issue 02 2013-2014

ChristianityBuddhism

Muslim

HAPPINESS

REGENFLIP@ Cambodia

P.4

P.9

P.1

ChristianityBuddhism

When was the last time you felt happy? Just now? A few hours ago? Days ago? Seldom feel happy? What triggers your happy feeling? A confirmation letter on your exchange studies? Got paid from your part-time job? A hug from your loved one? A piece of strawberry cake?

The Christian Association, HKUSU and the Buddhist Studies Society, HKUSU jointly organised a cross-religious forum to explore the theme of happiness. Dialogue is happy to have interviewed two students who had helped in the forum’s organisation, Albert Lau (BEng, Mechanical Engineering, Year 2) and Wu Man Kit (Man) (BA, Chinese, Year 2), and have them shared their views on the topic of happiness.

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Christianity

Muslim

Being the Chairman of the Christian Association, Man meets regularly with different HKU students at their gatherings and other Association activities. “The discussion topic of our weekly gathering for the first semester of 2013 is “happiness”, so we have the chance to exchange our views on what makes us happy at this stage of our lives. For many HKU students, life is like a competition. They compete for good grades and GPA, entrance into Halls, exchange opportunity, career opportunity in Big 4 or i-banks, etc. Happiness, for many of them, comes from achievement – the achievement of things that they hope for.” In addition to meeting personal goals, the enjoyment of material things also brings happiness to many HKU students, “the use of the trendiest smartphones and tablets, the consumption of a cup of coffee or a portion of cheese cake at a cozy coffee shop on campus may also make one feel good,” added Albert.

Now you may have this question in mind, “What if I fail to attain these things? And even if I have attained them, does it mean that I can stay happy?” As a Christian, Man believes it is fine to try our best to do what is right or achieve

our goals, the only difference is that he cares less about the result. “For example, during the discussion on social justice at our weekly gatherings, we do not think it is a problem for us to participate actively in political or social activities, voice out our opinions or advocate on the improvement of human conditions whenever necessary. However, we are also prepared to accept that the result is not always in our hands. As long as we have tried our best, we have no regret.” As for Albert, he believes the attainment of material things may give us happiness, but only for a short moment. “Imagine that you got a new phone, you may treasure it so much in the beginning, but after a while you may not care if it falls onto the ground, and later you may even want to get a new one again. Because we desire to achieve our goals, we always keep pushing ourselves – we study harder, we join more internships, we do more part-time jobs etc. Some of us do so for our own happiness, but many of us do these because things like good grades, well-paid jobs, middle-class lifestyle are advocated by the mainstream social value. In the process of competing and pushing, we often miss the happy moment NOW, and if we fail to achieve what we want, we feel frustrated.”

issue 02 2013-2014

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sharing with and helping others. For example, I find my life more rewarding and meaningful when we exchange experiences in our weekly meetings or when joining some voluntary services, and even if I am not too happy when my plans do not seem to go anywhere, I am at least happy that I can live out the spirit of my religion, which is spreading the gospel (good news) to others.

Relax, enjoy a peaceful moment, and perhaps the video of the forum recorded by HKU Campus TV.

It is said that life is like a roller coaster, when there are ups there are also downs. Having gone through some unhappy moments just as many other HKU students did, Albert and Man have both managed to set off on the search for happiness and found their ways to face suffering positively. When asked whether there are some tips for their fellow HKU students, Albert shared, “the big lesson in life, to me, is to move away from suffering and be happy, and the keys are compassion and wisdom: when you are compassionate you start to open up your mind to understand other people and their different perspectives, you begin to see the whole picture instead of focusing too much on yourself. Also, we may mourn for pain, change and adversity which are not uncommon in our lives, but are we able to treasure the time when we get what we want? This is wisdom: To be grateful when life is smooth and to take things easy in difficult times. After all, life can have many different possibilities.” Man agrees that people should focus on a bigger picture and learn to care for others as well. “People may define happiness in many ways, because of my religion, apart from satisfying my own goals, I can also find happiness in

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On December 29, 2013, 9 students from HKU, City University of Hong Kong, and Hong Kong Polytechnic University set off for a self-initiated service trip to Cambodia, with the objectives of raising the awareness on health and foot hygiene of Cambodian villagers; educating them about the production of footwear from recyclable materials; and encouraging university students to become active change makers. The original schedule was to spend around 2 days on site visit and identifying potential villages, 4 days on

organising workshops and educating the villagers, 2 days on experiencing local cultures at Phnom Penh, and 1 day on meeting representatives of local Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). The group returned to Hong Kong on Jan 9, 2014, nothing from the schedule seemed to have run as planned. The leader of the project, Andre Kwok (BSocScience, Year 2, HKU), shared with Dialogue the group’s experience and other interesting things about the project.

