NEWS

Cantonese tutor Ms. Florence Kwan and USTAAHK President Jan Yumul (in yellow) welcome the pioneer batch of Hong Kong Thomasian alumni who have enrolled in USTAAHK and the Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents' pilot collaboration project offering free Cantonese classes on Nov 16.

16th November 2024, Hong Kong SAR- Seven months after an exploratory meeting on free Cantonese classes for Thomasian alumni was held between the University of Santo Tomas Alumni Association Hong Kong Chapter (USTAAHK) and the Centre for Harmony and Enhancement of Ethnic Minority Residents (CHEER), the two project collaborators welcomed their pioneer batch of Thomasian enrollees for the free Cantonese classes on Nov 16.

The classes, which are "Basic Level Chinese", will run every Saturday, from 3pm to 5pm, and will end on Feb 1 next year.

The three-week long sign-up period, which USTAAHK opened in October, saw more than a dozen alumni sign up for the programme initially. The participants will need to attend at least 80 percent of the classes as part of the completion requirement.

Ms. Florence Kwan introduces to the participants the different tones in Cantonese

During the first session, Cantonese Tutor Florence Kwan asked the participants their expectations. Almost all attendees hoped to be able to converse in Cantonese while some said they want to improve communicating at their workplace. They were then introduced to the different tones in Cantonese, and quickly learned how to pronounce the names of other countries as well as how to introduce themselves in Cantonese.

Participants hold up their learning module

Narrowing the language barrier is part of USTAAHK's objectives to support professionals to better integrate into Hong Kong society, and as part of the broader mission to raise the profile of Philippine educated, Hong Kong-based professionals who may sometimes face challenges in communicating in Cantonese from everyday life to employment search and raising families, etc.

It was on April 13 when Carmen Lee, centre-in-charge at CHEER, and her team met with USTAAHK Founding President Jan Yumul who sought to widen the access of CHEER's free Cantonese course to UST alumni.

CHEER is one of the support service centres funded by the Home Affairs Department of HKSAR Government to provide accessible services to ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Its provision of services range from tangible interpreting service to multi-dimensional programmes like cultural literacy, social literacy, to name but a few.

USTAAHK Founding President Jan Yumul, Ms. Carmen Lee, centre-in-charge at CHEER and her team first met in April to discuss possible collaboration on widening the access of CHEER's free Chinese Language courses to Thomasian alumni in the city.

This first batch of UST "Jung Mahn Baan Hohk Saang" wrap up their fun first day of classes

For enquiries:
Email: ustaahk@gmail.com

Events: Ms. Anna Pendry, founding public relations officer USTAAHK and chairperson, USTAAHK Socio-Cultural Events Committee

Sponsorships: Ms. Tanya Sales, chairperson for external affairs, USTAAHK Communications and Marketing Committee

Media: Ms Sarah Buckell, vice chairperson for external affairs, USTAAHK Communications and Marketing Committee