RS held the inauguration ceremony for its Master in Physiotherapy (MPT) and Master in Occupational Therapy (MOT) programmes today (3 January 2023), in order to welcome the freshmen of the upcoming academic year. With the support from the Social Welfare Department (SWD), Tung Wah Group of Hospitals, SAHK, Po Leung Kuk, relevant NGOs, as well as RS colleagues and students, the ceremony was completed with a great success.
The Department is honoured to have Dr Lawrence Li, Deputy Council Chairman of PolyU, to deliver the welcome address at the ceremony. Dr Li mentioned that PolyU and SWD had been cooperating with each other to provide the aforementioned programmes from 2012, and would continue to cooperate, in an effort to regularize the two programmes so as to meet the society’s ever-growing demand.
Miss Charmaine Lee, Director of Social Welfare, SWD, also delivered a speech, introducing its Training Sponsorship Scheme and relevant new developments. During the inauguration ceremony, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head, Department of RS, PolyU) and Miss Charmaine Lee have together completed the Kick-off Ceremony of Cooperation, symbolizing the continuous collaboration between RS and SWD in the provision of five more cohorts of MOT and MPT programmes to 2029.
After that, Mr Faye Cheung, Principal Social Services Secretary (Elderly and Rehabilitation) of Po Leung Kuk, and Ms Edith Hung, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of SAHK, have introduced respectively their organizations and the current development of rehabilitation in Hong Kong. Two graduates of the master programmes have also shared their learning experiences. Dr Hon David Lam, Legislative Councilor of HKSAR Legislative Council, was then invited to present souvenirs to the speakers in appreciation of their sharing.
Finally, Prof. Tsang delivered the closing remarks at the end of the ceremony. He briefly introduced the prospects of social welfare in Hong Kong and encouraged the freshmen to provide high-quality professional services to the people in need in the future. The inauguration ceremony came to a successful conclusion.