Alumni Class Notes

It is just a year since I took up a professorship in FinTech with CUHK, after many years at HSBC Canada and Asia Pacific overseeing technology teams in retail banking & wealth management. The DBA training gave me the "entry qualification" to be an academic, and more importantly the opportunity to share my practical experience with our next generation leaders in technology and business. Not until I attempted to publish my thesis as an academic journal paper did I realise the amount of effort and perseverance needed. It took us more than three years to finally get the paper accepted for publishing by Internet Research, a SCI/ SSCI listed journal. All the best to the CityU DBA programme, continuing to be the best in the region, and encouraging contributions of academic research to benefit the community at large!

I am an EMBA (Chinese) alumnus and vice chairman of the EMBA Chinese Alumni Association. During my time at CityU, I began to practise longdistance running. After graduation, I participated in the 13th Xuanzang Road Business School Gobi Challenge on behalf of the College in May 2018. My teammates and I completed 112km in four days and three nights. The team won two awards. Through training and competition, our friendship was enhanced, and we also trained our body and perseverance. After finishing, I felt that I was stronger than ever. No difficulty is insurmountable! It was a windfall for me to study at CityU.

When I had my first internship in Hong Kong in 2017, I fell in love with this place. Time flew by in my postgraduate studies in 2018-2019, and I loved the city even more. Here is a place with talents from all over the world. Everyone here has something to learn from. Life pace is fast, but with greater pressure, the faster you grow. I believe in "back to basics" – doing simple things wholeheartedly and repeatedly, and excelling in them. Real masters usually work very hard at their expertise. You will never know how much others have paid to achieve today's achievements. So, keep it up! I hope I can find a sky of my own in Hong Kong. I also hope that CityU and every student here, as well as Hong Kong, will get better and better!

I have just stepped out of my comfort zone and moved to another company. It was a tough decision to make as that was my first full-time job, and I spent seven years there to develop my career. My former supervisor is my role model; he is a good leader who has offered me opportunities and time to acquire new knowledge and skills. He has made me become a better me! At last, he has also taught me: Never stop, keep taking new challenges!

Arriving in Hong Kong without knowing what I would go through in the next four years, CityU provided me with various "Go Global" opportunities. I am grateful to have the chance to participate in study tours, exchange programmes, international case competitions and conferences across top universities in mainland China, South Korea, Australia and the US. Furthermore, CityU also focuses on students' employability, and I completed three internships for different positions including banking, finance and accounting, and have worked in Malaysia, Hong Kong and Australia. Thank you CityU for the memorable four years and all the very best to CityU in the future!