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Sharing of Scholarship Recipients - CHONG Michael Yat Tsun

Huen Cho Ki

 

CHONG Michael Yat Tsun (English Language and Literature)
HSBC Greater Bay Area (Hong Kong) Scholarship

Uniting HongKongers and Mainlanders has always been my goal and I am more encouraged than ever to attain it after some epic and rewarding experiences in recent years.

Over the past two years, I have utilized my specialty in public speaking and gathered an audience of several thousand people across YouTube and Bilibili, where I share the highs and lows of my English learning journey and delve into sports, my university life and my cross-cultural learning experiences with my friends from Greater China and foreign countries, with the aim of promoting the importance of learning English.

We all come from different places, so naturally, we have differences. Learning the current global language, English, would help us bridge those gaps. Being able to speak good English has empowered me to form life-changing connections and friendships in the Mainland since I went to Shunde to teach English at the secondary school that my cousin works at and her own tutorial center after finishing the DSE. For instance, I was honored to connect with Yang Kangqi, the third Chinese champion in the history of the English Speaking Union International Public Speaking Competition (IPSC) and a second-year clinical medical student from Fudan University when I went to Fudan for an exchange in the past semester. We competed against one another in the 26th China Daily “21st Century‧Coca-Cola Cup” National College English Speaking Competition, which she won and qualified to represent China in the IPSC 2022. Our passion for English and public speaking allowed us to bond, which gave me the opportunity to learn about her backstory. She and other Fudan teachers and peers taught me lessons that go beyond succeeding in school and life, such as “there is no such thing as losing face” and “our attitude determines our altitude”.

Many appreciate the work I am doing, but occasionally there would be opposing voices. Rather than giving in to these destructive criticisms or hate talk, I have put myself out there even more often. As a result, I have befriended like-minded, outstanding, hardworking and humble peers that inspire and motivate me and reaffirm what I am doing is impacting people out there. This pushes me to keep providing value to others against all odds.

In the future, there will certainly be plenty more moments that would shake me to the core and make me doubt my original goal, but I am confident I will overcome them with my mentors and friends alongside me. It does not matter if I fail in the end, because I will have tried my best to achieve my goal, going through experiences that only those who have made sacrifices would know and crossed paths with great people, and for me, that is enough.

It feels great to have won the scholarship, but in the grand scheme of things, it is of little importance, especially when compared to the mission it places upon its recipients – to unite HongKongers and Mainlanders.

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