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JMSC First BJ Intake Three Years On

The JMSC opened its doors to Bachelor of Journalism students in 2004; they graduated in 2007.

Many of these graduates have forged jobs in the media; others moved into different professions. The JMSC has kept up with its graduates to find out what they have been doing with their time and skills.

Rebecca Ho

Rebecca Ho Fung Yee gained a job as a court reporter for Ming Pao after graduating from the JMSC. Two years later she moved on to another Chinese-language newspaper, Sing Tao Daily.

“My job is to cover court cases, mostly in the High Court. I also do follow-up stories on court-related news. I enjoy working in the High Court as cases like judicial reviews have wide implications on society.  It also provides me the chance to be  analytical and logical.”

Ho credits the JMSC with training her to think: “It taught me to ask the right question at the right time, which has been hugely beneficial to me.”

Several other graduates went to work as reporters at Ming Pao after graduating: Joyce Lai Yuet Ling, Brandy Cheng Yi Pan and Kitty Ho Shuet Ying. Joyce Lai now works in PR, Brandy Cheng is studying to be a lawyer and Kitty Ho is doing a Masters degree in sociology at Bristol University in the UK.

Kitty Ho Shuet Ying

“I took sociology as a minor as an undergraduate,” said Ho. “When I was working at Ming Pao, I thought that more sociological knowledge would be useful to develop a deeper insight into news reporting. I am about to graduate now and open to many opportunities — I am seeking work in the media and also education sector.”

Kitty offers some tips to current students: “Be open and patient. Things are changing and traditional business models of media are facing a difficult time but that doesn’t mean that media itself has little prospect. On the contrary, the Internet opens up more and more opportunities for journalism. Younger BJs should be more innovative in their career. Dream big!”

Catherine Chan

Catherine Chan got her first job as a business reporter for Next Magazine. She then left the media to become an Assistant Information officer at the Information Services Department of the HKSAR Government. Her first post was in the Innovation and Technology Commission.

Chan has worked her way up to become an Assistant Information Officer at the Beijing Office of the HKSAR Government where she is half-way through a three year posting.

“It offers many opportunities for me to understand how the Central Government and SAR Governments run, and how Hong Kong positions itself in the mainland and overseas. I enjoy being out of Hong Kong to look back to the place where I come from. It helps me think about Hong Kong issues from a different point of view.”

Chan says that her time at the JMSC helped her to think critically and take an interest in the world around her, and that despite no longer working directly in the media she still feels she uses the skills she learnt at the JMSC.

“I consider myself still working in the media as I have to face the press and reporters everyday, just my position is now different.”

Education has interested two other graduates from 2007: Wong Ching Yee studied for a Postgraduate Certificate of Education (PGCE) in order to teach and Lilian Tsoi Yuen Yan is a private tutor in Macau.

Many graduates have stuck with working in media. Marco Lui works at Bloomberg, Daphne Lo Kam Ping works at HK Commercial Radio, Priscilla Ng Che Ning works at TVB Pearl and Fion Li Pui Yu works at CAI Financial News.

Plus, the world of banking for which Hong Kong is so well known has lured in one graduate — Robin Pang Tsz Him has gone to work for HSBC. Meanwhile, Flora Lee Wun Ip now works for the charity Christian Action.

Three years after the JMSC’s first intake of bachelor students they are all working hard in extremely varied roles in disparate spheres. We wish them every success!

If you are a graduate of 2007 and want to be included in this article or would like to update information please e-mail angharad.law@gmail.com