26 May 2022
With the fifth-wave of epidemic situation in Hong Kong having subsided, students from the School of Communication (SCOM) seized the opportunity to go out on a visit.
On the morning of 26 May 2022, a group of SCOM teachers and students, including Professor Scarlet Tso, Dean; Professor Ronald Chiu, Associate Dean; two Senior Lecturers, Ms Glacial Cheng and Ms Doris Law; and 18 BJC and BA-CMCT students visited Hang Seng Bank Headquarters in Central. This was the first visit after Hang Seng Bank had resumed its reception of visitors in accordance with the government’s relaxation of social distancing measures. Here, SCOM would like to thank Hang Seng Bank for its thoughtful arrangements, especially the careful design of three sharing sessions with different themes for the students.
The first stop of the visit was the Penthouse located on the top floor of the building. Installed with an old-fashion bronze gate that has witnessed Hang Seng Banks’ 88 years of history, the Penthouse is now used for hosting the Bank’s major events. Ms May Wong, Head of Bank Communications and Corporate Sustainability, took the lead in sharing with the students on the theme of ‘Communication in the Digital Era’. Ms Wong introduced how she and her team used different innovative methods to promote the Bank’s business, and to design projects that could effectively cater for the development and needs of young people. She then gave useful hints and advice to students interested in joining the team, saying that apart from enriching their knowledge of the company’s development, it was also essential to have a serious attitude while developing their creativity.
The second sharing session was hosted by Mr Derek Chow, Head of Branch Innovation and Technology of Hang Seng Bank. He told the students about the reform and innovation of bank branches, and how a branch takes into account the needs of the community from design to operation, while keeping pace with the times and moving towards paperlessness. After these two sharing sessions, SCOM teachers and students took pictures with Ms Wong and Mr Chow in front of the Penthouse’ bronze gate to record this special moment.
Afterwards, the group went to the 16th floor, where the office of the digital bank is located. It adopts an open plan design with no fixed desks, thus allowing employees the flexibility to alter their work settings any time according to their work needs, as there are no fixed desks. The Bank explained to the students the concept and function of this simple design, which provides work and discussion spaces to employees in an innovative manner by integrating the office area, the pantry and the rest area, breaking everyone’s stereotyped impression of a traditional bank setting.
The last sharing session was delivered by Ms Kim Lay, Acting Head of Digital Banking. She and her young team walked the visitors through the bank’s gradual digital transformation journey over the past decades. The students also took the opportunity to ask questions about electronic payment and virtual banking in the Q&A session that followed.
This wonderful digital journey could be said to be ‘eye-opening’ in that it made students realise the importance of innovative thinking. Form this valuable experience, the students not only deepened their understanding of bank operations, but also of corporoate communication and communication technology application.
