Distinguished speakers with outstanding achievements in the fields of business, broadcasting, sports and film attended a seminar organised by City University of Hong Kong (CityU) titled “Shaping Your Future: One Day Seminar, a Lifetime of Difference” on 8 May. They shared their views with more than 100 Form 6 and Form 7 students on how teenagers can maintain the momentum in their lives in face of constant challenges.

The Hon Leung Chun-ying, CityU Council Chairman, Professor Way Kuo, CityU President, and Professor Federick Ma Si-hang, Chairman of China Strategic Group, individually delivered talks on key factors to success and how young people should equip themselves. Ms Chu Fun, programme presenter of Commercial Radio, Mr Ringo Lam Wing-kwan, founder of Wisers Information Limited, Ms Sherry Tsai Hiu-wai, Hong Kong swimming record holder, and Mr Yip Lim-sum, film director, hosted a roundtable sharing session and discussed how young people should deal with challenges. The insightful ideas offered by all speakers were inspiring to the young students.

In his talk entitled “Equipping Yourself for the 21st Century”, Mr Leung pointed out that young

people are valuable resources of Hong Kong and the key driving force for the future. In face of the huge, rapidly growing mainland market, Hong Kong’s young people should develop a broader view and seize the opportunities presented by the fast development of China.

“As a future leader, you should make use of all the opportunities available to equip yourselves, look beyond Hong Kong and aim high. In addition, you should express more concerns and involve in discussions on the future of Hong Kong, understand the actual situation of local community by analysing different data. Only in this way will you be able to continuously promote the territory’s development,” Mr Leung said. He encouraged the young students to live for today and plan for the future.

Professor Kuo said in his talk that he anticipated the young students attending the seminar today would soon have to determine what they wanted to study in universities. He advised them to take into consideration the rapid integration between Hong Kong and the Mainland, and to have a full understanding of themselves before making their decision of further studies.

“Which programme suits you the best? You should first understand yourself by identifying your strengths and interest, then find out the features of different programmes and industries,” said Professor Kuo.

He pointed out that though concepts such as online shopping or 3-D television, were novel when they were first raised many years ago, they are widely used today. Therefore, he encouraged students to think out of the box, accept challenges and choose subjects with potential to grow.

Professor Ma urged students to set goals for their future no matter what they intended to do. He also outlined seven factors that would help the students excel in the future and achieve success, namely to establish correct values, be diligent, learn from failures, be positive and persistent, be different and make a difference, ready to take risks when making decisions and have a global mindset.

Besides listening to the talks, the students also joined four other speakers who shared their successful stories and explored how students should maintain the momentum in face of constant challenges. They also visited various colleges and departments, advanced laboratories and other campus facilities to get to know more about CityU’s learning environment. They expressed that they had benefitted a great deal from the well-organised and lively seminar.

Chan Sing-yan, from TWGHs Li Ka Shing College, said the talks were helpful for him when he had to select programmes in the future while the visit of CityU campus and facilities gave him a better understanding of CityU’s strengths.