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The challenge

“The purpose of our trip was mainly to introduce the concept of foot hygiene to Cambodian villagers and teach them how to make low-cost, plastic shoes. We had made connections with 7 to 8 NGOs before the trip, we also had experience in designing shoes from used material and teaching people how to make them.” Andre explained. But when they arrived and did the site visit, things started to look not so right. Many of the villagers did not like the idea of wearing shoes. They were used to walking on bare foot and even for those who had shoes, they did not bother to wear them. Andre recalled, “we suddenly found ourselves in a difficult situation. Questions like ‘What to do next?’, ‘Will the trip turn out to be a waste of time?’ etc., came across our minds.”

The group decided to conduct research again, and visit more NGOs to see if they could implement some of their ideas with a little twist. “Although it had become harder for us to carry out our plan, we got deeper understanding of the living environment, the hygiene situation and daily lives of the people we wished to help in the re-planning process. For example, we discovered that infected eyes and diarrhea were very common among the Cambodians. It was because their health awareness was generally weak: they used the

same pot of water for drinking, taking shower and washing their face, and it was only unfiltered rain water or underground water,” Andre said. As for project implementation, one of the NGOs recommended that they adopt a more educational approach by providing teaching materials not only on shoes-making but also on the concepts of hygiene and recycling.

But their plan was hindered again. A large-scale anti-government demonstration broke out, tens of thousands of protestors rushed to the streets of Phnom Penh and it became dangerous even to go out. “We could hear gunfire, which was quite horrible, but we were no less horrified by the possibility of having to return with nothing accomplished. We needed to act fast and be decisive if we would carry on with our project,” said Andre.

The group decided to search for NGOs in other Cambodian cities, hoping to get some ideas and volunteering opportunities from the experienced volunteers. They made contact with “Volunteer Development Children’s Association (VDCA)”, a supplementary school and NGO in Siem Reap offering predominantly English language classes for needy Cambodian children. As the school also

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The challenge

The solution

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The experience

In recent years, many HKU students have attempted to initiate service projects and travel to remote places to improve the living standard of the locals in ways such as offering classes and building houses. Being an active participant in outside-classroom activities and a person who have travelled to Cambodia prior to the RegenFlip trip, Andre, however, admits that organisers and participants often rely too much on their “Hong Kong perspective” and do not do enough research on need assessment and project implementation. “One of the foreign volunteers we met had spent two years living with the villagers just to understand their daily routines and what they actually need. Apart from thinking about the potential benefits that our projects may bring, we also need to ask questions like whether the local people are ready to accept changes and new ideas, and find out the experience of other volunteers and NGOs.” Andre concluded.

emphasised on moral, health and environmental education, Andre’s team suggested providing 4 classes of two hours each on health education and recycling. “We were all grateful that foreign student volunteers like us were very welcome by NGOs such as this in Cambodia. We finally got a chance to actualise our project and we just wanted to do as much as possible during our short stay.” Andre said. For the lower grade students, the group tried to include more activities and focus on shoes making while for the older students, they added in group discussions on hygiene and recycling. It turned out not only a fun and enjoyable experience for the school children but for Andre’s team as well. “We were impressed by the creativity of these children. When we brainstormed on what we could do with used plastic bottles, some answered a vase, a lampshade, or even a house,” Andre explained. In order to share their knowledge to more Cambodian children and make greater impact, the group produced a reference list of what they had taught for the teachers of VDCA. Again, this was not something in their schedule before.

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Despite the unexpected changes, panic and tedious work during the trip, the group nevertheless found satisfaction and gained valuable insights into the volunteering work in Cambodia and the daily lives of the locals that they had never imagined. For example, many villages are willing to provide land to NGOs for the construction of community centres or schools as long as they are beneficial to the villagers. Also, government regulations regarding land use are still loose, thus making it easier for organising volunteering work, “the cost of constructing a school could be as cheap as USD6,000

to 7,000. This was just unbelievable especially when comparing it with the land price in Hong Kong,” Andre said. “Also, we were amazed by the modern facilities that some NGOs could provide, like the computer rooms and library in VDCA, and the variety of education from language courses to lessons on ethics and the modern society.” All these have inspired the young volunteers to continue their service spirit and they are planning for the next trip in June, 2014! Dialogue will surely follow up.

