BACKGROUND
Hong Kong has been a haven of migrants since
the turn of the century with most of today's six
and a half million population emigrated largely
from the mainland.
The trend of Hong Kong residents seeking
emigration abroad escalated in the late seventies
with the prospect of Hong Kong's eventual
re-unification with the mainland dawned by the end
of the century.
The June 4 incident in 1989 had an avalanche
effect on people's confidence resulted in large
number of Hong Kong residents seeking refuge
abroad, a phenomenon later known as "brain
drain". Hong Kong was confronted with a
sudden depletion of middle and senior management.
Many of whom were experienced professionals and
the situation was expected to be worsen. The
general views of the community at the time were
that the exodus needed to be stopped and efforts
should be made to attract those emigrated to
return.
However, the younger segment of the community
held a different view that the vacancies created
should provide them with more opportunity for
personal and career advancement. It was further
argued that while professionals with suitable
qualifications and experiences could always be
hired from abroad with the right incentive, one
can only be dependent on home nurtured talents
with loyalty and commitment to Hong Kong to assume
the leadership positions that lead Hong Kong into
the 21st century. It was suggested that adequate
training opportunities should be given to young
people so as to facilitate their subsequent
progress in the leadership hierarchy.
MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Among the various initiatives, a group of young
people saw the need for Hong Kong to develop a
conducive environment to facilitate personal
development of young executives in preparation of
the challenges ahead.
Initiated by Mr. Daniel Lam, a new member of
the Committee on Hong Kong Future of the Overseas
Graduates Association in 1990, the idea of
organizing a leadership training programme based
on highly participatory training methodology for
personal development of young executive captured
the attention of a group of return graduates, many
of whom became pillars of the decade long
initiative.
It was believed that the provision of quality
training to young executives would facilitate
their acquisition and subsequent development of
the necessary leadership concepts and skills to
assume the economic and social responsibilities of
Hong Kong. It was also envisaged that the
experience gained together with the network
developed would eventually facilitate the young
people to interact with the community in a
positive way.
INSTITUTE OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS
The structure and methodology of the training
programme was based on the highly acclaimed
experiential learning model developed by the
Institute of Cultural Affairs, a world-wide,
private, non-profit organization based in the
United States of America aim to develop and
implement methods of individual, community and
organizational development.
THE OVERSEAS GRADUATES
ASSOCIATION
The novel idea was enthusiastically supported
by Mr. S. G. Tam, Chairman of the Committee on
Hong Kong Future of the Overseas Graduates
Association where he secured the generous
financial sponsorship from Dr. W. K. Lo, Managing
director of Computer Products Asia-Pacific Ltd
(currently known as Artesyn Technologies
Asia-Pacific Ltd) for the proposed month long
programme.
The training programme offered was designed to
be not-for-profit, but self-sufficient, the
availability of financial sponsorship early in the
programme development stage not only alleviated
concern on cash flow but also reduced the training
fee charged substantially.
COMPUTER PRODUCTS ASIA PACIFIC
LTD
Other than the financial sponsorship, Dr. W. K.
Lo offered much suggestions in the course design
and nominated some of his junior colleagues to
participate in the training programme. The
programme was considered to be very successful and
Dr. W. K. Lo remained as the sole sponsor for the
programme until the present day.
Regrettably, Mr. S. G.
Tam die of liver cancer in 1992.
To facilitate the course design and subsequent
delivery of the training programme, Mr. Daniel Lam
solicited support from Mr. Michael Hoff, Director
of Centre for Human Development, the Institute of
Cultural Affair Hong Kong office, who offered
their experienced training personnel, workshop
materials and venue free of charge, to the
organizing committee of the Leadership Training
Programme.
Mr. Hoff continued to help the Leadership
Training Programme for another three years before
relocated back to the United States of America.
An organizing committee was formed with Mr.
Daniel Lam served as project manager and Mr.
Michael Hoff as course designer and chief trainer.
Miss. Amy Kwong and Miss. Jennie Tang assisted in
the promotion and recruitment campaign. Mr. T. K .
Cheung was invited to be camp manager while Mr.
Albert Chan, Mr. Fergus Ho, Mr. Dickson Hui, Mr.
M. K. Lee, Mr. Alvin Leung, Mr. Johnny Leung, Mr.
Ricky Tang, Miss. Haster Tang, Miss. Daphne Kwong,
Miss. Sue Chiu, Miss. Ivy Leung, served as
facilitators of the training course.
The month long leadership training programme
entitled "Leadership Training for the
90's" was launched in October 1990 by the
Overseas Graduates Association with sixty-five
recruits. The programme was very well received and
the participants were given the responsibility as
organizers for the training programme scheduled in
1991.
This practice has proven to be very successful
as the initiators of the training programme
believed the actual learning process and team
building is best achieved by action. This
arrangement has became an unique feature in all
training programmes organized by the Leadership
Training Alumni.
