Dr Maria Mok joined the Hong Kong museum of art in 1996 and has since dedicated her career to the institution. Mok served as a curator in charge of various departments and has extensive experience in leading a vast number of exhibitions and educational programmes. Now its director, she hopes museum visiting will become an integral part of everyone’s life; she continues to lead her team at the HKMoA in its mission to expand the city’s cultural landscape.

How would you describe your 2023?
Fortunately, it’s been a fruitful year for us at HKMoA. We’ve been receiving record-breaking attendance figures as Hong Kong returns to normalcy.

What were your biggest achievements in the past 12 months?
HKMoA celebrated the arrival of our 2-millionth visitor since our reopening in 2019. We also received numerous donations including the Fuyun Xuan Collection, the most extensive and comprehensive donation of snuff bottles ever gifted to a museum in Hong Kong.

What was your secret of success in the past year?
We’re lucky to have a dream team and they’re the heroes behind our achievements.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome?
With all the new donations and increasing crowds, I had to revisit all our programmes and re-evaluate the use of space so we can keep offering an optimal visiting experience.

What lessons did you learn this year?
Don’t ever underestimate visitor flow. And we should’ve produced more scented stickers at the Art Personalized exhibition – people loved them!

What advice would you give last year’s self?
Less is more in every aspect – at work and for your own personal self-care. Take time to refine instead.

What are you looking forward to in 2024?
New partnerships and flagship projects will be launched, with a focus on the love of this city and its art. It will
be an important year for the museum to secure our position as the top art museum of Hong Kong.

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Professor Ava Kwong’s research into breast cancer and work as a doctor and educator have made her one of the most respected surgeons in her field. Kwong is also the founder and chairman of the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry, a clinical professor and chief of the breast-surgery division for various hospitals.

How would you describe your 2023?

In 2023, I worked as a clinical professor doing a lot of research work; I travelled to international conferences to share our knowledge; and I spent a lot of time working on the charitable organisation, the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry. It’s certainly been a surreal few years, so it’s good to be getting back to normal pace and momentum.

What were your biggest achievements in the past 12 months?
I won the University of Hong Kong Faculty of Medicine Clinical Excellence Service Award and got to work with the Health Bureau to implement new clinical projects in the public sector.

I also managed to reinstate the annual Pink Ball event in support of the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry, which is strongly supported by our health secretary, Professor Lo Chung Mau. At home, I’m proud I managed to still be a mother and wife too, spending quality time with my children and husband.

What was your secret of success in the past year?
Perseverance, recognising I can’t do everything, treasuring teamwork and having a team with the same vision.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome?
We saw a major change in staff across all sectors, including academic work, clinical work and even the Hong Kong Hereditary Breast Cancer Family Registry. It was challenging but I kept a positive view – changes can be better. Having said that, some staff who left me during Covid came back to rejoin the team, which was nice.

What lessons did you learn this year?
Appreciate life and the people around you, as not everyone can be there forever. Learn to adapt to changes and see challenges as an opportunity.

What advice would you give last year’s self?
When you face challenges, there’s a reason why they appear. Be patient and try and go with the flow. In time you’ll be at a different level.

What are you looking forward to in 2024?
Rebuilding and creating more opportunities to make a difference
in the lives of my patients, their families and society by using my research work to support public health planning.

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2023 was a significant year for Sarah Lee as she called time on her career as a full-time athlete. Here, she shares her biggest achievements from the past 12 months and tells us what she’s looking forward to in 2024.

As a professional track cyclist and two-time Olympic medal holder, Sarah Lee has known little other than the gruelling schedule of an elite athlete. So when she took the momentous decision to retire from the sport in April this year, instead of taking a well-earned break, Lee met the challenge by channelling her energy and unrivalled work ethic into a world of new opportunities. We find out what’s next for this unstoppable force.

How would you describe your 2023?

