Celebrating 20th Anniversary of HKJC Scholarships
The Hong Kong Jockey Club highlights its wide-ranging support for talent development.
The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) has long been committed to nurturing talent, funding various projects to cultivate a favorable learning environment for students to explore different pathways.
Last Saturday, over 200 guests, including past scholarship awardees and representatives from leading local and overseas universities and institutions, as well as the Club’s NGO and community partners, attended the 2018 Community Day Race Meeting at Sha Tin Racecourse to celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the HKJC Scholarships.
The annual Community Day Race Meeting has since 2005 served as a way of honouring the Club’s successful partnerships with NGOs, government departments, academic institutions and other groups for the betterment of Hong Kong.
Officiating guests included Club Chairman Dr. Simon S. O. Ip and Chief Executive Officer Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges; Chief Secretary for Administration the Hon Matthew Cheung; Secretary for Labour and Welfare the Hon Law Chi-kwong and Secretary for Education the Hon Kevin Yeung.
“The Club seeks to invest for the long-term, benefiting society far into the future. It is clear to us that there is no better investment than in Hong Kong’s leadership talent, nurturing caring individuals who will carry the torch for our community and shape its destiny for decades to come,” said Dr. Simon Ip during his welcome speech.
“Leadership is not about the power to rule, but about the privilege to serve. We want our scholars not just to do well, but also to do good. Do well by excelling in their studies and careers. Do good by giving back to the community. This is what makes the Jockey Club Scholarships so special.”
Matthew Cheung said the government attached great importance to enhancing and optimizing Hong Kong’s human capital. The new high-level Human Resources Planning Commission under his chairmanship had come on stream to ensure that the city had the right quantity and quality of human resources to meet its fast-changing socio-economic landscape, maintain its long-term competitiveness and remain a vibrant international city, he said. The Club had not only funded numerous educational infrastructure projects, but also introduced various scholarships to help nurture talent for Hong Kong. He commended the Club for sparing no effort in responding to the needs of society over the years.
The HKJC Scholarships were established in 1998. The scheme provides an average of 45 scholarships each year for local and mainland students to pursue first degree courses in the eight UGC-funded institutions and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA).
Since 2016/17 school year, the Club has extended the scholarships to nine undergraduates with special education needs in the nine tertiary institutions, and 16 students in vocational education programmes. It has also extended the scholarships to six postgraduate students at the University of Oxford and Harvard University each year. In total to date, more than 500 talented young people have been recognized.
The HKJC has also been supporting numerous other programmes that, for example, promote coding education, help ethnic minorities learn Chinese, and develop social workers and teachers. In addition, it has funded projects such as “InnoPower@JC: Fellowship for Teachers and Social Workers” to empower innovative and collaborative people to cultivate creativity among the education and social service sectors.