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3 TOWARDS YOUR CAREER ASPIRATIONS
UMP 大學廣場
APR 2013
Social Entrepreneurship –
Discovering a Better World
“Money-minded”, “self-centered” and “callous” are
three adjectives that many people often depict
and perceive the qualities of a businessman. However,
the way social entrepreneurs make their business have
altered these assumptions. A social enterprise, as defined
by Nobel Peace Prize winner Professor Muhammad Yunus
is, “a non-loss, non-dividend company dedicated entirely
to achieve a social goal. All profits, or “surplus revenue”,
are ploughed back into the venture for expansion and
improvement.”
Bringing Ideas to Life
The Hong Kong Social Entrepreneurship Challenge
(HKSEC), organized by the Center for Entrepreneurship
of The Chinese University of Hong Kong, currently leads
by Project Director Mr. Mingles Tsoi, intends to discover
budding social entrepreneurs from universities across
Hong Kong and guides them in fostering their social
dreams into reality.
The founder of HKSEC, Professor Kevin Au, was kind
enough to squeeze some time from his busy schedule to
share with us the objectives of this Challenge, the activities
involved and how it has evolved since its launch six years
ago. When asked about the objectives, he said, “the main
aim of HKSEC is to promote and spread awareness about
social entrepreneurship and nurture entrepreneurship
among the younger group.” Students participating in
this challenge are expected to construct a business
plan and try to bring their ideas to life. To guide them
through the process of setting up a business, HKSEC
organizes workshops that teach students how to assemble
a business plan and equip them with the essentials
in starting up a business. The winners of HKSEC are
rewarded with an internship in the organization. The
prize money is in form of an investment fund to help the
implementation of the idea and growth of the business
and in turn enhance the social benefits it provides. “The
government and NGOs cannot solve social problems so
we need social innovation to solve it.” Professor Au said.
Innovations to Sooth Social Problems
So what leads to the formation of HKSEC? “Serendipity
and entrepreneurship” replied by Professor Au. In one
part of the city, Professor Au and the entrepreneurship
committee at CUHK were determined to promote
entrepreneurship because many people do not recognize
small business as a business option, quoted from
Professor Au. In another part of the city, initiated by our
previous Chief Executive, a Commission on Poverty
was set up in 2005, aiming to handle poverty issues
in Hong Kong. One of the ideas generated from the
committee meeting to solve poverty predicament is
social entrepreneurship. Although this Commission
was dissolved in 2007 due to poor economy, the
suggestion still lingers. The entrepreneurship committee
therefore decided to take the lead and facilitate social
entrepreneurship through a competition, hence, leading to
the formation of HKSEC.
Student Reporter: Anvesha Saha