HKIS QSD Annual Dinner
The HKIS QSD Annual Dinner was held on 26 September 2014 at the Grand Ballroom of the Royal Plaza Hotel, Kowloon. Fellow members could take this opportunity to socialize with other learned members / friends and government officials who work closely with the surveying profession in a casual atmosphere. The event has become one of the major events in QSD’s Year Plan. We had the pleasure to receive distinguished guests from government departments, the Legislative Council, educational institutes, other professional institutes and the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR. Other guests included the President, Office Bearers of the General Council, Divisional Chairmen, Past Presidents and Past QSD Chairmen of the Institute.
The Organising Committee allocated a time slot for “Experience Sharing with Special Guests”. Although the time for this was only 15 minutes, the talks presented by the Special Guests brought back a lot of memories from the good old days. Many thanks go to the two special guests, Sr K. M. Chau and Sr C. F. Wong as well as the facilitator, Sr K. C. Tang. The experience sharing was well received by other guests and fellow members.
To make the programme of the event more entertaining, we arranged for TV celebrities to act as Master of Ceremony and Singers. The event would not have been so enjoyable if it were not for a series of fabulous performance such as Chinese music played by an orchestra, songs performed by artists; interesting games and lucky draws. The atmosphere reached an exciting climax by the end of the evening. As acknowledged by the guests and members, the event was full of fun and laughter.
To recognise the outstanding performance of our newly elected member, Ms. Canaan Wong in her Assessment of Professional Competence, we presented her with a prize - “The 2013 APC Best Performance Award”. We hope she will keep up with the good work in her career.
My sincere thanks go to the Organising Committee of the event which comprised the Chairman, Sr Horby Chan, and members including Sr K. L. Wong, Sr Raymond Kong, Sr Dr. Sandy Tang, Sr Joseph Chong, Sr Tzena Wong, Sr Alan Cheung, Sr Rex Ying and Ms. Karen Wong for their tremendous effort in making the event a great success. I would also like to thank all the sponsors of this Annual Dinner for their unfailing support for all these years, without which the event would not have been so successful.
APC Assessors’ Briefing Session
The Council organized a briefing session for Assessors of the APC on 9 October 2014 (Thursday) at the World Trade Centre Club. More than 100 Assessors and Council Members attended the briefing session. The objective of holding the briefing session was to provide a forum for the Panelists to discuss the marking scheme, provide suggested answers, highlight common mistakes and respond to frequently asked questions. We were pleased to witness the inter-active sharing of opinions / views on some of the questions raised by the Assessors and the sound advice given by the Panelists.
Following the briefing session, a buffet dinner was served to the Assessors. The briefing session also served as a platform for fellow members to socialize with their former colleagues, classmates and old friends.
I would like to take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to our Divisional Education Committee (DEC) Chairman, Sr Raymond Kong and other DEC Members for their tremendous efforts in preparing the papers (both Paper I & II) for the APC and the Assessors’ Notes. I also deeply appreciate the contributions of the Assessors who would sacrifice their precious family time to mark the papers for the Institute.
Visit to the University of Hong Kong
The Council paid a visit to the undergraduate students reading for the BSc degree course in Surveying at the University of Hong Kong on 9 October 2014. More than 40 students attended the briefing session which was held in the Knowles Building of the University. Our Vice Chairman Sr K. L. Wong introduced some of the background information of the Institute as well as that of the QSD Council. Students were very enthusiastic about their career prospects as professional quantity surveyors after graduation. Council Members also shared their experiences in relation to the work lives of quantity surveyors in different sectors of the industry, for instance, in private professional firms, contracting organizations and educational institutes. The students showed great interest on the sharing session. In summary the visit was useful for them to plan the way forward on the pathway to becoming professional surveyors.
I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude for the kind assistance of Sr Dr. Ken Hui organising the visit for the Council. My heartfelt thanks also go to Sr Thomas Ho, Hon. Secretary of the General Council and Sr K. L. Wong, Vice Chairman of the Council for accompanying me on the visit.
