Ms Ma Man-sum
Ms Ma Man Sum (Physical Education and Sports Science/2011), ex-Hong Kong Elite Karatedo Athlete, is a Shaw College alumna and currently teaching in the Physical Education Unit of CUHK. When Ms Ma first studied in secondary school, she wanted to learn a sport which was not covered in Physical Education lesson in school. At that time, her mother found an organisation which only offered Karatedo class. Since then, her life is tightly bound to Karatedo. Ms Ma is keen on the satisfaction and excitement brought by Karatedo, but when she started to be a full-time athlete since 2011, she faced a lot of tough times. With her dreams and the courage to challenge herself, she overcame different obstacles. Ms Ma believes that being a retired athlete is not the end of her career, she will keep practising the spirit of Karatedo so as to “study with heart and practise in life”.
Apart from her own practice, Ms Ma hopes to develop a teaching system for students to learn Karatedo in an organised way, and at the same time explore the potential of students and train them to participate in competitions, and become coaches and referees, so that people of different ages and goals can shine in Karatedo. The Karatedo elective course taught by Ms Ma at CUHK will be piloted in the new semester. Outside the University, she promotes Olympism as Athlete Speaker for Olympic Committee of Hong Kong, China. Ms Ma also hopes to open Karatedo class for students with special educational needs and persons with disability, promoting Karatedo to different groups.
Speaking of Shaw College, the most memorable was the accident on the first night of Ms Ma’s first-year College orientation camp. She got injured as she was too engaged in games, and was then sent to hospital for stitches. There is still an indistinct scar on her lips now. The injury did not stop her from joining College activities, she participated in College orientation camp in the next year as group leader and also “The Four Signature Activities”. Talking about her roommate in student hostel, she was a popular person and her birthday party was like the fifth signature activity of College. She missed those young days of spending time playing games and chatting overnight together.
Being one of the Directors of Shaw College Alumni Association (SCAA), Ms Ma hopes to expand the alumni network with technologies, so as to connect College, SCAA, and Shaw students. She thinks it is essential to have more young members in SCAA to strengthen the sense of belonging of students to College. Under the current pandemic situation, she hopes "Shawers" can be physically and mentally healthy, as the external environment cannot be controlled, it is important to rely on oneself.
This article was originally published in the Newsletter of the College, Shaw Link in May 2022.