Focus・The GBA
HKBU has nurtured over 140,000 graduates since its inception in 1956 and many have made their mark in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). In this section, we are pleased to feature alumni who have been thriving in the GBA and to share their experience on how they capture business and career opportunities there.
Sharing by Alumnus John Poon Tsz-fung on Establishing His Career in the GBA
Alumnus John Poon Tsz-fung
After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree at HKBU, alumnus John Poon Tsz-fung (Communication – Journalism) joined the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce as a Business Policy Trainee. Due to his dedication and outstanding performance, he was swiftly promoted to Business Policy Officer and then Assistant Manager, Business Policy of the Chamber within 1.5 years. His portfolio focuses mainly on researching policy issues regarding the fields of Digital, Information & Telecommunications, FinTech, Economics and Taxation.
To further his knowledge in public policy, he enrolled in the Master’s degree programme in Public Policy at the Lee Kuan Yew School of the Public Policy, National University of Singapore. After graduation, he worked as a Public Affairs Manager in Tencent, a world-leading internet and technology company, and has been assigned to station in Shenzhen responsible for business in the GBA. He got the position through the Greater Bay Area Youth Employment Scheme (GBA-YES) offered by the HKSAR Government. As the first batch of Hong Kong youths working on the Mainland through the Scheme, John has been enthusiastically spending time in the past year developing his network in the cities of the GBA. He considered himself lucky and would also like to share his experience with young people from Hong Kong who are keen to pursue their careers in the GBA.
John (front left) kicks start his career in the GBA through the GBA Youth Employment Scheme.
1. Please briefly introduce your work at Tencent. What is the biggest gain to you?
I currently work as a Public Affairs Manager in the Tencent’s Greater Bay Area Public Affairs Department responsible for Hong Kong and Macau areas. My duties are diverse, covering public policy, government relations, and research in, and strategies concerning public affairs of these two areas. Among all, one of my most important tasks is to assist and implement projects and initiatives to promote one of the visions of Tencent: to use “tech for good”, and specifically for Hong Kong and Macau. Tencent has developed a lot of innovative products and services to improve the quality of life for people around the world. Having been involved in what the company is doing, I have witnessed in real life the company’s achievements on the Mainland. Born and raised in Hong Kong, I am pleased to be part of the winning team to help put forward these initiatives to benefit the economic and social development of Hong Kong and Macau.
Let me quote an example of what I am doing, which is also one of the most unforgettable experiences. When Hong Kong was facing its worst outbreak of the pandemic in early 2022, we noticed the urgency and necessity to support the contracted and those affected by the pandemic. Tencent supports a wide range of tech projects which contribute towards Hong Kong’s fight against the pandemic. One of these projects that I was heavily involved in is our “fact-check platform”. We noticed that there was wide spread of rumours about the pandemic situation in Hong Kong across social media and causing chaos in the community from time to time. We set up a fact-checking platform called Jiaozhen (騰訊新聞較真平台), a team under Tencent News, concerning traditional Chinese medicine for Hong Kong people to stop hoaxes within the community. Just within two months, the platform published more than 30 fact-checking posts and recorded more than 100,000 views.
This is the very first time for me to stay and work full time on the Mainland for more than a year. The biggest gain I have here is the chance to work in a multinational internet company. Compared with my past experience gained in Europe, America and Singapore, the experiences gained on the Mainland has been the most rewarding as I got to meet a lot of great people and build up abundant and good connections. At the same time, I believe I have achieved personal growth and professional advancement.
John (middle) conducts his champion public speaking workshop in Tencent.
2. What is the most significant change brought to you while working in the GBA? Please share how you have adjusted to the work and living culture in the GBA.
Throughout my academic and professional journey, I had only gained experiences from the Hong Kong perspective, aside from the international exposure gained through the HKBU exchange programme in Europe and North America. With my work and living experience on the Mainland, I am proud to say that I have transformed myself into a global citizen, equipped with a sense of social responsibility and national identity, and affection for Hong Kong.
The journey is indeed extremely challenging. One of the most apparent differences would be language. While I am accustomed to using Cantonese and English, I now found myself also proficient in Putonghua, and am able to communicate seamlessly in the workplace as well as in my daily life. In addition, preparing formal written documents is now an integral part of my job, and I have acquired sufficient knowledge regarding word choice, format and style of delivery on the Mainland. To achieve this level of proficiency, I have actually read a lot of documents and newspapers so that I could learn how official communication should be done on the Mainland.
Another challenge arising from my stay at Shenzhen is how I spend my leisure time there. As the saying goes, “One needs the help of his friends abroad.” This has always been my concern when living in an alien city. Fortunately, I quickly made new friends in Shenzhen through different channels. As I was a public speaking champion in Toastmasters, I quickly connected with the Toastmasters Club members working at Tencent and through this channel, I met my first batch of friends in Shenzhen. I also got the chance to deliver a Champion Speaker workshop in the company to share my public speaking tips with my colleagues. I also made a lot of good friends who also participated in the GBA Youth Employment Scheme . We share the same joy and bitterness, and together, we render support to one and other. With this valuable experience gained from the work place and living in Shenzhen, I very much want to offer help to youth from Hong Kong who want to work in the GBA. Together, we could establish a community to share life experience and the latest information and knowhow in the GBA. Anyone who hopes to start his/her career in the GBA is more than welcome to contact me for experience sharing.
John (right), together with his friend, starts a community to help Hong Kong youth working on the Mainland, by providing the latest information in the GBA and organising events to get connected with each other.
3. What are the edges and shortcomings of Hong Kong people when they work on the Mainland?
Hong Kong is a global city, and is an unrivalled international gateway in the region that also provides easy access to the Mainland. In addition, English proficiency and international exposure are the two areas of strength that makes Hong Kong youth stand out from their counterparts on the Mainland. According to the Outline Development Plan1 of the GBA, the GBA should be fully developed into an international first-class bay for living, working and travelling. Therefore, we, as Hong Kong youths, are not just a participant within the GBA, but also a contributor to this important vision. Thanks to HKBU, I attended a semester exchange programme in London, during which time I also travelled around Europe. I also joined the HKBU Model United Nations programme, which helped me enrich my knowledge in both regional and international issues and relations and, most importantly, make new friends at the international conferences in New York and Montreal. I therefore strongly encourage our students to make good use of all these exchange/study tour resources provided by the University during the undergraduate studies.
On the other hand, I notice that many who grow up and study on the Mainland are far more diligent than their counterparts in Hong Kong. As Hongkongers, we should be humble to learn from our counterparts on the Mainland. More importantly, we should engage in meaningful exchanges with mainlanders on all fronts. With the development in the GBA, I believe youths from Hong Kong and those on the Mainland stand a good chance to collaborate with each other to help the GBA and the nation at large to achieve greater success in the future.
