[News from Institutions] Team Hong Kong wins 1 Gold 1 Silver 4 Bronze medals in Guangzhou/Hong Kong/Macao/Chengdu Youth Skills Competition
Young talents from four cities strive for excellence in skill

The Hong Kong team has brought home 1 gold, 1 silver, and 4 bronze medals (Please refer to Annex for details) from the 12th Guangzhou/Hong Kong/Macao/Chengdu (GHMC) Youth Skills Competition, which concluded on Sunday, 26 November in Guangzhou. The 16 Hong Kong contestants competed in the five skills competitions of "Cyber Security", "Fashion Technology", "Mobile Applications Development", "Mobile Robotics", and "Visual Merchandising" with nearly 70 young skilled contestants from the other three cities. The outstanding achievement was a testimony to the skills of young talents in Hong Kong which are on par with those in other neighbouring regions. Competitors from the four cities seized this opportunity to exchange and learn from each other, injecting new energy into the advancement of the industry.

The GHMC Youth Skills Competition this year was held in Nansha, Guangzhou from 25 to 26 November under the theme of "Competing towards a New Future". The competition was hosted by the Guangzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau and co-organised by the Vocational Training Council (VTC), the Macao SAR Government Labour Affairs Bureau, and the Chengdu Human Resources and Social Security Bureau. 16 Hong Kong contestants participated in five skills competitions, competing with the contestants from other three cities. Team Hong Kong cliched 1 gold and 2 bronze medals in “Mobile Applications Development” individual competition, 1 silver medal in “Visual Merchandising” 3-person team competition, 1 bronze medal each in “Fashion Technology” and “Mobile Robotics”. They were commended at the prize presentation ceremony for their skills and excellence.

VTC Chairman Mr Tony TAI and the representatives from other three cities officiated at the Opening Ceremony held in Nansha, Guangzhou together. At the Closing Ceremony, Dr Clement CHEN, Chairman of the Standing Committee on Youth Skills Competition noted that teaching and learning were promoted through competitions. He hoped skills competitions could make a remarkable contribution in nurturing a new generation of skilled talents. The young contestants showed their outstanding skills and learnt from each other throughout the competition  and sharing. It was the best affirmation of the skills competitions. At the Ceremony, he received the GHMC Youth Skills Competition flag from Mr WANG Jian, Director of the Guangzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, symbolising that the VTC would organise the next competition in Hong Kong in 2027.

NG Kai-shing, a graduate of the Higher Diploma in AI and Mobile Applications Development programme at the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE), was glad to win the gold medal in “Mobile Applications Development” for Hong Kong. He was a veteran in international open competitions for mobile application development. He had recently been awarded with his mobile application on Braille in the "Swift Student Challenge" organised by the Apple Inc. Apple subsequently invited him to the 2023 Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC23) in the United States where his design was introduced to Apple CEO Tim COOK. In the GHMC Youth Skills Competition, contestants were required to design and develop a mobile application to meet client specifications in limited time, to prepare, Kai-shing chose to use the programming language "SwiftUI" which was used in the last competition and spent a couple of days per week on campus to familiarise himself with previous test projects in the last WorldSkills Competition. Will KWOK, the Chief Expert of this trade in WorldSkills Competition and Senior Lecturer of the Department of Information Technology of IVE (Sha Tin), praised Kai-sing for his marked improvements in both confidence and maturity in various open competitions. Will believed that Kai-sing could broaden his horizons and know well about the advancements in mobile application development through interaction with his GHMC peers.

NG Wang-yat, an IVE student of Higher Diploma in Electrical Engineering programme, formed a team for the “Mobile Robotics” skills competition. Since his childhood, he has been passionate about engineering, influenced by his father who was an electrician. Father and son collaborated to assemble robots at home and transformed their apartment into a smart home by developing a mobile application to remotely control the fan. Wang-yat learnt the technique through self-learning online while his parents rendered full support in his pursuit of his STEM dreams. Since his time in secondary school, he took part in various workshops in robotics and engineering competitions, such as the Secondary School Solar Car Design Competition organised by IVE Engineering Discipline. His father has been his staunch supporter and mentor sharing practical skills in circuit design, artificial intelligence and automation with Wang-yat. The relationship has grown stronger than ever. During the competition, Wang-yat faced difficulties when designing the robots, like their robots not reaching a destination or being unable to pick up a specific object. The biggest challenge was to quickly fix the problem and identify the root cause by testing the strength and accuracy of programming. Through participating in this competition, Wang-yat has gained valuable experience in hardware assembly which proved beneficial to his academic studies and will be useful for his participation in upcoming competitions.

Apart from skills competition, the GHMC Youth Skills Competition provided a platform for young participants to exchange skills. Demonstration booths were set up for four participating cities to showcase their know-hows and their respective culture and tradition. Spectators and participants alike enjoyed demonstration of the art of tea, dough sculpture, the art of nails and Virtual Reality system development in the Guangzhou venue. MAK Ka-chun and LEE Kai-ho, graduates of the Diploma in Food and Beverage Operations programme at the Hotel and Tourism Institute (HTI) and winners of “Restaurant Service” trade in the WorldSkills Hong Kong Competition 2023, were invited to brew and serve Hong Kong-style milk tea to guests. During the two-day demonstration, a total of 500 cups of milk tea were prepared. Ka-chun was the champion in both the recent Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area rounds of the "International and Greater Bay Area KamCha Competition 2023 (Hong Kong Milk Tea)". He was excited to promote authentic Hong Kong-style milk tea as an important heritage of Hong Kong at the event. To achieve smoothness and a perfect blend of milk, tea, he and his classmates visited Hong Kong-style restaurants to learn from the masters. They aimed to delight the guests and fellow young participants with the exquisite blend of Hong Kong-style milk tea, a harmonious combination of fragrant milk and the perfect balance of strength and delicacy in the tea. Through their journey of skill enhancement, they discovered the joy. 

Jointly organised by the VTC, the Guangzhou Municipal Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the Macao SAR Government Labour Affairs Bureau and the Chengdu Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, the GHMC Youth Skills Competition facilitates young talents to exchange and compete in professional skills. The four cities take turns to host the event. VTC, the Construction Industry Council and the Clothing Industry Training Authority joined hands to organise the WorldSkills Hong Kong Competition since 1996 to select talents to represent Hong Kong to join the GHMC Youth Skills Competition and the WorldSkills Competition.  

Established in 1982, the Vocational Training Council (VTC) is the largest vocational and professional education and training provider in Hong Kong. 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 14 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), the Hong Kong Institute of Information Technology (HKIIT),  the Hotel and Tourism Institute (HTI),  the Chinese Culinary Institute (CCI), the International Culinary Institute (ICI), the Maritime Services Training Institute (MSTI), Youth College, Pro-Act by VTC, the Integrated Vocational Development Centre (IVDC) and the Shine Skills Centre.

Website: www.vtc.edu.hk

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