2023 was a huge milestone for me. I quit my career as an elite athlete in April and began exploring new things. I tried different routes to work, I ventured out of my comfort zone and I met different people from around the world. The whole experience has felt surreal, but it’s also been amazing. There’s an infinite amount of diverse possibilities that can happen in life and I really look forward to embracing them.

What were your biggest achievements over the past 12 months? 

I celebrated two big achievements this year. Firstly, I graduated with first-class honours for my second bachelor’s degree in creative and professional writing. Since I published my debut book last year – my memoir, Every Scar on the Body – I’ve tried to write some other genres, such as poems, surreal fiction and lyrics. It’s been hugely satisfying to combine my life experiences into new forms.

Secondly, after graduation, an opportunity came up to be a host and commentator for the Asian Games. It was a great opportunity for me to step out of my comfort zone while staying in sports, this time in a different role. Working in TV is totally opposite to competing in the games, so I tried to adjust my mentality of managing people while working. I was so lucky to have many kind colleagues who guided me and gave me advice, helping me to become a more professional commentator day by day. I’m grateful that the project ended up being a great success and it was lovely to receive so much positive feedback.

What was your secret of success in the past year?

My secret is very simple: whatever I do, I work at it with all my heart. During the Asian Games, I only slept for eight hours in total during the week. I felt so exhausted physically; however, my tough mentality and my strong will supported me in working efficiently and enthusiastically.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome? 

This year I’ve reached a crossroads in my life, and after a long period of reflection, I made a huge decision, which has also been the biggest challenge of my life. Going forward, I hope to have the strength to choose my own future path and to not be influenced by others’ expectations, but by my passions instead. Following my own passion was how I chose to become a professional cyclist in the first place. At present, there are still many challenges I need to face, but I know that they’ll change my life for the better if I overcome them with a positive mindset.

What lessons did you learn this year?

I learned to enjoy having a social life for the first time, as well as the opportunity to fully rest afterwards. When I was an athlete I rarely got together with my friends, so I hope to see them more now that I’m retired. But I’m still making sure to carve out time for myself – it’s also about learning to balance work, socialising and rest.

What advice would you give last year’s self? 

I’d like to say the same sentence I said to myself when racing: be patient! The best is yet to come, if I’m willing to wait for it.

What are you looking forward to in 2023?

I hope to dedicate more time to learning new and different skills I never had the chance to as an athlete.

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2023 was the year that Benenden School Guangzhou finally opened its doors. Here, executive supervisor Jennifer Ma shares her biggest achievements from the past 12 months and tells us what she’s looking forward to in 2024.

Although no one can predict how technologies such as Chat GPT will affect the world, Jennifer Ma strongly believes inquisitiveness will never be replaced by AI. As executive supervisor at the newly opened Benenden School Guangzhou, Ma explains why she’s determined to ensure her students are masters in the art of questioning.

How would you describe your 2023?

A year of the impossible made possible.

What were your biggest achievements in the past 12 months?

Opening our new school in Panyu, Guangzhou. It was an achievement on a personal level, as it extended the legacy of my alma mater, which celebrated its centenary this year.

It’s involved more than five years of planning and three years since exploring a synergistic partnership between Benenden School in the UK and CTF Education Group, two years of construction and one year of team building. So when we finally welcomed our first cohort of 168 families in September, it felt like a dream come true.

What was your secret of success in the past year?

Adaptability. Beyond taking on an evolving role as executive supervisor of Benenden School Guangzhou, it’s been a steep learning curve familiarising myself with the behind-the-scenes operations of a boarding school that spans a million-square-foot campus and a founding leadership team from diverse cultural backgrounds.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome?

This year has felt like we were overcoming challenges on a daily basis, from navigating the macro environment, recruiting our first students within a tight admissions timeframe, and developing and delivering a fresh educational ethos, to recruiting and leading a team of talents from diverse backgrounds and experiences. However, the biggest challenge by far was a personal one: balancing family needs and work commitments. While many would advise that careers are a matter of priority, fate has it that such priorities often clash in time, making it impossible to not feel the “working-mum guilt” that I’m sure many working mothers can relate to.

