12 June, 2009

Trading HKU High table dinner for IIFA


So i decided to join this dinner as they say:
No HKU experience is complete without the traditional high table dinner! The HKU Economics and Finance Postgraduates High Table Dinner 2009 will be held on Saturday 13 June at the historical Loke Yew Hall in the HKU Main Building, where scenes of the famous film "Love, Lust色戒" is set. An evening of authentic HKU tradition!

02 June, 2009

GAN BEI - key to success in China

is the first word you should speak to be successful in China. Means "Bottoms up" for the literate ones.

Since a number of international students are choosing Hong Kong as their study destination, I thought of focusing on intangibles, I gained out of my prev 4 years in Hong Kong.
If I were to take a step back, China's economic rise has captured the world's imagination. At the forefront has been Pearl River Delta. Hong Kong has been serving as the Gateway to the huge FDI to PRC. PRC consists of Hong Kong, Macau, Guangdong province. What led to the growth of PRD? To understand these questions and to witness one of the modern day's marvel an easier route is to study/work in Hong Kong. University of Hong Kong has been at the forefront of imparting management education for many decades now. Skills gained through the program is enormous. Often, students have a myopic vision when choosing an MBA program.
While I had my apprehensions before coming to Hong Kong, last four years of experience has been professionally most rewarding where I have been able to travel and work in Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, PRC, Macau, India & Hong Kong.

To list briefly some of the intangibles people forget to add while describing their HK exp are

London/Columbia exp. & connections
Hong Kong exp. - Breathtaking hikes, mountains, sea - one of my MBA colleague rightly commented on HK - as the richest mountain in the world
Networking skills lead to Survival skills (HK is one of the easiest places to learn & practice this art)
Lifelong friends within industry and outside - HK is tiny - you bump in people almost regularly
Connexions in the region - HK is the Asia's world city
Cultural diversity - People of all nationalities converge here
Learning Chinese/Cantonese sets you up for long haul
Night life & party scene - as good as anywhere else
I have seen Non - finance folks learning more bit of finance outside classroom than by studying books
Do not forget the Cultural Immersion rule - let yourself exp. the local culture, make local friends, get out of your comfort zone and rest would take care of itself.