News and Achievements

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.

Global New Year Gala 2021

The beginning of a new year is the time for celebration and reconnection. With the support and guidance from the Student Affairs Office, 8 Non-local Student Associations from the Chinese mainland, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Malaysia, South Asian countries, Taiwan and Global Student Ambassadors had joined hands to give a new meaning to the Spring Festival in 2021 by working together to present the Global New Year Gala on virtual platforms. The Gala was held on 26 February 2021, aiming to bring all PolyU students from around the world to join the PolyU family reunion to share their festive buzz at the Lantern Festival in the Year of the Ox. It provided a memorable occasion for students to interact with friends and classmates from different countries/regions online. Prof. Ben Young, Vice President (Student and International Affairs), echoing the Gala theme of “Brave New Hope”, gave an opening speech to instil positivity and energy to both participants and organisers at the opening ceremony. “The Gala provides a chance for students to celebrate cultural diversity, and at the same time reconnects peers to discover new opportunities in the new normal under the pandemic,” Prof. Young remarked. With a rich array of online cultural workshops, traditional handicraft demonstrations, games, variety shows and instant interactions, the Gala was well received by around 100 student participants. Student organisers and participants gave encouraging feedback to this first-ever online cultural event. A participant said “It’s interesting to have students from all around the world gathering in one zoom meeting and sharing. The atmosphere is fun and interactive.” “I not only got insights about different cultures but also my own culture.” said one of the student organisers.

GSAP Swearing-in Ceremony

In times of COVID 19 pandemic, the Student Affairs Office organised the first-ever online “Global Student Ambassador Programme (GSAP) Swearing-in Ceremony 2020/21” on 2 Feb 2021 for trainee ambassadors, reinforcing their commitment as GSAP ambassadors. The ceremony was officiated by PolyU Vice President (Student and International Affairs), Prof. Ben Young and Associate Dean of Students, Dr Eric Tam. Addressing the ceremony, Prof. Young encouraged students to make new friends from different countries, understand and appreciate the other cultures. Over 35 new GSAP ambassadors were sworn in as Global Student Ambassadors under the witness of Prof. Young and Dr Tam. They are committed to becoming Global Citizens to appreciate cultural diversity. They will also do their best to integrate local and non-local students in the PolyU community and different parts of the world.

Dean of Students Talk Series: Laozi on Innovation

Prof. Otto C. C. Lin, Senior advisor to the President and Honorary Professor of Industrial and System Engineering, delivered a Dean of Students Talk on “Laozi on Innovation” on 26 January 2021. Prof. Lin talked about how Laozi’s philosophies from thousands of years ago are still applicable to today’s innovation industries, using examples such as computers, mobile internet cloud technology and machine learning robot. After Prof. Lin’s sharing, a Q&A session, facilitated by Dr Steven Poon, BBS, JP, Chairman of Bright World Group Ltd., was conducted. The participants showed great interests on the topic and questions such as the difference between Chinese and Western philosophies, and ways to stimulate innovation were raised.

Dean of Students Talk Series: The Silver Lining of COVID-19

Mr Wing Mo Leung, the Former Assistant Director of Hong Kong Observatory, delivered a Dean of Students Talk on “The Silver Lining of COVID-19” on 30 November 2020. Mr Leung explained his views on alternatives impacts brought by COVID-19, and the connection between the coronavirus and climate change. Besides, he also shared his views on the lessons learnt from the pandemic outbreak.  A 20-minute Q&A Session was conducted after the Sharing Session, the audiences expressed interests on Mr Leung’s stance on different topics in relation to environmental preservation and sustainability strategy. The talk concluded with the presentation of a souvenir from the Dean of Students to Mr Leung as a token of thanks.