What lessons did you learn this year?

The art and propensity to ask questions are the most valued skills in lifelong learning, which is especially the case in today’s ChatGPT world.

Be it learning a new system, decoding people dynamics, or exploring new possibilities for business development, inspiration and knowledge often become apparent and coherent after a series of asking the right questions. Since I started my career in education 15 years ago, I’ve advocated for this skill to be a central objective of any quality schooling, critical in any context, in any position. Given the unimaginable impact of AI on education, it’s even more important that the learners of tomorrow become experts in observing, questioning and prompting.

What are you looking forward to next year?

2024 will be a year of exploration, execution and evaluation. I look forward to leading our growing team to go beyond our comfort zones and explore infinite possibilities on our world-class campus. I hope to fully execute and bring our vision for the school to life, while also evaluating the family-work balance in the process of this all.

(Top hero image: The Benenden School Guangzhou September open day)

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2023 was a significant year for Philanthropist, Hotelier and Mental Health Advocate Dee Dee Chan, as she welcomed a daughter for the first time. Here she shares her biggest achievements from the past 12 months and tells us what she’s looking forward to in 2024.

Nothing can prepare you for the sheer emotional rollercoaster of becoming a mother for the first time. But for philanthropist Dee Dee Chan who welcomed a daughter this year, though it resulted in significant changes to her priorities, it was also an opportunity to widen her skillset and renew her commitment to bettering the planet. She shares how she’s doubled down on her work providing access to mental-health services for university students.

How would you describe your 2023?

2023 was a year of discovery, wonder and reinvention. Hong Kong opened up after a long, difficult period and I became a mother for the first time to a baby girl who lights up our lives. Looking at the world through my daughter’s eyes reminds me of the importance of trying to leave it a better place than it was when we entered.

What were your biggest achievements in the past 12 months?

Our charitable foundation, The Seal of Love, has widened its focus to include mental health for university students. The mental-health crisis is real, and Hong Kong isn’t isolated in its battle against rising mental illness among young people. My family members and I have all affected by the effects of suicide, as we lost a young family member this way in 2009. In response to this crisis, our foundation is partnering with PolyU to launch the Resilient Students Training Hub [ReST Hub], a programme aimed at preventing mental illness among undergraduate students. It’s a huge accomplishment, as it signals a shift towards supporting prevention versus remediation and I hope it prompts more donors to move in this direction.

Another big achievement was the birth of our daughter. My partner and I waited for her for a long time and we experienced many challenges in our conception journey.

What was your secret of success in the past year?

To know not to take things personally when they don’t work out. When one door closes, it’s often not the right circumstance anyway, and God has a better plan in store. Persevering in the general direction I want to go has always paid off in the long run.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome?

Matrescence has been a challenge as well as a joy. Matrescence is the process of becoming a mother. It’s physically, emotionally and mentally demanding, but it’s also been my greatest joy and reward this year. Everything else that used to take centre stage in my life has now shifted and is less important than enjoying the daily moments with my family.

What lessons did you learn this year?

I learned it’s very important to keep doing the things I enjoy, such as wakesurfing, painting and learning new skills. I dived into learning the art of babywearing and wrapping my baby with woven wraps. Babywearing has its roots in traditional and indigenous cultures and now it’s having a bit of a renaissance as new research is coming out about the benefits of nurture and attachment parenting. There are so many beautiful textiles and wrapping methods, the possibilities are endless. I believe both caregivers and babies are happier being close to each other through this practice. I just got certified as a babywearing peer helper so I can help other caregivers embrace the art of wrapping and babywearing.

What advice would you give last year’s self?

Trust God and keep going: the best is yet to come.

What are you looking forward to in 2024?

I’m looking forward to harvesting many of the seeds planted in the last few years: watching philanthropic projects take root and seeing my daughter become her own unique self.

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2023 was one of the most successful years since the opening of the M+ Museum, here its director Suhanya Raffel shares her biggest achievements from the past 12 months and tells us what she’s looking forward to in 2024.

