Kiki Chan graduated from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) with a Bachelor of Social Sciences (BSocSc). She is an Administrative Officer with the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. In her current assignment, she serves as Commissioner for Harbourfront at the Development Bureau.
Kiki currently serves as Commissioner for Harbourfront at the Development Bureau
Kiki’s academic journey with HKU began in the Faculty of Social Sciences (FOSS). She was drawn to FOSS for its unique curriculum, which allows students to explore multiple disciplines in their first year before specialising from the second year onwards. There, she sampled courses and discovered her interests in Politics and Public Administration along with Global Studies, which she pursued as her two majors.
At FOSS, Kiki found an environment that nurtured her curiosity and fostered her intellectual development. She found in her professors, tutors and peers a strong community that challenged her to think critically, both about herself and the world around her. Along with rigorous academic work, this supportive atmosphere equipped her with the confidence she needed to pursue exciting new opportunities.
These include internships offered under FOSS’s Social Innovation and Global Citizenship (SIGC) programme that set her on her current trajectory. For one of her internships, she headed to Shanghai to work on corporate social responsibility at a professional services firm. It was an unforgettable summer working in a completely new environment. And for Kiki, a bonus treat: the World Expo was in town, giving her a taste of different cultures and traditions.
Having built a solid foundation during her time at HKU, Kiki later went to the University of Cambridge to earn her master’s in environmental policy and journeyed to Geneva to intern in sustainable finance at the United Nations Environment Programme. Subsequently, Kiki followed in the footsteps of many FOSS alumni and joined the government, where she has served the public in a variety of roles, from promoting arts and culture to working in the Financial Secretary’s Private Office.
Kiki took part in the World Cities Culture Summit in Seoul
More recently, Kiki completed a secondment at the United Nations (UN) Headquarters in New York. To her, this feels like everything coming full circle. Recalling her international relations courses at FOSS and her UN internship, she is truly grateful to her alma mater for launching her career and continuing to propel it forward.
Kiki was one of the young public officers recommended by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to participate in the United Nations Junior Professional Officer (JPO) programme
Kiki recently completed her secondment to the United Nations Headquarters in New York
Kiki made use of her posting abroad to travel across Latin America to learn about different cultures
Becoming a generalist with a social sciences background may not be a conventional choice, Kiki acknowledges. However, it is precisely this multidisciplinary aspect of FOSS that endows one with a diverse set of transferable skills. These include critical thinking, versatility and communications skills. This, she believes, is FOSS’s greatest strength, one that undoubtedly opens up numerous paths in an ever-changing world.
