Thanks to the generosity of our donors, scholarships allow students one step closer to accomplishing their dreams.  Not only do the scholarships lighten the students’ financial burden, the awards also recognise their academic achievement, giving them the vote of confidence to pursue their aspirations.

The College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) of CityU was pleased to receive our donor, Mr Dennis Tokuaki WU of Aji-No-Chinmi Co., (HK) Limited, to visit the College and have an insightful exchange with our scholarship recipients on 4 November 2021.  

After extending a warm welcome to the honourable guest, Dean of CLASS Professor Richard M Walker introduced the research-led and multi-disciplinary education and research, in addition to the vast array of learning experiences and opportunities offered by the College. 

Following the Dean’s remarks, eight (out of 20) Aji-No-Chinmi (HK) scholarship awardees met the donor and expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the company’s commitment to cultivating a new generation of students by establishing the Scholarship, which has benefitted over 120 CLASS students, since 2013. They also took turns to share their backgrounds and aspirations, and assured the donor that they would make good use of the Scholarship to enrich their learning experience and facilitate self-development.

Angel CHOI On-ki, a fresh graduate of the Department of Media and Communication, recalled how she was indulged in Japanese culture after joining a Chado (the Japanese way of tea) activity at CityU. Yearning to learn more, she decided to take a minor in Japanese Studies during her undergraduate journey.  “I am grateful for the donor’s generosity and unwavering support.  Hope I can one day follow the donors’ steps in subsidising other students and give back to the community,” said Choi.  She will use the HK$10,000 scholarship to further sharpen her Japanese language study. 

Hazel MAK Wan-hei, another awardee who majors in Public Policy and Politics and minors in Japanese Studies, has a profound interest in Japanese culture and language, too. Though facing hiccups brought by the pandemic, she aims to apply for the College’s outbound exchange programme to Japan.  She planned to use the scholarship to subsidise her trip and equip herself for taking the Japanese Language Proficiency Test.

Making the gathering even more inspiring was the sharing by Wu, who was born to a Chinese Japanese family. Having a strong passion for auto mechanics, the dream chaser went to Japan for study and worked in his dream automobile company as an engineer for a few years. After working in the automobile industry, he realised that he was also fascinated by the food industry. The two industries differ markedly, but he was able to apply what he learnt in the automobile to the operation of his family’s food trade business. In his opinion, the key is to turn complicated things simple. “Go for your dreams, don’t be afraid of failures, and be your genuine self,” he ended the sharing by sending words of encouragement to the scholarship awardees. 

Led by the Tea Room Student Ambassador, the donor then visited the University’s Japanese Tea Room, the first of its kind to be located at a university in Hong Kong.