As director of M+, 2023 was the year in which Suhanya Raffel’s vision for the museum came to full fruition, when it welcomed international visitors for the first time. Here she shares her pride in witnessing the role the M+ plays within the community and why she’s even more committed to creating an institution that, above all, serves the public.

How would you describe your 2023?

I think 2023 was the most important year since opening the museum because at long last we welcomed the world, including our architects, for the first time in March. It’s also been one of the most successful years for the museum in terms of traffic. We’ll find out at the end of December 2023 what our eventual visitor numbers will be. Even with the restrictions during Covid, we were already very successful; this year we’re at a whole other level of success.

What were your biggest achievements in the past 12 months?

Firstly, having our architects Jacques Herzog, Pierre de Meuron, Wim Walschap and Ascan Mergenthaler come to Hong Kong and see the M+ building, which they designed and we worked on together for so many years, and witnessing how proud they felt.

Secondly, for me personally, delivering an institution for our community and seeing how they own it and the way people move through it. I find it wonderful to see the formal and informal uses of the building. It’s used as a backdrop for photographs by young couples who are getting married, as well as by students on their graduation day.

Thirdly, I’m proud that the touring arm of the M+ has begun. Yayoi Kusama: 1945 to Now was curated and produced in Hong Kong before touring to the Guggenheim Bilbao, where it achieved the highest visitor numbers in the museum’s 20-year history.

I also feel extremely proud of what our staff members do together. This has to be an achievement. Keeping people here makes all of us feel and understand the meaning of a truly public institution. As we work together towards a singular goal of being a global institution for Hong Kong, I feel myself as an intrinsic part of this team.

What was your secret of success in the past year?

Having a happy life with my children, their partners and now a granddaughter. My family makes a huge difference to my sense of belonging outside of my professional world.

I think the secret for the passionate M+ team is a common belief in what we do – and I hope I’m able to articulate and hold what that means as an emblem for all of us. I believe that collectively we can achieve so much more than on an individual level.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome this year?

There’ve been many challenges but, above all, the financial ones have been significant. I’m constantly thinking about how to manage these with the support of philanthropists across the private and corporate sectors. I’m grateful to our development team, who’ve been doing incredible work.

What lessons did you learn this year?

I learned that patience, persistence and passion always make it in the end. I think it’s important to be extremely passionate about what you do, while also being patient and persuasive.

What advice would you give last year’s self?

Never give up. This is something I’m always talking to my colleagues and my global counterparts about. We all have different kinds of challenges in different parts of the world. Cultural institutions, including museums, are more important now than ever before. We’re places that hold very important meaning for our communities and we must continue to believe in the purpose of these institutions and what they deliver. So, we must never give up.

What are you looking forward to in 2024?

I think it will be a fabulous year for M+, because our programme will really start to flow through in the way we imagined and envisaged it would from the start. We’ve been able to secure a broad funding base and deliver a very calibrated exhibition programme, including the Venice Biennale presentation of Hong Kong artist Trevor Yeung. We’re now in our third year of operation and it’s taken that long to arrive at this point. It takes time to make substantial achievements, but I’m feeling very good about next year.

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2023 has been a dramatic year of hard news headlines. CNN’s Kristie Lu Stout shares her biggest achievements from the past 12 months and tells us what she’s looking forward to in 2024.

Award-winning journalist Kristie Lu Stout has been a CNN anchor and correspondent for more than 20 years, delivering breaking news both from the newsroom and on the ground. Lu Stout also spearheads various CNN series devoted to topics she’s passionate about, including Tech For Good, Inventing Tomorrow and Marketplace Asia. She’s also an avid learner of the Chinese language, having studied Mandarin for more than 25 years.

How would you describe your 2023?
Professionally, it’s been a return to normality, but there’s now no common conception of what normal is – I find joy in seeing family and friends in person. 2023 has been a year of getting reacquainted with the world, travelling to almost a dozen different countries to reconnect with friends and encounter new sources of knowledge and inspiration.

