Lingnan University presents first Distinguished Alumni Service Award to Four Alumni for Their Significant Contributions to the University and Society
Since its re-establishment in Hong Kong in 1967, Lingnan University has transformed from a post-secondary college with 100 students to a top 10 liberal arts university in Asia and nurtured over 26,000 graduates. In celebration of its Golden Jubilee, Lingnan University launches the first Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 2018. The award is set up for recognizing the distinguished professional or scholastic achievements of its alumni, and their services and contributions to the University and/or society. Moreover, the University is hoping to motivate the students to take these eminent awardees as their role models and learn from the enlightening experience and successful stories.
The first Distinguished Alumni Service Award will be presented to The Most Reverend Dr Paul KWONG (English), Mr Allister NG Kwai-Hang (Sociology), Mr Henry SAM Chien-Man (Business Administration) and Dr Herman YAU Lai-To (Cultural Studies). The Award Presentation Ceremony will be held at the Ballroom of The Langham, Hong Kong on 21 January 2019.
The Selection Committee for this year’s award was chaired by Mr Rex AUYEUNG Pak-Kuen, JP, Chairman of the Council of Lingnan University, and included Prof Leonard K CHENG, BBS, JP, President of Lingnan University; Prof LAU Chi-Pang, JP, Council Member of Lingnan University; Prof Grace LAU Yin-Ping, Professor of Department of Chinese; Dr William LEUNG Yin-Yat, Chairman of Lingnan University Alumni Association (Hong Kong); Mr Roger LUK Koon-Hoo, BBS, JP, Former Managing Director and Deputy Chief Executive of Hang Seng Bank; Prof Pauline NG Man-Wah, SBS, Founder of we60.com and Former Secretary General of the Legislative Council Secretariat; Mr Albert SU Yau-On, Chief Executive of Tung Wah Group of Hospital and Mr Patrick WONG Chi-Kwong, Chairman of Lingnan Education Organization.
The nominee for the Award must be a graduate of Lingnan University (or its forerunner Lingnan College since 1967). Each nominee must be proposed by a nominator and seconded by two supporters who are either a graduate of Lingnan University (or its forerunner Lingnan College since 1967); or a current / former Council Member, Court Member, an Honorary Court Member; or an Honorary Graduate or Honorary Fellow; or a current full-time staff member of Lingnan University. The Selection Committee considers the suitability of the nomination based on one or more of the following criteria: contribution or service to the community and/or to the field of his/her profession, contribution or service to Lingnan University and positive impact of his/her contributions on the University.
Introduction of Distinguished Alumni Service Award recipients:
The Most Reverend Dr Paul KWONG
The Most Reverend Dr Paul KWONG appears to have been born with a strong sense of and reverence for religion. He grew up in a religious home and, since he was a teenager, has sought the truth and spiritual power in the church. With a lofty vision for religion and a sincere desire to serve the public, Archbishop Kwong was sent by Bishop Gilbert Baker to study at Church Divinity School of the Pacific in 1979, after his graduation from the Department of English of Lingnan University in 1977. He then graduated with a master’s degree in theology in 1982. A year later, he was ordained priest. His conviction, coupled with the warmth and affection he felt for Lingnan, motivated him to build his church with reason and love, putting into practice his ideal of “for God, for Country, for Lingnan”. Archbishop Kwong was being conferred the Honorary Doctorate by Lingnan University in 2007 in recognition of his outstanding achievement in religious, community and educational fields.
Archbishop Kwong has won considerable recognition from church members for his outstanding contributions to the Hong Kong Anglican Church and the Anglican Communion worldwide. When he became the second Archbishop of Hong Kong, he has paid a lot of attention to exchanges between churches and other regional religious bodies. He visited various religious figures and organizations in China, as well as various leaders of the US Episcopal Church, Church of Ireland, Church of England and the Southeast Asian Anglican Churches so as to foster co-operation with these religious bodies.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Kwong has mounted relentless effort to build up Hong Kong province by expanding the church’s influence through personnel training and consolidating the work done by its perishes. Following the deeds of Christ, discerning the society needs, practicing kindness and justice, providing the service, changing lives and respecting human dignity is always his life-long mission. Archbishop Paul commands respect for his formidable theological knowledge, intense passion for community service, religious work and most notable contributions to Hong Kong Anglican.
Mr Allister NG Kwai-Hang
Mr Allister NG graduated from the Department of Sociology of Lingnan University in 1983. As a former chairman and director of two listed companies, Mr Ng has made remarkable business achievements with outstanding insights and great perseverance. However, just at the peak of his business career, he chose to step down. In 1993, he got the Master Degree of Divinity from China Graduate School of Theology and became a preacher. Since then, he has been dedicated his time and effort whole-heartedly to Christian ministry work and community service.
In 1995, he founded the Children’s Paradise Foundation to serve the orphans and impoverished children in Hong Kong, China and other areas with the love of Christ. Mr Ng is currently the Director of the Wu Oi Christian Centre, the Founder and Director of the Children's Paradise Foundation, Director of the Gospel Ministry and Supervisor of the Life TME hotline at The Media Evangelism Limited, guest preacher and gospel partner of Network J, Director of the Centre for Development of Transformation Ministry International as well as preacher for critically-ill patients.
