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Talent & Sector Development

Turning the twists of life into a blessing for others

Heidi Hung: “If you don’t know how to love your parents, you won’t know how to love other people. It would be just void to talk about changing the world.”

Someone once told Heidi that life was like sailing. During the voyage, you can only follow the wind’s direction, twisting, turning, and pushing forward – eyeing on your destination and you will make it to your dreamland one day. She could not have known then it was a prophecy about her own life. A top student at secondary school, Heidi was admitted to the sought-after double degree programme of Government and Laws at The University of Hong Kong, then later went to the University of Oxford in England to take a Master's degree in legal research. However, due to family circumstances, she gave up her studies to return to Hong Kong to support her family.

Heidi always had a sense of justice. Pursuing her goal of building a fairer society, she gained different types of exposure starting with policy research in the government, then practical experience with Oxfam Hong Kong. This got her gradually interested in public health. Eager to gain a better understanding of how social factors could affect people’s health, she decided to study for a Doctorate in public health. After graduation, she joined the “Jockey Club Sustainability for All, Together for Health Project for Healthy Families” to help provide ethnic minorities with health information which is less accessible to them due to language and cultural barriers. “I am a person who follows my heart,” she explains. She persists in doing what she feels right.

Having received a Scholarship in her undergraduate years, Heidi was given the opportunity to volunteer in Africa and engage in internships with journalists, government and non-government organisations, and to meet people from different sectors who sought to improve the world in their own ways, inspiring her to look at the world from different distances and points of view. She is grateful for the adversities she experienced which helped her grow stronger. She remembers the Scholarships’ mission of giving back to society by heart. Her latest plan is to return to the research sector to build a fairer and friendlier healthcare system for Hong Kong. “All these life experiences have equipped me to become a better policy researcher,” Heidi believes.

Did you know?

Established in 1998, The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships are one of the Club’s programmes to nurture local talent. To date, some HK$870 million in scholarships have been approved, supporting more than 1,000 students. Apart from undergraduate students, the scheme was expanded in 2015 to include students with special educational needs and those in vocational education. It also supports postgraduate students to pursue further studies at top notch universities in the world. The Club has extended the Scholarships to two further schemes in 2023 to support outstanding students with top scores in the public examinations and students who have achieved excellence while demonstrating resilience and strength of mind to overcome adversities in life to pursue their studies in Hong Kong. The Club also provides JC Scholars with opportunities for further learning, personal development and social service.

Information updated to Nov 2023

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