CUHK and Haley KWOK, PolyU shared their amazing stories at the ceremony.

6) Group photo of the Awardees and Honorable guests.

7) Group photo of the Awardees, Honorable guests and representatives from 11 tertiary educational institutions.

8) Group photo