The Foundation places great emphasis on building long-term and synergistic relationships with our Scholars. Through offering various networking and leadership development programs, the Foundation hopes to enable our Scholars to stay connected, engaged and inspired.
The Buddy Program was initiated by a group of Scholars in 2019, with the aim to offer exclusive opportunities for Scholars to develop connections within and beyond the Scholars’ community. It also serves as a platform generating synergies between Scholars on creating positive social impacts and a compassion-based community.
Each year, Scholars will be matched in Buddy Groups according to their academic disciplines, social aspirations, hobbies and career orientations. Quarterly meetings and activities shall be initiated by Scholars.
The second “Meet-the-Leaders Dialogue” was hosted on Feb 16, 2019. It was an inspiring morning with two very established and dedicated academics from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Tang Sze Wing, Chairman of Department of Chinese Language and Literature and Professor Josh Yiu, Director of the Art Museum. Sharing on the topic of “Chinese Values through Art and Cantonese”, Professor Tang and Professor Yiu shed light on the connection between the arts and modern life, encouraging Scholars to take active interest and better understand their own culture in order to evolve with it and preserve its essence at the same time.
A delegation of five The D. H. Chen Foundation Scholars 2016-17 visited Schwarzman College at Tsinghua University, Beijing at X’mas 2018. Besides engaging in high-level exchange with the management team and Schwarzman Scholars at the College, our Scholars also shared ideas and thoughts on the latest education development and social innovations in Hong Kong and the mainland. Our Scholars also met with aspiring social entrepreneurs and senior management of start-ups in Beijing to have a glimpse of the vast potential in social entrepreneurship and technology in the Chinese capital. Reflecting on the Visit, our Scholars all expressed that they were now even more motivated to leverage the language and geographical advantages Hong Kong had offered to drive further impact in mainland and other parts of the world.
The first “Meet-the-Leaders Dialogue” was hosted on Feb 3, 2018. An exclusive event for our Scholars, we are delighted to have Dr. Chow Sik-kuen and Miss Michelle Siu Hoi-yan, both awardees of the Hong Kong Humanity Award 2017, to share their experience and insights on applying their professional knowledge and talents to serve the community. The sincere sharing on the joy, frustrations, resilience and helplessness they encountered was very inspiring and moving. It was a heartwarming session on a cold Saturday morning that set Scholars on track for the plans they have made for 2018.
The Foundation is proud to collaborate with PolyU on this unprecedented partnership of hosting the University’s 80th Anniversary Nobel Laureate Lecture Series, bringing internationally-esteemed Scholars to Hong Kong to share their stimulating insights with the Hong Kong community. The Foundation seeks to inspire young minds to apply their knowledge and talents to drive positive change.