What were your biggest achievements in the past 12 months?
During the last year, I’ve filed some of my strongest work yet, covering US-China tensions, the rise of AI and the impact of extreme climate events. Record audiences are turning to news outlets for fact-based reporting during these uncertain times, and that drives me to deliver the highest standards of the craft.

What was your secret of success in the past year?
Balance between work, family and play, and yet also diversity in thought and action. To step away from the screen, I enjoy regular hikes through Hong Kong’s beautiful country parks. I also challenge myself with weekly Chinese tutoring sessions to read and decode Chinese news articles. As a correspondent board governor at the Foreign Correspondents’ Club, I help organise impactful discussions, documentary screenings and photo exhibitions.

Were there any challenges you had to overcome?
Surfing a relentless negative news cycle isn’t easy. I regularly cover geopolitical tension, natural disasters, economic uncertainty, human trafficking, environmental devastation and whatever’s making headlines. I maintain focus by always zeroing in on the human impact of a news event. I maintain hope by covering stories of hope. Covering innovation and technology gives me hope too – a chance to explore the powers of creation as opposed to constant destruction and despair.

What lessons did you learn this year?
This year, the power of mentorship really hit home for me. I owe my personal and professional success to several individuals who’ve given me insight during critical moments of my career. Today, I enjoy coaching students and early-career journalists through the Stanford Alumni Association, the Foreign Correspondents’ Club Hong Kong and the Asian American Journalists Association. It’s a privilege to assist young journalists to define and reach their career goals with practical coaching and real insight into how newsrooms work. My mentors and I share personal experiences, adopt different perspectives and become champions for each other.

What advice would you give last year’s self?
Be brave. Have the courage to put yourself out there in novel and even uncomfortable places and situations. You’ll learn something new.

What are you looking forward to in 2024?
I’m looking forward to ringing in 2024 on CNN’s New Year’s Eve Live. Last year, we launched CNN’s very first New Year’s Eve Live special from Asia, with special appearances by the K-pop supergroup NCT-127, among many other top performers and talents. This year, we’re doing it again, kicking the party off live in Hong Kong from Tsim Sha Tsui with around-the-world coverage culminating with Anderson Cooper and the ball drop in New York City.

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Prestige Woman of Power and founder of travel consultancy and private jet broker L’Voyage Diana Chou and her business partner Jolie Howard talk about the landscape of the bespoke travel industry post-pandemic.

Could you tell me more about L’Voyage?

DIANA CHOU: I founded L’Voyage because I was doing a lot of pro bono work for my customers who were looking at buying private jets. I decided to set up a company to address that issue for customers who are not ready to buy yet or who want to try out. I didn’t go out and solicit business, it just grew organically. Since then, it has evolved and made travel experience a little more comprehensive. I decided to buy a travel agency and incorporate the bespoke travel experience concierge service all into one.

How did the pandemic affect the business?

JOLIE HOWARD: Travel was restricted during the pandemic, particularly for us in Asia. But the private jet industry was doing well. In fact, we were at a historical high, whether it’s people buying aeroplanes or chartering. Also, during the pandemic, a lot of people were trying to stay away from crowds, so they looked for alternative ways to travel. Now, we see new entrants – people who never used private jets before are coming to us.

DC: We had a different class of passengers during Covid, like pet owners, because a lot of the time they couldn’t relocate with their pets using commercial flights. We took that opportunity and started offering consolidated flights. This was the saving grace for us because this part of the business kept the company afloat during Covid.

What was the biggest challenge you faced during your career?

DC: Unfortunately, our industry is not very regulated. I mean, we have a travel license because there are liabilities. The challenge is, how do you compete with companies that are illegal charters? It’s a very touchy subject. Unfortunately, there’s a lot of copycats around. It is not a very healthy environment sometimes.

What are the experiences that your clients are looking for these days?

