GPA is celebrating its 50th Anniversary!

Two recent graduates and awardee of the MPUP Academic Distinction Award, Mr. Cyrus Cheung and Ms. Pinky Wong were invited to join the banquet held at Hyatt Regency Hong Kong on 15 August 2021. Prof. Carlos Lo, Department Head of GPA and Programme Director of MPUP, started the ceremony by delivering an opening speech that highlighted the history of the GPA Department and the diversity its teachers, students and alumni in terms of value, expertise and profession. During the dinner, Cyrus and Pinky grasped the opportunity to meet with other alumni of GPA and build up social network with guests and participants. It was an enjoyable night for all.

Originally founded in 1970, the Department of Government and Public Administration has gone from strength to strength in nurturing young talents and future leaders in Hong Kong through service in teaching, research and community engagement programmes.

In the last Saturday (28 August 2021), the MPUP programme organized the academic orientation to welcome our new students.

The orientation was kick-started with a welcoming speech by Prof. Carlos Lo, the MPUP Programme Directory, followed by greeting and self-introduction of MPUP teachers.   Then, Dr. Brenda Liu, the new Programme Manager, gave advice on important academic matters and resources provided by the University. Last but not least, teachers and students were assigned into small group to mingle and get to know each other before the start of the academic year.

With over 30 students participated in-person and a few joining online, we managed to take a group photo together.

May we wish all MPUP students a fruitful academic year ahead.

The MSSc Programme in Public Policy (MPUP) and MSSc Programme in Government and Politics (Greater China) (GPGC) of the Department of Government and Public Administration (GPA) always value career support to achieve its mission to nurture future competent policy professionals and leaders. With the acclaim gained over the previous years, MPUP and GPGC have once again invited Ms. Wong Ming Lok, a professional and experienced trainer who conducts series of AO/EO trainings, to deliver a workshop on JRE this year. You may learn more about Ms. Wong’s background as follows:

The workshop, consisting of two intensive sessions and one mock test, is scheduled between in October 2021 exclusively for postgraduate students of the Department of GPA. You can refer to the attached poster for the dates of the workshop sessions. To maintain teaching and learning quality, places are limited. If interested, please register on or before 29 September 2021 (Wed) via here. Registration would be on a first-come-first-served basis with priority given to MPUP students and quotas to GPGC students.

Should there be any questions, please do not hesitate to contact us through email publicpolicy@cuhk.edu.hk. Thank you.

The MSSc Programme in Public Policy (MPUP) & MSSc Programme in Government and Politics (Greater China) (GPGC) will co-organise a Taught Master Programme Information Session on 3 December 2021, with details as follow:

Prospective students who are interested in learning about the programme are strongly encouraged to join.

For students and visitors who are interested in international relation, Prof. Gunter Schubert, Chair Professor of Greater China Studies at the University of Tübingen and Associate Research Professor at the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at Freie Universität Berlin, will deliver a public lecture on the same day to report some of his observations concerning EU’s stance under the current U.S.-China relation.

Topic:

Squeezed between Scylla and Charybdis? The European Union’s Quest of Strategic Autonomy in Times of U.S.-China Showdown Politics

Abstract:

Against the background of an intensifying geopolitical shift and deteriorating U.S.-China relations, the European Union (EU) struggles to determine its future direction in the arena of international politics. Squeezed between its traditional ally and a rising power at the commanding heights of the world economy, the EU ponders the concept of ‘strategic autonomy’ without being able to spell out, for the time being, what this could or should mean in terms of concrete policy. Meanwhile, pressure from both the U.S. and China on the European Union to take stances is increasing. Heterogeneity in the Union doesn’t help, as national interests of member states diverge in many instances and impede consistent policy-making. Being no specialist on European politics, the speaker reports on some of his observations concerning the EU’s internal strife to find common ground for a consistent foreign policy and invites the audience to discuss about the impact of a dramatically changing geopolitical environment on regional order in East Asia.

