Dear readers,

From azaleas and bauhinias to golden trumpets and bottlebrush trees, the vernal season in CUHK has bloomed into a riot of colour.  Spring flowers come along and cheer us up at a juncture where we most need it, after a cold and stagnant winter.  Budtime, characterised by shining blue skies, crisp fresh air and the regrowth of vivid plants, is the perfect moment to improve deficient areas, welcome new beginnings and celebrate the reconciliations.  I wish the blossom lining the pavements and thoroughfares across our University could mobilise us to invite the positivity in.

There are bumpy roads in life inevitably.  When you feel frustrated, make a sharp turn.  You may overhear the big cheers from the sports field which can catalyse your recollection of some happy moments in your past.  This spur will hopefully be conducive to comforting you in a dull mode.

Further to the online “Pastel Nagomi Art Workshop” of December last year, the I·CARE Cross-generational Integration Programme of this academic year organised the “Kalimba Workshop” in the form of small-group video conference again.  This workshop consisted of two sessions which were held on the 28^th of last month and the 7^th of this month.  Participants including seven pairs of CUHK students and their respective senior family members were led by a veteran music tutor to learn the basic skills of playing Kalimba and practise the well-known songs like The Moon Represents My Heart, Galactic Repairman, and Happy Birthday to You.  The workshop also comprised a sing-along-with-Kalimba segment and a quiz game to enhance the participants’ affinity.  It was great fun.

Due to the pandemic, the beautiful landscape of Hong Kong has been revealed through forced domestic consumption.  Going on the local excursions with us, you will be amazed by the stunning nature of our home.

Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the second session of A Walk in Community with I·CARE of the last academic year has been suspended.  After a year’s silence, this activity is to be re-activated in a manner not violating the social distancing measures under “Prevention and Control of Disease Ordinance”.

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 be paired up with mentors, who are people with great achievement in specific industries, to obtain from them valuable advice and practical skills of running an enterprise, as well as to be guided by them to widen personal network.

The I·CARE Social Service Projects Scheme encourages students to organise and implement self-initiated social services.  Three rounds of vetting are available in this academic year.  Students may submit applications in accordance with the commencement date of their projects and the amount of funds required.  Now, the third round of application is open with details as follows:

Under the I·CARE Social Service Projects Scheme, periodic training opportunities are offered to students, who aspire to organise self-initiated social service and are interested in submitting applications for funding support, to equip them with relevant knowledge, skills and competence in actualising their ideas.  In January, two online training activities, namely “Workshop of Practice cum Sharing Session” and Sharing Session on “A Journey to Joy - Understanding Children Services”, were conducted on the 22^nd and 29^th respectively.

The “Fitness x Mentorship” Scheme of the first term of this academic year was carried out online due to the unstable situation of COVID-19.  For the second term, two of the sports items under this scheme (i.e. floor curling and orienteering) have adopted a face-to-face mode in their respective small groups.  All participants need to strictly abide by the anti-epidemic measures.

Affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the part of tours’ delivery by CUHK students under the I·CARE Hong Kong Cultural Tours Project of this academic year will be conducted online adopting virtual reality technology.  Since there will no longer be limitation on the physical environment of the tours, this Centre has extended the service recipients to cover students from special schools.  Participants will visit various places of Hong Kong to learn about its history and culture with just a simple VR headset.

The University Lecture on Civility is one of the overwhelmingly received events of the I·CARE Programme.  It consists of seminars and forums that explore the relationship between men and society/ nature.  Scholars, artists and luminaries from around the world share their unique humanistic points of view with CUHK members and catalyse them to reflect on the meaning of life.

CUHK Bridge to China Team is a university volunteering team formed under this Centre with the support and guidance from the Wu Zhi Qiao (Bridge to China) Charitable Foundation.  Since 2009, the team has been participating in and organising numerous investigation trips on villages, bridge building projects and public health programmes with the help of CUHK students.

As one of the members of the CUHK Entrepreneurs Alliance *, this Centre puts efforts into organising activities on social innovation in order to further the establishment of a quality platform for the exchange of entrepreneurial information among CUHK members.  In this context, this Centre has recently benefitted from InnoPort, which is operated by the Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services, to offer startup support services to the awarded teams of the I·CARE’s Social Enterprise Startup Scheme and S.I. Leadership Award Scheme.

Please click on the image below for more information.