An interview with Ms Candice Lam, retiring College Secretary

Ms Candice Lam has served as College Secretary of Shaw College since June 2012. On her retirement in August this year, we invited Candice to share with us her work in Shaw College.
Candice first joined the Dean of Students' Office of Shaw College in 1992 after moving from Chung Chi College where she worked since 1989. She worked in The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation and The Secretariat of The Legislative Council after leaving CUHK in 1994, and returned to Shaw College as College Secretary in June 2012.
Candice came from a grassroot family. She is a registered social worker and likes communicating with people. Her expertise in administration, her resourceful network, and interest make her work in College enjoyable, and keep her enthusiasm at all times. She participates in nearly all College activities, no matter the activities are for student, staff or alumni. To Candice, her participation is not only about work responsibility, but also about College's support to the activities and self-improvement.
To Candice, Shaw College is a college with open-mindedness and transparency. She is grateful to the two College Heads whom she has worked with, Professor Andrew Chan and Professor Freedom Leung, for their trust and giving her space to try new initiatives. One example is the solar project. For the sustainable development of the environment as well as Shaw College, the College accomplished the design, application, installation and connection to the FiT Scheme in two years. Another example is the strategic cooperation between the College and the International Association of Facilitators (IAF) – Hong Kong Chapter (IAFHK) in 2015, applying facilitation in college activities, staff training, administration projects, etc., with an aim to promote the understanding and communication, and acquire collective wisdom. The College was recognised for its achievement and honoured with the Facilitation Impact Award 2019 (Platinum), becoming the first organisation in Hong Kong (the second in Asia) to receive this highest award from IAF. Candice also helped to develop College General Education course "Next Gen Facilitators: Changing How People Meet" and launch in Term 2, 2021/22. The course aims to provide students with learning in facilitation, through a new perspective to experience the process of meeting and co-operating with others.
During the 14 years in Shaw College, Candice deeply felt the support to College from Shawers and love from students. Her proposal to name the "Professor Ma Lin Memorial Bursary" after Professor Ma Lin was accepted by the Board of Trustees. With a donation of HK$10 million from The Shaw Foundation, and further donations from trustees and other supporters, over HK$16 million was raised. The building of the third student hostel "Mona Shaw Hall" would only be talked on paper without the generous donation of HK$100 million from The Shaw Foundation. Candice was grateful for her participation in soliciting the 300 hostel beds for students of Shaw College. Benefiting from the donations for these two projects, the College received more than HK$60 million from the Eighth Matching Grant Scheme of the HKSAR Government for scholarships and student development programmes, creating more opportunities for our students. Candice was thankful to the University, The Shaw Foundation, trustees and alumni, and hoped that they would continue to support the development of Shaw College.
"What seem to be expendable actually make a difference." Candice cares about details such as format of document, as well as complex matters, such as the reorganisation of the alumni association. She believes there will be positive impact if things are done one by one, even if they seem to be unimportant. She hopes to accumulate experience and make gradual improvements together through effective mechanisms and good practices. Candice describes herself as one who is not afraid of facing anyone and any issue. She is not afraid of troubles, nor considered troublesome by others. Things would be better if we are willing to take a step forward.
Social incidents and the epidemic have changed the ecology of the University and College. The needs of students have also changed, and problems became complicated. Candice emphasises the importance of understanding students' needs and thinking about what the College can do for them. She encourages colleagues to maintain resilience and a mentality of achieving continuous improvement, even tangible results might not be seen immediately. She is grateful for colleagues' support and effort in jointly embodying the mission of the College. As a Christian, Candice firmly believes "You will always make a difference if you put your heart into it".

This article was originally published in the Newsletter of the College, Shaw Link in Jun 2024.