JH: After Covid, we see people exploring more frontiers. With bespoke travel, the new trends are spiritual retreats and cultural exploration on a deeper level. South America is a popular destination among APAC clients. People want to travel further and stay in a place longer – at least one to two weeks. There’s also a lot of customisation. If our clients go to South America, Europe or Central Asia, they may take a commercial flight to the first destination and then a private jet later, rather than transferring on commercial airlines five times. That way, they can travel more without spending hours at the airport waiting for their flight.

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Prestige Woman of Power and founder of a marketing agency EX-R Consulting, Colleen Yu is the inspiration you need to take the next step towards your dream job.

After years working at KPMG and Goldman Sachs, Colleen Yu discovered her passion and talent for creating bespoke luxury experiences. Trusting her gut and enlisting the support of her family and friends, she launched EX-R Consulting. The road ahead proved to be full of hurdles, when, after the three long years of Covid, she decided to reposition her business to satisfy ever-evolving market demands and stop herself from burning out.

While planning my wedding, I not only discovered my love for event production, but that I was also pretty good at it. I was supposed to go back to work at Goldman, but my husband suggested I take this opportunity to do something more flexible so I could travel with him. My first client was from Goldman Sachs; he’d come to my wedding and asked me to help him with his marketing department.

When I started EX-R Consulting, I had no network and no vendors. I remember doing focus groups and writing strategy documents – it’s something I was trained to do at my previous jobs. My banking background provided a different perspective when consulting clients, and my interest in luxury and hospitality showed me the value of bespoke experiences. I had a few hotel clients, and then I started doing weddings and conferences.

Before COVID, I was deeply involved in the execution of every project. I was the staff, security, MC, scriptwriter, voice-over artist – everything. This gave me insight into operations, time and money management, and profitability. Some clients suggest I should charge more because I was so involved in the process. Having said that, I’ve been blessed with amazing clients who always refer us and not gatekeep. Thanks to them I could focus on creating value. But then, during Covid we were highly challenged, and I started thinking about how to sustain the business and I found myself burnt out, trying to create value without thinking of what was in it for me.

I’m all about client servicing. I always joke that I’m very good at money management when the money isn’t my own – and good at marketing everyone’s brands but not my own. In my head, I always try to create value for whoever believes in me, and I think being objective and strategy-driven is crucial – everyone should look at the same campaign and see how they can benefit from it.

Everyone in life should have three careers and eight jobs. You shouldn’t be afraid to test yourself – whatever you do, you learn something. With such a mindset, you won’t be thinking you’re wasting your time. I can say that I didn’t work at an agency those 10 years, when somebody else did, yet I still started EX-R Consulting. This gave me a different background, mindset, approach and working style.

Entrepreneurship is something you need to love – it’s a never-ending learning curve. You must be willing to grow and learn there’s no such thing as a work-life balance. I find fun and inspiration in my work – it gives me a lot of space to connect with people, teach lessons to my kids and provide indulgent experiences for my family and friends. I even like my challenges, which I take as a learning opportunity. I tackle them and persevere.

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Prestige Woman of Power, CEO of financial consultancy Stratford Finance and board chair of The Women’s Foundation Angelina Kwan believes plenty of work is still to be done to achieve gender equality in the workplace. It comes down to three action points: new diversity targets, support for the underprivileged and increased visibility.

In 2011 I was asked to be a keynote speaker by the American Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong for its Women’s Leadership Forum. On that stage, I found my “voice” to be an advocate for women in leadership roles and to inspire them to achieve the highest levels. From there, I was invited to join the board of The Women’s Foundation (TWF) and serve on the Women’s Commission of Hong Kong. This has opened my eyes to the real impact that can be made through the right types of advocates and encouraging men and women to stand up and be a “voice” for diversity and inclusion – having men highlight inequalities through “He for She” and getting women to be “She for She”.

