City University of Hong Kong (CityU) presented 1,089 awards to outstanding students at its annual Scholarship and Prize Presentation Ceremony on 15 March .Thanks to donations and contributions totalling HK$16.6 million, more than 1,300 awards will be available this year, a 30% increase on last year.

The recipients received awards from 225 award schemes set up by professional bodies, charitable trust funds, private firms and CityU faculties, departments and alumni.

Professor David Tong Shuk-yin, Deputy President of CityU, thanked donors for their generous and enthusiastic support. He said, “Without the unfailing support from our community, the tremendous effort of our academic staff, and collaboration with the business, industrial and professional sectors and enthusiastic alumni, all this could not have been accomplished.”

He said that while we were moving towards internationalization on the CityU campus, scholarship schemes in support of outbound exchange study and internship have been increased too. The number of student exchange scholarship recipients rose to 201, up 30% from last year.

Professor Tong also encouraged scholarship recipients to continue to work hard to prepare themselves for the challenges ahead, “You are privileged to have the opportunities to receive university education, and also the honour to receive scholarships and prizes. I believe that your commitment to excel or to serve will not end. Rather, you will take up the challenges and triumph, in the days to come, to shape the many tomorrows for humankind with what you have learned today.”

After the ceremony, scholarship recipients shared their stories and heartfelt thanks. Sam Li Kwan-ho, a Year 2 student in the Department of Economics and Finance, received the Thanksgiving Student Exchange Scholarship. Sam had never travelled outside Asia. The Exchange Scholarship enabled him to spend half a year attending top-tier Carnegie Mellon University, where he learned to better appreciate the complexities of a globalized world.

Vivian Chiang Sze-chung, a Year 3 student of the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics, received the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences Internship Scholarship. Vivian wanted to understand more about the development of China. Thanks to the Internship Scholarship, she spent last summer at China Central Television (CCTV) in Beijing as a sub-editor. The students she met helped make the experience a memorable one.

Dr Vanessa Liu Shun-wah, now an Assistant Professor at the New Jersey Institute of Technology, is an alumna of CityU. The recipient of several scholarships including the prestigious Sir Edward Youde Memorial Scholarship and Fellowship, Dr Liu thanked the caring donors for their generous support to CityU students. She said that before winning scholarships, she had to take up part-time jobs, working up to eight hours a day to cover tuition fees and expenses. Scholarships not only encourage academic achievement but also provide financial support to needy students, she said.

Scholarships and prizes also help to cultivate students’ creativity. David Cheung Wai-sun, a master‘s degree student of the School of Creative Media, received the CityU Outstanding Innovation Award. The award enables him to successfully develop the “Automatic Stray Alert and Tracking System” which helps save old people from losing their way home.