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The 2016 Outstanding Apprentices Award Presentation Ceremony took place yesterday (22 March), honouring a dozen high-performing apprentices and providing a powerful encouragement for young people to acquire skills in industries with a keen demand for manpower. Among them was the first female apprentice in the container terminal industry to work specifically on mechanical fittings, attesting to the strength of empowered females. CHAN Ka-kui, Chairman of the Construction Industry Council (CIC), congratulated the successful apprentices, noting they were selected after rigorous screening. He exhorted them to continue gaining knowledge of their industries and related developments proactively, as well as applying innovative thinking to enhance their skills and work effectiveness. In so doing, he said, they would help propel Hong Kong forward. Besides the construction industry, the winning apprentices come from different professional sectors such as building services engineering, rail transportation and electrical engineering. One of the outstanding apprentices, CHING Hiu-man, comes from the terminals industry and is the first female apprentice in this sector. Joining the apprenticeship scheme in 2013, Hiu-man was engaged by Modern Terminals Limited as a Mechanical Fitter Craft Apprentice. During the past four years, she has been receiving on-the-job training while studying the Higher Diploma in Mechanical Engineering in the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), a member institution of the VTC, from which she is about to graduate this year. “Generally I am responsible for mechanical fitting and maintenance work, frequently coming in touch with heavy duty machinery like quayside cranes and rubber-tyred gantry cranes,” she said. “After receiving advice from experienced colleagues, I am able to handle the checking and maintenance work on my own.” In the male-dominated world of terminals, one might expect Hui-man to feel that she is not up to scratch, but quite the reverse – she has come to see the advantages of a female worker. “Female workers pay more attention to detail, like I will notice niceties like the placing of tools and the position of wires,” she explained. “I am also undaunted by hardships. When I have to enter a small and confined space between machines to fix them, I will do it with no fuss and make it in the end. I am glad that my performance has been recognised by my colleagues, who have accepted me into their circle in no time.” She is delighted to receive the award and has promised herself to achieve her grand vision of being one of the few female mechanical engineers in the terminals of Hong Kong. This year, a total of 223 registered apprentices were nominated for the Outstanding Apprentices Award. Eventually 10 were selected and two others shortlisted for the Sir Edward Youde Memorial Outstanding Apprentice Awards. The successful apprentices were also awarded the opportunity of an exchange visit to Korea to enhance their skills. Together they toured local enterprises and a global consumer goods conglomerate, which expanded their horizons. They also inspected campus facilities to learn about latest developments in the apprenticeship system there. Established in 1982, the Vocational Training Council (VTC) is the largest vocational and professional education and training provider in Hong Kong with some 250,000 students and trainees each year. The mission of VTC is to provide a valued choice to school leavers and working people to acquire the values, knowledge and skills for lifelong learning and enhanced employability, and also to provide support to industries for their manpower development. VTC has 13 member institutions, namely the Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong (THEi) , the Institute of Professional Education And Knowledge (PEAK) , the School for Higher and Professional Education (SHAPE) , the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) , the Hong Kong Design Institute (HKDI) , Hotel and Tourism Institute (HTI) , Chinese Cuisine Institute (CCI) , International Culinary Institute (ICI) , Maritime Services Training Institute (MSTI) , Youth College , Pro-Act by VTC , Integrated Vocational Development Centre (IVDC) and Shine Skills Centre. VTC web site: www.vtc.edu.hk Media Enquiries: 2836 1046
Annex: List of 2016 Outstanding Apprentices
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