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- Chairperson of the Hong Kong Model United Nations 2018
- Top 10: Standard Chartered Public Speaking Competition 2014 & 2015
- Vice President at Kids4Kids (Advocate Leadership Team)
HONG KONG IS MY HOME
I am extremely grateful to be one of the recipients of the Hong Kong Outstanding Students Award (HKOSA) for 2017 – 2018. I was born in India but moved here when I was five because my father’s job was relocated to Hong Kong. I have been raised here since then. Hong Kong has shaped me into the person I am today and therefore, I call it home.
Moving to Hong Kong posed a huge cultural shock in my life. I faced two main challenges: the language barrier and my ability to interact with local students beyond the language barrier. Back in India, speaking English was limited to just within classrooms, as soon I headed home I would quickly swap to Tamil (my mother tongue). Here not only was I faced with English speakers throughout but also those spoke Cantonese and Mandarin. However, I quickly overcame this by starting to speak English more frequently at home and with the people around me, this not only helped me hone my English but also make new friends and interact with others.
I joined the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups’ Sir TL Yang Ambassador Program to spread the importance of public speaking to band 2 and 3 schools in Hong Kong. Here is where I could interact with many local Hong Kong students and gained a better understanding of the local school system. By leading a series of workshops and programs, I mentored these students in stepping out of their comfort zone and voicing out their opinions. In exchange, I acquired more knowledge on the local school system, culture and students’ aspirations. This was important to me in integrating within the society that I grew up in and by also filling a gap.
Being the Vice President of the Kids4Kids Advocate Leadership Team, I have organized buddy reading program sessions that are held at various community centers for low-income children of young age. Within these sessions I have engaged with them through story-telling and reading books. Not only has this improved their language skills but I have learnt more about working alongside community centers in providing more opportunities to low-income families in Hong Kong.
The past two years have been eventful, long and a once in a lifetime of an opportunity. Two years ago, I aspired to step out of my comfort zone and wished not to attend a convention school. This led me to applying to the United World Colleges, a foundation of boarding schools that was founded by Kurt Hahn, a German philosopher after World War II with the vision in fostering a harmonious living together of students from all around the world. Two years in, I could live together with people of 80 different countries, backgrounds and independently adjust to this new environment. However, it was not an easy journey.
In the future, I aspire to be able to bridge the gap between ethnic minorities and local students in Hong Kong in pursuit of an educational reform. Often, academics offered in school limit students from being able to explore and use collaborative skills that lead to creativity. I want to be able to mentor this change that Hong Kong society can benefit from – the result would the oasis of ideas that alleviate local problems faced by Hong Kong with the input of the diverse community we withhold.
I would also like to thank the HKOSA. It is an honor to represent the Indian community of Hong Kong and celebrate how people of different cultures and backgrounds coexist in our society together.
Finally, I would like to thank my parents for being my two pillars of support throughout all my success and downfalls these eighteen years. If I have made it this far, all credit goes to them.[/vc_column_text][tek_button button_text=”Back” button_style=”tt_primary_button” button_color_scheme=”btn_primary_color” button_hover_state=”” button_icon_bool=”no” button_action=”button-action-link” button_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2F159.89.198.89%2Fyoutharch-web%2Fpast-awardees%2F|||” button_position=”button-center”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]
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- Chairperson of the Hong Kong Model United Nations 2018
- Top 10: Standard Chartered Public Speaking Competition 2014 & 2015
- Vice President at Kids4Kids (Advocate Leadership Team)
我十分榮幸能夠成為本年度香港傑出學生選舉的其中一位得獎者。我出生於印度，在五歲時，因父親工作需要而舉家移居香港。自那時起，我便於香港成長。香港造就了今天的我，因此我亦稱之為「家」。
移居香港為年幼的我帶來了巨大的文化衝擊，其中兩大挑戰是語言障礙及如何跨越語言障礙與本地同學相處。在印度生活時，英語只會於課堂內使用，一回到家我便會以泰米爾語（我的母語）交談。在這裡不單有說英語的同學，還有說廣東話及國語的。但透過不斷用英語與家人及朋友交流，我很快便克服了語言障礙，更令我結識了不少新朋友。
我參加了香港青年協會舉辦的楊鐵樑爵士英語大使計劃，教導香港學生如何提升英語演講及語言能力。藉此計劃我有機會接觸很多本地同學，並加深對本地教育制度的了解。透過帶領一系列的工作坊活動，我鼓勵同學們踏出自己的安舒區，發表意見。同時間，我亦得到更多對本地教育、文化及學生意向的認識，令我更能融入這個孕育我的地方，填補了中間的空隙。
身為童協基金會先峰領袖計劃副主席，我在不同社區中心為社區資源較貧乏的小朋友舉辦老友記伴讀計劃。在伴讀環節中，我與小朋友一起閱讀故事，建立他們的閱讀興趣。這不單提升了小朋友的英語能力，也令我明白在社區中心為低收入家庭提供更多機會的重要性。
過去兩年是一段漫長而重要的日子。兩年前，我希望跳出自己的安舒區，不再就讀傳統的國際學校，促使我報讀聯合世界書院。書院是二戰後由德國教育家卻特・韓恩創辦，期望促進不同背景的年輕人和平共處。兩年後，我已經能與來自80個不同國家和背景的人共同生活，並適應了這個新環境。然而，這旅程絕不容易。
我希望在將來推動香港教育改革，以建立少數族裔及本地學生之間的橋樑。現時的學校教育往往限制學生探索和利用協作技巧去發揮創意。我期望帶來如此的改變，藉著香港的多元社會形成創意綠洲，以緩解各項社會問題。
我亦希望感謝香港傑出學生選舉。對我而言，能夠代表香港的印度群體是一種榮幸，顯示出不同文化和背景的人們如何在社會中共融。最後，我要感謝父母在十八年來成為我的支柱，陪伴著我每次的成功和失敗。我能夠走到這一步，所有的功勞都要歸於他們。[/vc_column_text][tek_button button_text=”返回” button_style=”tt_primary_button” button_color_scheme=”btn_primary_color” button_hover_state=”” button_icon_bool=”no” button_action=”button-action-link” button_link=”url:http%3A%2F%2F159.89.198.89%2Fyoutharch-web%2Fzh-hant%2Fpast-awardees%2F|||” button_position=”button-center”][vc_empty_space][/vc_column_inner][/vc_row_inner][/vc_column][/vc_row]