Highlights of the month
YSG Annual Dinner – 17 November
As one of the most important events of the year, our YSG Annual Dinner attracted over 130 young surveyors (dressed in old Hong Kong Style outfits) and guests to the classy Little Egret Restaurant (小白鷺餐廳). We are honoured to have the presence of President Sr Serena Lau, Senior Vice President (and Past YSG Chairman) Sr Stephen Lai, QSD Chairman Sr Thomas Ho, LegCo member and Past President Sr Hon Tony Tse, a number of Past Chairmen of YSG (including our first Chairman Sr Wyatt Choy), representative from Liaison Office of Central People’s Government in Hong Kong S.A.R. and young groups of our partner professional institutions with us. Please find our photos at the back cover of this issue of Surveyors Times. Special thanks to the organizing subcommittee led by Simon Wong, for their tremendous effort to make the event a great success.
PolyU BRESS & LSGISS Career Talk
YSG was invited by the Building & Real Estate Students' Society (BRESS) and Land Surveying & Geo-Informatics Students' Society (LSGISS) of the PolyU to give a talk to students regarding the career prospects and route to professional membership on 31 October and 19 November respectively.
YSG Team for ORBIS Moonwalker – 10 to 11 November
YSG joined the ORBIS Moonwalker for the first time. We recruited 20 energetic members to walk from Mong Kok to Sai Kung Pier overnight. Our team raised over $25,000 for ORBIS.
Coming Soon
The Surveyor League 2012 – December 2012to February 2013
With the success of Surveyors League 2011, YSG will continue to host this exciting competition for basketball fans. The matches will start soon in December 2012.
Last, but definitely not the least
I am so honored and delighted to have such an opportunity to work with a great team of 26 Committee Members over the past year. Our YSG team has enjoyed the support of over 23 co-opted members and representatives from four university students’ societies. On behalf of our 4,466 YSG members, I would like to take this opportunity to thank such helpful team members for their dedication, contributions of time and effort, and commitment to our profession over the past year.
CPD Events
So far, we have hosted 12 CPDs and a number of APC workshops with the other Divisions to deliver the most updated knowledge and technologies to over 800 young members in 2012. Among the events were site visits to local factories, training centers, and mainland developments.
These visits provided a real time and first-hand live learning experience for members and proved popular, as their quotas often filled up during the first week of their announcements! Sincere thanks go to all speakers and companies that offered these excellent learning opportunities for our members!
APC Workshops
YSG has been working closely with various Divisions to host tailor-made workshops to help our candidates be better prepared for the APC, especially after the recent APC reforms and subsequent amendments of the Rules and Guides. The topics were designed to allow candidates to revisit fundamental concepts and hone their skills to encounter APC challenges. This year, we worked with the BSD, GPD, and LSD on the 13 workshops. From our statistics, we received over 1,400 registrations for these workshops!
Social Events
We have always encouraged our young members that to maintain a good work-life balance, they should try different things during their leisure times. YSG provides you with the opportunities to attend these interesting functions and chances to meet fellow professionals at the same time. This year, our Social Events team organize d four different classes for our members. Once again, they received overwhelming responses from members during registration.
Our legendary HKIS Dragon Boat Team trained intensively every Sunday afternoon from March to June to prepare for the race during the Tuen Ng Festival. You should have seen our paddlers, drummers, and cheerleaders at crowded Stanley Beach throughout the summer.
Joint Events with other organizations
To provide a more well-rounded professional and cultural development for its members, YSG continues to look for new cooperative opportunities with various organizations to bring in new and interesting learning experiences.
Once again, YSG worked together with the young groups of the CIArb, CIBSE, HKIE, ICE, and Law Society in the One Day Seminar on Contract Managements. A number of associated social activities were presented by the organizing committee. I had the honor to serve as the OC chairman for 2011-12. We have also worked with ACostE on a seminar to discuss the latest updates in the legislation on mediation and arbitration. With our close partnership with young architects, dentists, doctors, and lawyers, we jointly hosted “Meet the Professionals” parties in August and November.
In addition, we tried something new with the JCI Hong Kong Jayceettes to host a CPD series titled, “Far from ordinary: Women of Excellence,” which invited female leaders from different sectors to share their success experiences.
The Coalition Young Professional Group (CYPG) was recently formed under the Hong Kong Coalition of Professional Services. As one of the most established young professional groups, HKIS YSG will continue to work with our counterparts in partner organizations and extend our contributions to all of society. There will be more social events, professional-related activities/events (such as joint visits), and community service events in the coming annual plan of the CYPG for our members to join. At the same time, this long-term relationship will surely benefit our younger members who wish to expand their visions.
Institutional & International Events
YSG continues to be in the heart of institutional functions, namely the Education & Career Expo, Diploma Presentation, Annual Conference, and Annual Dinner. This year, we were also active in the International Conferences. Our representatives attended the 1st FIG Young Surveyors Conference in Rome and the PAQS Young Quantity Surveyors Group’s programme in May and July, respectively.
A delegation from “STR Young,” a group of young professionals from the construction industry in Shanghai and neighboring cities, visited the HKIS in June. They met with our YSG committees and exchanged ideas on the establishment of a young professional group in Shanghai. They were impressed by our organized structure and the variety of functions available to our younger members.
YSG Study Tour 2012 – Wuhan
A delegation of 25 members participated in the YSG Study Tour this year. The group experienced a direct high-speed rail journey from Shenzhen North Station to Wuhan Station in just 4 hours and 13 minutes. We visited a number of organizations in the government and academic sectors, three private state-of-the-art development projects in the city, and two famous tourist spots – the Yellow Crane Tower (黃鶴樓) and Red Cliffs (赤璧古戰場). The above visits provided us with a comprehensive overview, as well as a firsthand experience, of the rapid developments in the Wuhan metropolitan area. With its superb location in Central China and at the node of the high-speed railway network, along with its solid foundations in heavy industry and high-end technology, Wuhan has significant development potential in the coming decades.
University Events
Nurturing our future surveyors is one of the key roles of YSG. We have been invited by the surveying students’ societies of three universities to deliver talks regarding career prospects,
the route to professional membership, and our professional development experiences.
The four students’ societies also co-hosted a Joint-University gathering party, sponsored by YSG, for their fellow schoolmates in March. Nearly 140 students enjoyed a leisurely party and made friends with prospective future colleagues.
Without YSG, my life will never be the same
It was ten years ago that I first started my amazing journey with YSG. Without YSG, my life would have been different. Looking back, I have found that these YSG events were a big part of my life outside of work. It was a significant achievement to host 70 events (i.e., more than five events per month!) serving over 3,500 participants in 2012. I hope YSG has been working up to your expectations in providing a platform of unlimited possibilities, as our past JO/YSG Committees had in previous decades. The platform across the different divisions, different generations, different professions, and different locations is ready for our young members to stage their own moments on it, to interact with and stay connected with each other, to learn together, to have fun together, and to work together for the future of our surveying profession.
I believe that with your continued support, our incoming Chairman and Committee will continue to pave a brighter path and lead YSG to new heights in the coming year. Our glorious traditions, team spirit, and core values will continue to enrich the lives of our young members, today and tomorrow.
I wish YSG all the best in the future!
