Though the resounding success of the 49th Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 25 June is still lodged in recent memory, a new cycle of activity and growth has already begun, here at the Institution, with the beginning of a new Session. On behalf of the Secretariat, I extend a friendly welcome to Ir Eric Ma, our new President; Ir Rupert Leung, our newly elected Vice President; Ir Alice Chow and Ir Prof Frank Chan, the two Vice Presidents successfully reelected; Ir Cheng Chi Lung, Ir Dr Johnny Cheuk, Ir Benedict Cheung, Ir Edmond Fong, and Ir Tony Za—the five new Elected Ordinary Members who fought so beautifully alongside Ir Leung in the election campaign; and, of course, the rest of the Council Members, who will be working with them and with us in Session 2024/2025.
What our new President revealed with his AGM speech left me in little doubt about this Session’s early promise. If there is one thing accomplished most neatly by Ir Ma’s adopted Presidential Theme “Grow the Nexus, Link the Links” (一脈相承，縱深相連), it is to show his vision in microcosm, to throw into sharp relief his resolve to refashion the Institution into the global engineering community’s “nexus”, a super-connector that acts as an intermediary between Mainland’s engineering stakeholders and those situated overseas.
One crucial step Ir Ma will take to clear the way for the Institution’s plans is to review its governance—to align it with our goals, values, and operational needs by identifying obsolete practices and areas of improvement in it. In his serious concern for members’ empowerment and the Institution’s professional image, Ir Ma has decided to take the additional step of renovating our Headquarters, converting one entire floor into multipurpose, adaptable meeting rooms and another floor into Secretariat offices. Taken together, these and the other initiatives in Ir Ma’s year plan are certain to engender in our members a greater sense of unity and belonging.
Before launching together into the bright future, it would be worth our while to steal one final glance backwards. From 8 to 14 June, our delegation made a stay in New Delhi, India for the International Engineering Alliance Meetings (IEAM) 2024. Past President Ir Prof P L Yuen, Deputy Chairman of International Engineering Technologists Agreement, was on the delegates’ list with Ir Steven Lai, Chairman of the Accreditation Committee for Higher Diploma Programmes, and two senior staff members of the Secretariat specialising in professional standards. With other representatives of the Alliance’s constituents, they entered eagerly into a transnational conversation centering on the diverse issues and frameworks involved in the standardisation and recognition of engineering education.
Such international engagements are fully justified by the constantly evolving landscape of engineering qualifications. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), for instance, is a prime example of an emerging field which is growing more relevant by the day to our profession. Given EIA’s importance, I am pleased that the Institution had something tangible to show on 18 June for its contribution to the field’s flourishing. On that day, the first batch of Engineering Environmental Impact Assessment Professional (Eng EIA Pro) was presented with their certificates in a ceremony. On the same occasion, speeches on EIA’s future were delivered by Ir Dr Samuel Chui, JP (Director of Environmental Protection), Ir Dr Barry Lee, our President at that time, and Ir Terence Tsang, Environmental Protection Department’s Assistant Director (Environmental Assessment)—to the participants’ immense benefits.
Another area in which we are gathering pace is our members’ acquisition of Mainland qualifications. Presently, we boast more than 100 members who have succeeded in completing the interviews or assessments required for their applications for Mainland professional titles (職稱). The future will only witness more of our engineers transforming themselves into all-round professionals through their qualifications’ enhancement.
As if to seal the previous Session with a grand finale, the Third Greater Bay Area (GBA) Engineers Forum was held, in hybrid mode, in Macau’s MGM Cotai from 19 to 21 June. Themed “灣區同行 工程為本” and attended by an impressive 300+ GBA engineering professionals, the Forum saw the signing of some sweeping agreements between the Institution and the Guangdong Institution of Engineers, the exchange of ideas through thematic reports and discussions, and the establishment of The GBA Federation of Engineering Organisations (GFEO), of which the Institution is one of the five founding organisations, alongside the Guangdong Provincial Association for Science and Technology, the Guangdong Institution of Engineers, the Association for Promotion of Science and Technology of Macau, and the Macau Institute of Engineers. More about the Forum can be found in the "Activity Report" section.
The 49th Annual General Meeting
The 49th Annual General Meeting (AGM) was held on 25 June 2024 at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre (HKCEC). More than 2,000 members showed their support by casting their votes at the voting centre in the HKCEC.
The results of the election of the new Vice President, the incumbent Vice Presidents and Elected Ordinary Members (EOM) are available on the website at http://www.hkie.org.hk. We welcome the new Council Members to the new Session.
Our President, Ir Eric Ma Siu-cheung, elected by the outgoing Council, revealed that the theme for the Session would be “Grow the Nexus, Link the Links 一脈相承，縱深相連”. You are invited to read the cover story, which gives an account of our President, and to join us at the Presidential Address/Dinner on 13 September 2024, when he will unveil details of his plan for the year ahead.