Bibliography

Gunter Schubert, PhD, is Chair Professor of Greater China Studies at the University of Tübingen and Associate Research Professor at the Graduate Institute of East Asian Studies at Freie Universität Berlin. He specializes in Chinese local governance and state-business relations, cross-strait political economy, Taiwan domestic politics and the change of regional and global order under the impact of China’s rise. Prof. Schubert currently teaches at CUHK’s Department of Government and Public Administration and the Center of Chinese Studies.

We always value career support to achieve the mission to nurture future competent policy professionals and leaders. With the acclaim gained over the past years, we have once again invited Ms. Wong Ming Lok, a professional and experienced trainer who conducts series of AO/EO trainings, to deliver a workshop on the HKSAR Government Joint Recruitment Examination (JRE) exclusively for students of the Department of GPA in October this year.

At the first session, Ms. Wong introduced basic knowledge including strategies and skills for taking the examination to participants so that they would have a clearer picture of the examination to set a focus for their self-preparation. A mock test was then arranged for participants, followed by an in-depth feedback session on their performance. Participants were given hands-on feedback from a former practitioner’s perspective to further enhance themselves for the coming examination.

The MSSc in Public Policy regularly invites policy maker to have interaction and exchange views with students. This time, Ms. Regina Ip, a member of the Executive Council (ExCo) and Legislative Council of Hong Kong (LegCo), as well as the founder and current chairperson of the New People’s Party, was invited to share her experience with us. The dialogue was organized as part of the course exercise of MPUP5111 Public Policy Process taught by Prof. Maria Francesch and centered around the theme of Leadership and Trust in Public Policy Makers.

During the dialogue, Ms Ip shared the difference between working as a civil servant and a politician, and highlighted the elements contributing to good policy making process. Apart from the insightful sharing by the speakers, MPUP students benefited greatly from further discussing some of the social issues during the Q&A session.

With the mission to nurture future competent policy professionals and leaders, the TPg Programme Office of the Department of Government and Public Administration (GPA) organized two sessions of CV and Cover Letter Writing Workshop exclusively for MPUP and GPGC students on 6 November 2021 (Sat) and 20 November 2021 (Sat), to equip them with the essential job search skills.

The workshops were hosted by Tutors of the Independent Learning Centre (ILC), Ms. Sharon Wong and Dr. Ocean Siu. During the workshop, participants grasped the opportunity to learn the essential skills to polish their CV and Cover letter. Participants found the Workshop practical and useful.

MPUP co-organized the HKSAR Government Administrative Officer (AO) and Executive Officer (EO) Alumni Experience Sharing Sessions with the Career Planning and Development Centre of the Office of Student Affairs, CUHK on 19 January 2022 (Wed) and 27 January 2022 (Thu), to equip them with the job nature of the two positions and strategic approaches throughout the recruitment process.

We are delighted to have invited three guest speakers who are serving AOs, namely Ms Carol Chan, Mr Emmanuel Lam and Ms Cherry Sum for the AO Alumni Experience Sharing Session, and three guest speakers who are serving EOs, namely Ms Jelly Cheung,  Ms Tina Ma and Mr Michael Pang for the EO Alumni Experience Sharing Session, to share about their work experience in various government units and to give tips and insights about the preparation for the upcoming interviews.

MPUP is celebrating its 10^th anniversary. Established in 2011, the Master of Social Science in Public Policy is designed to meet the needs of leaders and professionals who have the aspiration to make a difference in government, NGOs, and all related sectors. Over the years, MPUP has established itself as one of the most reputable public policy programmes both locally and internationally.

To read the special MPUP 10^th Anniversary Newsletter, please click here

Committed to fostering the career development of our students, MPUP once again collaborated with MSSc in Government and Politics (Greater China) to launch the MPUP & GPGC Alumni Day on 5 March 2022.

The event was divided into two sessions. The first session focused on career development and job searching skills. 5 alumni coming from various job industries were invited to shed light on their unique job search experience along with practical tips on preparation for the recruitment process.

In the later half of the session, two MPUP and GPGC alumni who are now studying in a PhD programme at Beijing University and Shanghai Jiao Tong University were invited to talk about the admission tips and how they manage to receive offer from these prestigious universities.

The programme sincerely thanks our alumni for their contribution in making this event possible.