CKI Celebrates Achievements of Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme Awardees in Hong Kong
13 October, 2008
A celebration event was held this afternoon in honour of the awardees of the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme in Hong Kong.
In 2008/09, 81 awardees of the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme will participate in educational exchange opportunities between Australia and Hong Kong. Amongst these, 43 Hong Kong students will go to Australia and 38 Australian students will come to Hong Kong.
The Hon Mike Rann MP, Premier of South Australia, was the officiating guest at today's reception and presented plaques to the Hong Kong awardees of the Programme. Premier Rann stopped over in Hong Kong specifically to attend the event.
The Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme provides educational exchange opportunities to undergraduate and postgraduate students in Australia and Asia. The Programme was established in 2004 and is supported by matching funds from the Australian Government and the Cheung Kong Group. It represents the first matching fund scholarship initiative in Australia, featuring contribution from a private company and new funds from the Australian Government. A total of A$7.5 million has been committed over five years. The Programme offers educational exchange opportunities to 220 undergraduate and postgraduate students a year, with half for Asian students going to Australia and half for Australian students coming to Asia. Great emphasis is placed on fostering exchange between Australia and Hong Kong and Mainland China, with two thirds of the scholarships earmarked for students going to or coming from Hong Kong and Mainland China.
Representing the Australian Government, Mr Les Luck, the Australian Consul-General, Hong Kong, attended the event today and congratulated awardees of the Programme.
Since its inception, the Programme has been very well received in Australia and Hong Kong. All eight universities in Hong Kong have sent and received exchange students under it. 37 universities out of 42 in the whole of Australia have participated in the Programme. Throughout the past four years since the Programme's launch, more than 270 students have participated in exchanges between Australia and Hong Kong, with over 140 Hong Kong students having been on exchange to Australia and over 120 Australian students having been to Hong Kong.
Speaking at the reception today, Mr H L Kam, Group Managing Director of Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited said: "The Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme has achieved great success over the past four years. In a very short period of time, it has become a significant international scholarship in the Asia-Pacific region."
"The aim of the Programme was to increase educational exchange opportunities between Asian and Australian students in order to enhance their international perspective and cultural understanding. An old Chinese proverb that says 'Learning has no Boundaries' is the philosophy that lies at the heart of the Programme. A very important tenet of this is that appreciating knowledge and understanding are beyond national and geographical boundaries," Mr Kam said.
He continued: "The economic, political and cultural ties between Australia and Hong Kong are becoming increasingly close. One of the factors contributing to these deepening relations is the growth of educational exchange between the two places. Initiatives, like the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme, which provide more opportunities for educational exchange, will continue to help drive more cross-cultural engagement in the future."
Mr Kam commented: "The Programme has been well supported by all levels of government in Australia. Earlier last month, we met with a number of Australian students at a series of similar events, including a reception in Adelaide for South Australian awardees that was officiated by His Excellency Rear Admiral Kevin Scarce, Governor of South Australia, and a function in Melbourne for Victorian awardees that was officiated by the Hon John Brumby MP, Premier of Victoria. After this celebration event in October, there will be two receptions coming up in November - an event in Sydney for New South Wales awardees will be hosted by Her Excellency Professor Marie Bashir, Governor of New South Wales, and an event in Brisbane for Queensland awardees will be hosted by the Hon Anna Bligh, Premier of Queensland."
"The Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme has been very successful over the years. We will continue to work hard to bring more exchange opportunities to students in Hong Kong and Australia, as well as nurture a dynamic alumni of past awardees," concluded Mr Kam.
- End -
About CKI
CKI is the largest publicly listed infrastructure company in Hong Kong with diversified investments in Energy Infrastructure, Transportation Infrastructure, Water Infrastructure and Infrastructure Related Business. CKI operates in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Australia, New Zealand the United Kingdom, Canada and the Philippines.
A celebration event was held this afternoon in honour of the awardees of the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme in Hong Kong. Pictured here are The Hon Mike Rann MP, Premier of South Australia, the officiating guest at today's reception (centre); Mr Les Luck, Australian Consul-General, Hong Kong (right); and Mr H L Kam, Group Managing Director, Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited (left).
For the year 2008/09, 43 Hong Kong students will go to Australia and 38 Australian students will come to Hong Kong under the Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong Scholarship Programme. Pictured here The Hon Mike Rann MP, Premier of South Australia (fifth from left); Mr Les Luck, Australian Consul-General, Hong Kong (fourth from right); Mr H L Kam, Group Managing Director, Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited (fifth from right); and representatives from the Vice Chancellors' offices of seven universities in Hong Kong, together with the awardees of the Programme from Hong Kong and Australia.
During today's celebration event, some of the awardees shared their exchange experiences. Pictured here is Ms Monica Wu Fung Yuen, a student from the Hong Kong Institute of Education who went on exchange to Flinders University (second from right); together with The Hon Mike Rann MP, Premier of South Australia (second from left); Mr Les Luck, Australian Consul-General, Hong Kong (far right); and Mr H L Kam, Group Managing Director, Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings Limited (far left).
go back