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Careers Fair Postgraduate Careers Day

Date

Time

4 - 6 March (Tue - Thu) 7 March (Fri)

11:00 am - 4:00 pm 11:00 am - 4:00 pm

Venue Loke Yew Hall, 1/F Main Building

Target Students All students & fresh graduatesAll postgraduate students &

fresh postgraduates

No. of Exhibitors Over 90 (for 3 days) 30

Industries Technology, Research & Development, Construction & Engineering, Transportation & Logistics, Chemicals & Testing, Pharmaceutical, Telecommunications, Manufacturing, Real Estate, Civil Service, Education, Advertising & Marketing, Market Research, Media, Retail, Entertainment, HR Services, Social Services & NGO, etc.

Job Vacancies 1. Full-Time Graduate Jobs2. Summer Internships3. Mainland & Overseas Jobs4. Other Job Opportunities

Activities 1. Booth Exhibition2. On-site Application & Interview3. CV Clinic - one-on-one intensive 15-minute consultation by Career Advisor / Consultant and employers4. Photo Shooting - take a set of passport-sized professional photos for job applications

Concurrent Sessions 10 Recruitment Talks3 Industry Talks

Employment Market Outlook6 Recruitment Talks / Industry Talks

4 Industry-specific Networking Round Tables

HKU Careers Fair and Postgraduate Careers Day 2014 (4 - 7 Mar)

Comprehensive Career Activities and Immediate Application for Graduate and Summer Job Opportunities

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Meet face-to-face and network with a variety of prospective

employersMake an impression before applying for a position

Find out additional information that will help you determine what type of

career you want to pursue

The Careers Fair gives you the opportunity to:

1. Research on the exhibitors. View their profiles and job openings here, or visit their own websites to find out more. You can then decide which exhibitors you particularly want to talk to, and ask more informed questions.

2. Prepare some questions that you may be asked and think about what you would like an organisation to know about you.

3. Create your CV and highlight your skills that meet the job requirements.

4. Develop some questions to ask the recruiters, not those you could easily obtain from the company’s website.5. Prepare a 20-30 second elevator speech.

Before the Fair

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If you are given a business card, write a thank you note to the recruiter afterwards, thanking them for their time and consideration, or noting on anything that they may remember. Have they suggested you email them with further questions? Did they give you advice on their recruitment process?

1. Bring along sufficient copies of your application letter, CV and education certificates.

2. Bring a note pad with paper, pen and networking cards.

3. Dress formally and professionally, or at least business casual. Remember not to wear much cologne or perfume and keep jewelry minimum.

4. Talk to someone in the booth instead of just picking up a brochure. Use the opportunity to introduce yourself (your elevator speech already prepared) and ask questions face-to-face. If you are feeling nervous about approaching your first choice organisation, it may be good to visit other booths first to practise your technique.

5. Establish rapport with recruiters by smiling, making good eye contact and offering a firm handshake. Enquire if they would be willing to set a time to meet for an extended interview and ask for their business cards politely.

6. Even if you have a ‘hit list’ of exhibitors, consider other organisations at the fair that are less well known. They might be offering just what you are looking for.

7. Make use of your research on the company and ask questions to appear confident and knowledgeable.

8. Pay attention to your manner - stand up straight and do not fidget.

9. Thank each person you spoke with for his/her time.

10. Remember, do your homework and target your visit. Collect as much company information as possible. Pick up leaflets and brochures. These will be useful when you have an interview with your target company.

At the Fair

After the Fair

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Many of the opportunities are available to students of any discipline. Staff at the exhibitor booths are often recent graduates who can tell you what it is really like to work in their organisation.

If you want to have a CV ready to hand over, arrange an appointment at the Careers Service before the Careers Fair to ask for feedback.

The fair may be busy when you arrive – don’t be put off. People tend to congregate by the entrance, so head for another part of the fair where it will probably be quieter.

Avoid walking round the fair with a group of friends. The exhibitor may not realise that you are interested in them, and you could miss out because your friend happens to be more talkative than you!

If you feel overwhelmed, and don’t know what to do or where to start, make sure you visit the Careers Service reception counter for help.

For full list of exhibitors, talk and roundtable schedule, and job vacancies, please visit http://cedars.hku.hk/careersfair (contents will be updated from time to time).

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Other hints and tips