Dear readers,

The second term has begun for two weeks, and the face-to-face teaching format remains a minority.  You may be rather concerned by the negative impact on your learning under the limitations of hardware like dormitory, computer and broadband.  You should have been missing the dynamic campus and longing for a colourful school life.  However, if you are a first-year student, I bet you will pour ridicule on yourself and complain, “I have never lived a normative campus life at all.  Dynamic and colourful or not?  There is no precedent for comparison!”  Certainly, we need real-life examples to broaden our experience, enrich our reminiscences and differentiate what we have at present from what were lacked in the past, so as to make our time on earth holistic.

The long lost University Lecture on Civility will be back again next week……

It has been a decade since the I·CARE Programme was launched in 2011.  At the same time, the programme’s founder Professor Joseph Sung is departing from CUHK.  Prior to his leaving, Professor Sung will reminisce his passion about I·CARE and recount his insights on tertiary education, on pandemic, and on how to embrace changes in our life.  As the saying goes, every ending is a new beginning.  Until we meet again.

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.

The “Fitness x Mentorship” Scheme is going to roll out three sports items cum services in the second term of this academic year.  Your enrolment is invited.  Details are as follows:

Through training activities, mentorship programme and subsidy from the CUSE Fund, the Social Enterprise Startup Scheme run by this Centre has been encouraging CUHK students and recent graduates to make good use of their expertise to establish or expand their social enterprises.

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 2^nd round of application is open.  Details are as follows:

The I·CARE NGO Internship Programme (Hong Kong) offers local internship opportunities to CUHK students to facilitate their understanding of the values and practices of the attached NGOs and the context of social development.  Participants will engage themselves in current social issues and gain first-hand experience of interacting with different people of the community.  So far one organisation has provided placement for the programme of this academic year.  More openings will follow.  Details of the current item are as below:

Recently, this Centre has published the I·CARE Triennial Report 2016-19 that documents not only the work of the I·CARE Programme in the said period, but also a sketch of the University’s electronic platform “Student Development Portfolio”, which is administered by this Centre, and the activities for enriching student life.  For other information of the I·CARE Programme such as its governance and the donors’ list, this bulletin will make for good reference (please click here for the complete version).

In November of last year when the COVID-19 cases had turned up a downward trend, the marathon team under the core group of the I·CARE Achievers Programme took part in the running course designed by their mentor, Mr. Tam Chi-keung.  They practised running, in the capacity as volunteers, with learners of the course.

The “Pastel Nagomi Art Workshop”, being the first activity of the I·CARE Cross-generational Integration Programme of this academic year, was successfully held online on the 21^st of last month.  Participants including 10 CUHK students and their respective senior family members were led by an experienced tutor to learn and co-create Pastel Nagomi Art with the theme “Christmas” and “Family”.  This activity also comprised a quiz game to enhance the participants’ affinity as well as a session for the students to massage their elderly partners to ease their tiredness.

The Yunus Social Business Centre at CUHK (YSBC@CUHK), which is an affiliate of this Centre, has recently developed the “Toolkit for Social Impact Assessment” to equip young people with knowledge and skills of the reduction of impoverishment.  They will also understand related perspectives and values which are instrumental to their formulation and implementation of poverty alleviation projects.

The I·CARE Community Research Scheme aims to deepen students’ understanding of the deprived communities and to foster their curiosity to explore ways of civic participation through small-scale research.  Themed “Search for Well-rounded Perspective; Renew One’s Perception”, the scheme of this academic year is carried out at two stages to enhance participants’ knowledge of the marginalised groups, overcome their limitation of thoughts and examine the possibility of social changes.

Please click on the image below for more information.