Our mission at the Women’s Foundation is to improve the lives of women and girls in Hong Kong through ground-breaking research, community programmes and advocacy in the pursuit of three goals: challenging gender
stereotypes, empowering women in poverty and increasing the number of women in decision-making roles. Gender inequality is still rife in this city – sexual violence affects one in three women. Stereotypes hold women back at work and negatively affect performance reviews, salary negotiations, networking and board appointments. Women are also more likely to face a lack of visibility and be expected to disproportionately take on non- promotable tasks. For women from marginalised communities, these issues are often exacerbated.

Some barriers, which often appear early, discourage girls from developing an interest in STEM. According to our research, girls are three times less likely than boys to pursue a STEM degree at university and four times less likely to pursue STEM-related careers. Gender biases, lack of support and not understanding the impact of STEM are all at play here. TWF runs a Girls Go Tech (GGT) Programme, which encourages underprivileged secondary school girls to pursue STEM to maximise their career options. Participants learn hard skills via our online platform, and we offer a diverse range of company visits and shadowing opportunities to show how STEM is used to solve real problems.

Women currently account for 19.1 percent of Hang Seng Index board members. Although key HKEX reforms will eliminate single-gender boards for all listed companies by the end of next year, Hong Kong lags far behind other leading financial centres. The UK and US, for instance, have 40.5 percent and 32.6 percent female representation respectively. Women currently hold 38.1 percent of board positions in Australia, 29.7 percent in Malaysia and 21.5 percent in Singapore. A concrete next step is for companies to set targets of at least 30 percent by 2027. TWF has active advocates for more diverse boards. We serve as the secretariat for the 30% Club Hong Kong, the local chapter of the global campaign for board gender diversity

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Prestige Woman of Power Esther Ma, who combines running her sports-management and education company Harvest Sky with committee work for the Athletes Career and Education Programme, says there’s still work to be done when it comes to nurturing young athletes in Hong Kong.

I was always an avid athlete and admire the discipline and resilience of all the athletes around me. I was approached by two Olympic swimmers – my fellow University of California, Berkley alumnus Camille Cheng, and family friend Geoff Cheah, who attended Stanford – back in 2015 about their career opportunities after the Rio Olympics. As I have a passion for mentoring young people, their questions inspired me to set up the sports-management and education company Harvest Sky, so I could provide mentorship and career counselling to other athletes. I began the company in 2016 with more than 30 founding ambassadors, who are elite and amateur athletes from various sports.

At the Athletes Career and Education Programme, I mentor retired athletes who are interested in sports education and entrepreneurial pursuits. I also identify new corporate mentors and employers who are interested in hiring retired athletes on a part- or full-time basis.

The main challenge in promoting Hong Kong athletes internationally is that sports development in the city lags behind the US, Europe and Australia due to lack of support from the government and corporations. However, with the recent accomplishments of Siobhan Haughey and Cheung Ka Long, I’m glad to see increasing attention and support for sports here. I hope this trend will continue to flourish.

Another problem is that Hong Kong schools offer physical education classes that are rather basic and mundane. The spirit of sports education should include scholarships for outstanding athletes, fireside chats by Olympians or Asian Game medalists, and even tours to sports museums and institutions, so that students are motivated
to succeed as athletes.

Training for professional athletes in Hong Kong is considered rigorous, mostly under the curriculum of the Hong Kong Sports Institute. However, professional athletes should also interact with more international athletes who can mentor them, fostering a global perspective and mentality. Special Olympians and Paralympians should also be offered the same type of training, competition and incentives opportunities to raise unified sports in Hong Kong to the next level.

Women in sports still sometimes encounter gender inequality and social bias. Unisex sports such as polo, ultimate frisbee and pickleball tend to see male players as stronger athletes. However, we’re seeing more women and girls participating in all sorts of sports nowadays. I foresee increased opportunities from corporations and the government to empower women to participate in sports.

A sport I see becoming more popular in Hong Kong is swimming, possibly inspired by Siobhan’s success. Running is another sport that can be elevated to a higher level with the recent achievements of Wilson Wong in breaking Hong Kong’s full marathon record. The third is pickleball, which is an accessible, inexpensive and fun unisex sport for all ages.

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