The Oxford and Cambridge Society of Hong Kong

Introduction

For many years, we have been one of the most active and thriving Oxford and Cambridge alumni organisations in the world, serving alumni residing in Hong Kong. Over the past twelve months, we could only hold a limited number of events due to Covid-19 restrictions, but we were still able to organise nearly 1 event every month and managed to grow our membership base under these challenging circumstances.
Our purposes as a society remain unchanged: to build links between Hong Kong and the UK with a focus on Oxford and Cambridge; to promote interaction and exchanges among alumni; and to undertake charitable endeavours for the benefit of the Society through offering project-based scholarships to Oxford and Cambridge’s Hong Kong students of limited means, whilst supporting various charities through fundraising.
 
Membership
We have worked emphatically on membership drive this year despite the challenging circumstances. The membership currently stands at ~800 members. Of this total, 55% attended Oxford and 45% Cambridge.  Some attended both.  We continue to encourage more graduates to join as members partly through close cooperation with official university bodies such as University of Oxford China Office Limited, and partly through widening the range of academic, social, cultural and sporting events we organise.
 
Committee and Administration
I would like to thank all members of the Society’s Committee for their support and assistance over the past year. Without such an outstanding and hard-working committee, it would not have been possible to organise so many events under covid.
I must extend particular thanks to: our patron, Sir David KP Li; Immediate Past President Mr David Ching; Vice-President Dr Blanc Wan; Mr Stephen Liu as Honorary Treasurer; and of course Mr David Fu, our Honorary Secretary, whose tireless and inimitable efforts have been invaluable to the efficient running of the Society.
Ms Jennifer Chan was appointed as the Administrator of the Society on a part-time basis with effect from September 2022. I must express my sincerest thanks to our Administrator for her constant and diligent maintenance of our website, membership list, communication works and, last but not least, her support of various online and offline events.
 
Scholarships
The award of scholarship grants was postponed for more than a year due to difficulty in making international travels during the Covid-19 pandemic. We hope to resume our scholarship grants in 2023
  
Final Words
I would welcome the opportunity to celebrate the new beginning of the Society’s year 2022-2023 with moments of hopes and opportunities.

As the new president of the Society, I would strive to lead the Society with relentless support and commitment of the Committee Members in furtherance of our members’ interests and benefits.

In addition to our popular social and intellectual events and activities, I am planning to work on some new goals and initiatives for the Society in the year ahead. In parallel with our active Oxbridge boat club activities, I would introduce to the Society regular golf practice sessions and golf tournaments with top universities. To respond the local needy students for studies at Oxbridge, we would explore opportunities to collaborate with the prestigious auctioneers to raise the scholarship fund with donations from the alumni and benefactors.

Last but not least, I would like to share with you one of the famous quotes of Her Majesty the Queen Elizabeth II, “Every day is a new beginning, I know that the only way to live my life is to try to do what is right, to take the long view, give of my best in all that the day brings, and put my trust in God.”

I look forward to facing the challenges posed by the Pandemic and economic upheaval, and to serving the Society to the very best of my ability in the year ahead.

Richard Tsun
President 2022-2023