Driven to pursue their dreams
Three inspiring alumni show the CUHK community how career challenges that might break some are the making of others
For those who were growing up in Hong Kong in the 1970s, the life stories of three participants in this year’s Distinguished Alumni-in-Residence Programme (DARP) will sound very familiar. For young people starting out today, their stories can be a source of inspiration.
During four days of DARP events that included seminars and tours as well as talks, Cindy Chow (second left), Norris Lam (first right) and Jenny Chiu (second right) shared how they harnessed their inner drive to pursue dreams and to achieve self-fulfillment. The occasion itself became an exercise in overcoming difficulties, when a rare November typhoon forced it to move online.
From money to meaning making
The youngest of five sisters in a family with a sole breadwinner, Cindy Chow had her path set for her from childhood: study hard, get into university, find a good job, make money and help raise the family’s standing of living.
Graduating from CUHK in 1992 with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, Chow landed an auditor job at Arthur Andersen, then one of the big six accounting firms. Five years later, while others emigrated amid ongoing doubts about Hong Kong’s post-1997 future, she headed to Fujian to manage finances for a telecommunications project valued at about US$100 million.
Back in Hong Kong in 2000, she had to look for another job when the dotcom bust hit the Hong Kong-listed company she then worked for. In 2007, she joined Alibaba, then a little known name specialising in mainland export sourcing. Impressed by its founder’s plan to boost the local startup scene, she proposed in 2015 to manage the not-for-profit HK$1 billion Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund. Since then, under her stewardship, the fund has invested US$8 billion in 59 promising startups.
“Money-making was my initial goal,” said Chow. “But since 2015, bringing value to society has become my inner drive.”
Poise and positivity
For Norris Lam, a business administration graduate of the class of 1997—and now partner of Forbes Global—it was a similar story. Coming from the mainland, she knew neither Cantonese nor English. Yet her fervent wish was one day to land a job she could be proud of and see the world. Driven and diligent in secondary school, Lam was selected for the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Award and was admitted to the University via the provisional acceptance scheme in 1993. With exchange opportunities aplenty, CUHK was a first choice for Lam, and her will to see and experience the world proved to be shaping her life—and leading her to labyrinthine pathways—in the days to come. Forgoing a full scholarship in a public college in the US, she went for Ivy League Brown University as a private student. It meant working long hours as a private tutor to pay for her fees at Brown.
“I had to earn $10,000 a month, and I made it. For me, the lesson was: make the decision—then live up to it.”
Be it study or work, Lam found herself at a crossroads: a prestigious, lucrative offer beckoned on one side, and a risky, many-splendoured life beckoned on the other. She chose the latter. Keen to brush up her English and expand her horizons, she worked in London and New York.
Then followed a stint in Silicon Valley, where she accepted lower pay in a tech company as a way to learn more about investing in tech stocks. While she survived the 2000 dotcom bust, the market fallout from the 9/11 attacks brought her career as a tech investor to an abrupt end.
In the hiatus that ensued, Lam turned to alternative investments, which paved the way for her thriving careers in global investment and advisory firm Guggenheim Partners, HSBC Hong Kong, and Forbes. Now, charity and investing in life-changing, impactful technologies are closest to her heart. In 2009, she was among a group of past awardees who set up the Youth Arch Foundation to continue running the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Awards after the scheme’s founder passed away.
“Gratitude is one of my drivers. I want to pass it on, helping those with modest backgrounds. Everyone has her share of setbacks, but if you tackle them with poise and positivity, these will become your assets. The more of it, the better,” she said.
Don’t let go easily
Jenny Chiu, an executive director and senior director of human resources at New World Development, enrolled at CUHK in 1989. “I wanted to study banking or business but was instead accepted in sociology. Looking back, I can see that the University had its own philosophy and wisdom in choosing and knowing its students.” Chiu, who found herself captivated by social and human behaviour, decided to choose a people-oriented profession.
Working her way up the ladder, she eventually joined New World in 2004. She challenged the company’s norms by introducing hackathon programmes, where participants brainstormed and pitched ideas to management. These events were held among the interview candidates as well as internally. The best among them would land a job in the company. For employees, they would see their ideas materialise in their daily work.
Recently, she put in place policies for a four and a half day working week, including one work from home day, and three days of family care leave over the past summer.
“There was opposition from some departments in our company. We told them it would not only benefit employees, but also their supervisors. Fewer working days do not mean lower productivity, and employees aside, we want to engage their families as well.
“I don’t let go easily. When something doesn’t work, I will reflect on it and adjust, but I will stick with what I think is right and persevere until I see the impact.”
Asked how she copes with setbacks, Chiu responded: “Whether they’re setbacks or not depends on your viewpoint. There are no problems that can’t be solved. Between 1 and 2 are 1.2 and 1.5, and there are countless ways you can choose to tackle them.”
She drew on her own experience to illustrate the point. In 1997, she found herself jobless when the company she worked for went bankrupt. Facing immense mortgage pressure as she had just bought a flat, Chiu found another job in a laboratory test company, which she gave up after three months. “You have to make a decision—whether you want a stable income or something you’re interested in. I followed my heart.”
The development of soft skills, much emphasised throughout their visit, also received attention.
“Soft skills are habits, say, time management. Just start small, you can cultivate that on a daily basis, and rid yourself of bad traits,” said Lam.
Asked about soft skills, Chiu observed that a lot has to do with an individual’s disposition. “You can take whatever path you like, but you’ll need to work hard. What is your dream? If you really like what you’re doing, even though the going is tough, you’ll enjoy it. But if you’re unhappy, achievements won’t change that. Follow your nature, and work hard to achieve your dream.”
By Amy Li
Photos courtesy of Alumni Affairs Office
