Dear readers,

About a fortnight ago, a Cambodian boy was filmed hawking souvenirs in 11 languages and dialects other than his mother tongue (i.e. Mandarin, Japanese, Thai, Korean, French, German, Spanish, Malay, Filipino, Cantonese and Hainanese) outside a temple in Angkor Wat.  While his talent seems too good to be true, public attention has again been drawn to the long-lasting problem of unschooled children and dropout students in some countries.  What people usually describe "education" is an investment for the future. Admittedly, the Cambodian boy's road to better jobs and improved lifestyles may be paved by education, but the definition of "education" varies with its functionalities.  In my opinion, "education" being an investment for the future is a misnomer.  It should be a right to knowledge acquisition and value formation.

The "Value Exploration Series" of the I·CARE Achievers Programme aims to enhance the self-awareness and good qualities of CUHK members through a series of activities on character building so as to promote positive development of the community and the world.

Launched by this Centre in 2015-16, the Social Enterprise Startup Scheme has been encouraging CUHK students and recent graduates to make good use of their expertise to establish or expand their social enterprises.  Participants will enrol in a mentorship programme through which valuable advice on formulating business plan and practical skills of running an enterprise will be offered by experienced alumni.  The horizon and business network of participants are also expected to be widened.  Above all, they may receive CUSE Fund to start up an enterprise with social mission.  The CUSE Fund of 2018-19 is now open for application.  Details are as follows:

Co-organised by this Centre, the Jockey Club Charles Kao Brain Health Services Project was set up in 2013 to offering numerous support services on dementia, namely professional consultation and follow-up, to the people in need.  It also runs community education programmes such as seminars and workshops in order to raise public awareness of dementia.

This Centre conducted the first survey by questionnaire, titled "Undergraduate Students' Perception of Holistic Competencies", for the Cross-institutional Project on Student Learning in Generic Skills earlier and received favourable response.  Holistic Competencies refer to communication skills, teamwork, critical thinking, problem-solving, creativity, time management, positive values and lifelong learning, etc.

This Centre is giving away free Let Our Heart Breathe Illustrated Booklets to members of the CUHK community.  The booklet has been produced for promoting the Let Our Heart Breathe Campaign which is a public movement on mindfulness initiated by Ven. Chang Lin and Ms. Florence Hui, former Under Secretary for Home Affairs.  The purpose of this movement is to encourage the public to take a break from the busy daily life by practising mindful breathing, thus achieving a balanced body and mind.

This Centre has represented CUHK to take part in the roving exhibition of the Humanity Wall, a section of the Hong Kong Red Cross's Annual Activity on Humanity.  Apart from CUHK, the collaborating institutions include Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The Education University of Hong Kong, and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.

The Yunus Social Business Centre@CUHK, which is a subsidiary of this Centre, has introduced the S.I. Leadership Award for application by the CUHK students and alumni who are interested in social innovation.  Through training, mentorship and competition, this award scheme encourages participants to advance existing services or products to meet social needs.  The participants will gain more in-depth knowledge of the underprivileged and adopt people-oriented approach to address social challenges.  The S.I. Leadership Award of 2018-19 is now open for application.  Details are as follows:

The University Lecture on Civility 2018  on "Assembling the Future: A Social Innovator's Intriguing Project" came to a successful end on 24 October.  The speaker, Dr. Marcin Jakubowski, is a Ph.D. holder in nuclear fusion and the Founder and Executive Director of Open Source Ecology.  He talked about his journey towards being a start-up entrepreneur on innovation (e.g. mirroring the success of opening the source of the software Linux).  He believed optimising the development, production and distribution of hardware (e.g. all sorts of tools and machines) would facilitate the world's sustainable development.  Speaking of the future, Dr. Jakubowski hoped that gears could be shifted towards human development and promotion of a greener world for the harmony between human and nature in 2028, by which the Open Source Ecology would become fully fledged.  Following Dr. Jakubowski's speech was a Q & A session hosted by Prof. Ng Mee-kam, Department of Geography and Resource Management.  A vigorous ambience was fostered with the questions and views of the audiences, as well as the speaker's inspiring responses.

In this academic year, the I·CARE Community Research Scheme runs two projects, namely "Study of the Pattern of Hidden Elderly in Public Estates" and "Study of the Child Caretaker in Grass-roots Families", which drew around 50 students from different disciplines as project members.  To kick-start the Scheme, the teacher-in-charge (Prof. Wong Hung of the Department of Social Work) delineated the research purpose and theoretical framework in two briefing sessions.

The "Core Group Nurture" of the I·CARE Achievers Programme had its selection interview conducted in October and finally recruited 30 students as core members.  At the introductory session, members not only learnt the content and requirement of the Programme, but also mingled among themselves.  The session was climaxed by the signing of the I·CARE Pledge by each member, which symbolised their commitment to the Programme.

Autumn is……the season when trees shed their leaves.
And perhaps, the moment when true love begins.
Two love stories in the United States which depict two young couples' affinity during autumn: Will the delicate affection of the couples transform into autumn foliage and vanish into the autumn breeze?

The I·CARE Salon, which is under the University Lecture on Civility, had its 14^th session successfully held on 14 November.  It was titled A Tribute to the Enlighteners being addressed by Prof. Chan Kin Man.  Not only did Prof. Chan outlined the persons and books that had enlightened him in his religious life, studies and career development, etc., but he also shared with the audience his journey from focusing on poverty to committing to democracy.

The "Fitness x Mentorship" Scheme of this academic year has been rolled out since late-October.  It provides an opportunity for the participating CUHK students to partner various members of the community to undergo basic training of a sports item, either running, hiking or bowling.

The last session of the first round of Blood Donation Campaign for this academic year took place on 29 October.  This Centre had availed itself of this occasion to hold the "Blood and Book Giving - A Challenge of Blood Donation Relay" which attracted participation of over 60 CUHK students and staff.

Co-organised by the Social Enterprise Startup Scheme under this Centre and the Yunus Social Business Centre@CUHK, which is a subsidiary of this Centre, the S.I. Leadership Workshop had successfully been completed.  The workshop attracted an overall participation of some 50 CUHK students and alumni who are interested in social innovation.

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