Press Release

HKHS Award Introduces Rising Changemaker Prize
Inspiring Innovative Minds and Nurturing New Blood

The Hong Kong Housing Society (HKHS) held the 21^st Hong Kong Housing Society Award (HKHS Award) presentation ceremony today (31 January) in recognition of the achievements of 100 students from higher education institutions, each awarded a scholarship or bursary of HK$10,000.  This year also marked the introduction of the inaugural Rising Changemaker Prize, which is designed to encourage young people to deep dive into various housing-related topics and propose innovative solutions.

HKHS Chairman Prof Ling Kar-kan said at the ceremony, “The Housing Society being the city’s ‘housing laboratory’ remains committed to its mission of building quality homes for the community to address the evolving housing needs of the society with innovation.  At the same time, the Housing Society is dedicated to nurturing new talent for the housing and elderly-care service industries, equipping young people to become the leaders of tomorrow.  Visionary and innovative thinking are the driving forces of social progress.  The first-ever Rising Changemaker Prize aims to guide students to delve into various housing topics, while knowledge sharing sessions were arranged to facilitate exchanges between participating students and industry elites.  I hope that the awardees will unleash their potential, carry forward the Housing Society’s spirit of innovation and contribute to creating sustainable and liveable environments, building smart and inclusive communities for Hong Kong in concerted effort.”

This year, HKHS invited fencer Aaron Ho to the ceremony as a special guest, who claimed the historic silver medal in the men’s sabre individual event at the 15^th National Games, which is also the best-ever result of the Hong Kong sabre team, to share his journey of perseverance.  Ho, using sabre as a metaphor, encouraged students to make the most of the scholarships and bursaries to proactively equip themselves, seizing every opportunity to hit the target sharp and constantly pursue their goals by pushing one’s limits, and contribute to the society with own strength. 

Candidates of the inaugural Rising Changemaker Prize were required to participate in a case study competition on one of the topics, namely housing ladder, elderly housing and PropTech, and present their perspectives and proposed solutions to the judging panel.  Industry experts including Jason Leung, Head of Land & Housing of Our Hong Kong Foundation; Prof Terry Lum, Professor of Department of Social Work and Social Administration of The University of Hong Kong; and Damien Wu, Vice President of the Smart City Consortium, were invited to shed light on relevant professional knowledge during sharing sessions held before the final presentation.  Site visits were also arranged to help contesting students appreciate these topics.  HKHS received a total of 30 submissions and following deliberation by the judging panel, five students stood out for their comprehensive analyses and insightful perspectives and successfully garnered the Rising Changemaker Prize.  Together with the HKHS scholarships or bursaries they received, each of the winning student of the Rising Changemaker Prize was awarded HK$50,000 in total in recognition of their achievements.

The HKHS Award aims to honour students with excellent academic performance in housing and elderly-care disciplines, providing financial assistance to those in need and in support of talent development for the related industries.  Awardees of this year come from 14 local tertiary institutions and their respective schools of continuing education and community colleges, as well as three member institutions of the Vocational Training Council, namely the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, and the Hong Kong Design Institute.  Since its inception in 2006, the HKHS Award has benefitted more than 1,700 outstanding students with sponsorship totalling over HK$13 million.

In addition, HKHS has been granting the annual “Father Cronin Memorial Award” to outstanding students of The University of Hong Kong’s Master of Housing Management Programme since 1994.  This year, two awardees each received a scholarship of HK$10,000 in recognition of their exceptional academic performance.

HKHS established the “HS Academy Alumni Club” (Alumni Club) in 2019 to engage past award recipients and encourage them to serve the community.  Over the years, the Alumni Club has organised nearly 90 activities including community events, professional development, health and well-being activities and volunteer services, in order to broaden members’ horizons, enhance their knowledge and experience in housing and elderly-care services, and cultivate them to become future pillars of the society.  The Alumni Club members have contributed nearly 5,800 hours of volunteer services, benefitting close to 47,000 people.  Earlier, the Alumni Club members joined hands with HKHS staff and other volunteer teams to assist residents affected by the Wang Fuk Court fire in Tai Po to settle down in the emergency housing units provided by HKHS.  Besides, the Alumni Club members are given priority for summer internships and recruitment interviews at HKHS, enabling them to embark on their journey of career development.