Mr Ng has been supporting the gospel rehabilitation work for years to give the marginal youth a rebirth opportunity. Besides helping to find the appropriate location to set up the rehabilitation centre, he has also put in immense effort for the centre’s long-term development. Furthermore, he and his partner have built an orphanage and a primary school in Fuzhou to provide a safe growing and learning environment for the homeless children.
Being a critically-ill patient preacher, Mr Ng has been offering pastoral care and comfort to the critically-ill patients and their families for over 30 years. In the recent years, he extended his service to the vulnerable deprived groups of the local community by holding talks and various voluntary servicing activities. All along the years, Mr Ng has remained low profile and contributed to the local and mainland communities unceasingly. He has adhered to his people-centred principle and never gives up.
Mr Henry SAM Chien-Man
Mr Henry SAM is currently the Honorary Court Member of Lingnan University, Supervisor of the Lingnan University Alumni Association (Hong Kong) Primary School, Director of Lingnan University Alumni Association (Hong Kong) and Member of the Board of Trustees of Lingnan (University) College, Sun Yat-sen University.
Graduated from Lingnan University in 1973, Mr Sam inherits the adventurous and hardworking spirit of the University. He founded the RCC (Contracting) Limited in 1985, mastering the retail setups of numerous well-known international brands in Hong Kong and Asian countries, which included complying technical reports, retail location selection, building structure evaluation, facility safety standardization and construction management.
Always upholding the University motto of “Education for Service”, Mr Sam has demonstrated how to fully fulfill the civic duty by serving and contributing to his community in various aspects. He was an activist during the school years. He eye-witnessed the set up of the first student union and became the Vice President in the following year. He advocated the student union to join the Hong Kong Federation of Students and had taken part in numerous student activities. Joining the Rotaract Club since the early years of studying, together with continuous exposure to international horizon, he became the member of the Rotary Club of HK North in 1986. Besides serving the local community, Mr Sam also has taken vigorous participation in the Club’s poverty alleviation and school building projects in China. In the past decade, he personally financed the building of four primary schools in the mountainous area of Tongren in eastern Guizhou province, and also provided financial support for the students in that area to go to university.
Mr Sam has a deep sense of bonding with Lingnan University and always contributes and gives back to his alma mater in different manners. He joined the Lingnan University Alumni Association (Hong Kong) as early as 1976, three years after his graduation, and had taken up the Chairman role from 2014 to 2016. With the support of the Alumni Association, he also enabled the fundraising and setting up of the “Lingnan University 125th Anniversary Education Fund” in 2013 to finance the University scholarships, summer internship programmes and other fundraising activities. Besides, he has actively supported Lingnan’s fundraising for many years and donated generously to aid Lingnan’s development.
Dr Herman YAU Lai-To
Dr Herman YAU is a renowned film director, producer and scriptwriter. With over 70 titles to his credit as film director, he is one of the most productive Hong Kong filmmakers. His productions include thriller, crime, inspiration, social realism, comedy and romance movies. Besides being an active filmmaker, he is also a cinematographer, writer, scriptwriter and magazine founder, as well as a mentor of local cultural programmes at various tertiary institutions and professional advisor to Hong Kong Arts Development Council and Hong Kong International Film Festival.
From 1998 to present, Dr Yau has received over 25 awards and professional qualifications for the films he has directed. “From the Queen to the Chief Executive”, a movie adapted from a documentary novel of the same title, was awarded the “Film of Merit” and “2001 Best Ten Chinese Movie” by Hong Kong Film Critics Society and Hong Kong Film Critics Association respectively. The same movie was also invited as the opening movie of “Panorama” of the Berlin International Film Festival, and was awarded the Golden Torch Award by the International Catholic Organization for Cinema and Audiovisual. “Walk In”, “Troublesome Night III”, “Shark Busters”, “On The Edge”, “Whisper and Moans”, “Love Lifting”, “Ip Man: The Final Fight”, “Sara” and “Always Be With You” were awarded the “Film of Merit” by the Hong Kong Film Critics Society. In 2018, Dr Yau was first nominated as the Best Director and Best Movie with “Shock Wave” in the Hong Kong Film Awards.
He graduated with the Master in Cultural Studies at Lingnan University in 2008. Followed by a doctoral programme in Cultural Studies to conduct his research on film censorship, a topic close to his career and his heart. His thesis showcased Hong Kong cinema in reflecting the sociopolitical environment, and demonstrated how the agitation, love, hatred and expectation of the people being reflected in the movies. As he continues to meet new targets in his own filmmaking career, he has not forgotten the institutional, creative and intellectual environment that are necessary to maintain local cinema and the film community as a backbone to cultural development in Hong Kong. Being a cultural worker, he is committed to help foster the next generation’s pursuits in film, culture and art.