THE LEADERSHIP TRAINING ALUMNI
Under the leadership of Mr. Alan Kwan, a young
engineer graduated from Oxford who participated in
the first "Leadership Training for the
90's", the Leadership Training Alumni (LTA)
was established in July 1992 by graduates of the
Leadership Training Courses of the previous years.
Founded as a not-for-profit organization with the
objective in creating a conducive environment for
personal development of young executives to serve
the community. Participants of the Leadership
Training Courses were eligible for application of
membership of the Alumni upon completion of the
training programme.
The Leadership Training Alumni Ltd. is
registered as a limited company with the Annual
General Meeting being the highest authority where
the Chairman, Vice Chairman, Honorary Secretary,
Honorary Treasurer and members of the Executive
committee are elected to represent the interest of
its members. The AGM also make a number of
honorary appointments including the Honorary
Advisers, Honorary Legal Adviser and Honorary
Auditor.
THE LEADERSHIP TRAINING
ASSOCIATION
The Leadership Training Alumni Ltd. was renamed
as "The Leadership Training Association
Ltd" in 1994 as members believed the new name
would provide the organization with a wider
prospective. Mr. Alan Lee was elected Chairman of
the Leadership Training Association in 1994 where
he remained as Chairman until 1997.
Mr. Lee participated in the first Leadership
Training Course in 1990 and is an active member of
the Association who also instigated the Advanced
Leadership Training Course in 1994 upon assumption
of the Chairmanship. Graduated from Taiwan, Mr.
Lee is at present, Engineering Manager at Artesyn
Technologies Asia-Pacific Ltd.
The Executive Committee were nominated and
subsequently elected by members of the Association
in the Annual General Meeting with an office
tenure of one year. Number of the Executive
Committee varied from year to year depending on
the number of candidates stand for election and
the election results. The maximum number of office
bearers, however, is limited to thirteen with four
designated posts, i.e. the Chairman, Vice
Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer.
Succeeding Mr. Lee, Mr. Henry Ho assumed
chairmanship of the Leadership Training
Association in 1997 who held the helm of the
Association for the next two years. Mr. Ho
participated in the Leadership Training Course in
1993 and is an active member of the Association
who initiated the Leadership Training Programme
for University Students in 1998, the Management
Leadership Training Programme for the New Century
in 1999 and the Continuous Leadership Advancement
Programme in 1999.
The Leadership Training Programme for
University Students is a three days programme
custom designed for some sixty, year 1 students of
the Chinese University of Hong Kong where the
concept of leadership, communication and teamwork
is introduced. The objective of the training is to
better prepare the students to lead a more active
university life ahead.
The Management Leadership Training Programme
for the New Century is a two week residential
programme organized by the Chinese University of
Hong Kong, sponsored by the Kowloon Chamber of
Commerce, supported by the Ministry of Education
of the People's Republic of China and the
Leadership Training Association for some 95
students from 19 top universities in China, paired
up with similar number of C.U.H.K. students. The
objective of the programme is to develop the
student's perspectives and skills required of a
business or government administration leader in
the 21st century. The Leadership Training
Association was charged with the responsibility
for the planning, design and subsequent execution
of the fortnight-long course.
In recognition to his contribution to the
Association, Mr. Henry Ho was appointed as
Honorary advisor by the Annual General Meeting of
the Leadership Training Association in 1999.
Mr. Joel Lo succeeded Mr. Ho as Chairman of the
Association in 1999 where he initiated the Elite
Student Training Program for the Hong Kong
Institute of Vocational Educations in 2000 for
some sixty students from three campus, Shatin,
Kwai Chung and Kwun Tong. The program, consisting
two week end workshops followed by a week long
visits to schools in rural China, offers the
participating students a structured introduction
to the topic of leadership and the opportunity to
interact with the community with a broader
perspective.
Mr. Lo attended the Leadership Training Course
in 1996.
Mr. Stanley Pang assumed the Chairmanship of
the Association in 2001 and led the Association
through some of the most difficult times in recent
Hong Kong history including the SARS epidemic and
the worst economic down cycle. It was also in
these difficult times that LTA achieved
unprecedented results with our dragon boat teams
and brought the standards of the Leadership
Training Courses to ever higher grounds.
Mr. Pang retired from office in 2003 in
accordance with LTA's Articles of Association.
He was a participant of the the Leadership Training
Course in 1996.
Mr. Joch Lee assumed position upon Mr. Pang's
retirement in 2003. Mr. Lee attended the
Leadership Training Course in 2001.
OVER TWO THOUSAND STRONG
The Leadership Training Course is entering its
twentieth anniversary. It is certainly beyond the
expectation of those who initiated the program in
1990 that the momentum can be sustained for over the
decades. There are over two thousand young
executives gone through the Leadership Training
Courses offered by the Leadership Training
Association over the past nineteen years. The
future of the Association is to be shaped by some
of these young people who shared the vision and
values of LTA.
The Leadership Training Association is much in
debt to its founders, sponsors, advisors and
dedicated members over the years who have made LTA
what she is today. |
