At the age of 22, many people are still students or have just started working. But Felix Yuen has already had his first taste of 'retirement'. After retiring from the Hong Kong Cycling Team eight years ago, he is now a senior property and facility officer at Victoria Harbour. Despite ending his career as a professional athlete, Felix has never stopped looking for opportunities to improve. 

Switching to a new race lane while young

In his athletic life, Felix won the national championship, and as a representative of the Hong Kong Cycling Team in 2010 Asian Games, he won the third runner-up in the Asian Championship, just seconds from a medal. But at the height of career, he resolutely decided to retreat from the field and find another race lane in his life. "Many competitions are quadrennial, so after completing the Asian Games that year, I contemplated whether I should spend four more years on my cycling career," he said. "After all, being a full-time athlete requires a lot of training and competitions outside Hong Kong. As a result, I never got to spend quality time with my family." Finally, Felix decided to look for a new career path while he was still young. After retiring from professional sports, not only did he promote cycling in schools, but he also enrolled in property management courses, and has found property management as challenging and satisfying as being a professional athlete.    

A similar emphasis on team spirit

Felix regards team spirit as an indispensable element of both cycling and property management. In cycling competitions, team members have different roles to play, including 'sprinters', who excel at closely contested finishes, and 'windbreakers', who pave the way for their teammates. "Under the tactical arrangement, even if you know you may not be the one who stands on the podium, everyone still strives to help his teammates win. This is because we understand that the success of the winner is equivalent to the glory of the whole team. Similar teamwork is required on the property management team, with different colleagues serving in various capacities, ranging from security and cleaning to engineering and customer service, so as to maximize the complementary effect of teamwork to provide tenants with a comfortable, prime living environment. This kind of unity at work is similar to what I experienced as part of a cycling team over the years," he said.

Passing on the torch and nurturing a new generation of cyclists

Working in the property management industry does not mean that Felix has given up his cycling dream. Now, he still participates in local amateur tournaments. And in 2016, he founded SHKP-Supernova with a group of other retired professional cyclists. SHKP-Supernova looks for potential young talent from all parts of the community. These young athletes are trained to be Hong Kong’s cycling elite, receiving professional coaching and support from SHKP-Supernova to participate in local and overseas competitions. In just four years, SHKP-Supernova has grown into a team of 40 people, while nine of whom have become members of the Hong Kong Cycling team. In addition to holding the posts of team leader and coach, Felix acts as a 'nanny', driving his team to competitions and picking them up afterwards. He said, "I enjoy being a mentor to young people, accompanying them as they grow and helping them progress. This is because my predecessors have always given me a helping hand, both when I was on the cycling team and now as part of the Hong Yip family. Therefore, I always hope to pass on this attitude to the next generation."

A blood donation day was held at SHKP in May to support the Red Cross appeal. All participants were required to register for this blood drive in advance because of the anti-epidemic measures. Despite this, 81 caring colleagues took part in the event. The next blood donation day will take place in September this year. We look forward to seeing your continued support for this worthy cause.

Every year, the company invites young colleagues to perform at the annual dinner. In spite of only a month's practice, the choreography instructors successfully brought out the inner dancers of our colleagues from different departments. Be it La La Land's light tune 'Another Day of Sun' or the nostalgic 'Dancing Queen', they mastered the moves with youth and vitality. Please watch behind-the-scene footage and interviews to find out how they felt about their performance.

Dear colleagues, Chinese New Year is approaching. SHKPNews wishes everyone all the best in the Year of the Rat!

Every year, Sun Hung Kai Centre distributes exquisite Chinese New Year gifts to our colleagues and tenants. This year’s souvenir is a vivid lion dance pendant! Don’t miss the chance to collect the limited lucky gift in the building lobby in the morning or during lunch break on 29 January (the fifth day of Chinese New Year).
 

In recent years, the company has actively used aerial filming to comprehensively elevate the work quality on our construction sites. The primary job duties of Timber Chu from the Construction Department are filming construction sites with drones to monitor work progress and helping to create 3D maps.

Controlling drones like using your own hands

Timber studied for a Higher Diploma in film production. In his free time, he sometimes helps make films. "I enjoy flying drones and have some experience in filming. Encouraged by Pele Lai from the Construction Department, I joined the SHKP family," he said. Timber's life has been closely associated with aircraft since he was small. During secondary school, he worked part-time in a model store, where he helped customers build model aeroplanes. When he grew older, he found flying drones even more challenging and fell in love with the gadgets. "I practice a lot to enhance my skills with the goal of controlling the drone like using my own hands," he said.

Safety first

As a drone flyer, Timber always talks about safety. "No matter what experience level drone flyers have, they must pay close attention to the surrounding environment and the gadget's lights to understand its condition," he said. "Flying a drone is like flying an actual aeroplane – always put safety first."

Becoming skilled and disciplined

Timber said that even though the Civil Aviation Department has set safety guidelines for flying drones, it is of the utmost importance for users to be self-disciplined. "Users must keep their drones within eyesight, so that if there's an aircraft failure, they can fix it in time without posing danger to other people," he said.

To celebrate Christmas, SHKP colleagues from different departments recently sang melodious Christmas carols for staff and tenants in Sun Hung Kai Centre and Central Plaza during their lunch break. They started training for carolling in November with the help of a professional vocal coach.

Plastic-free living has been advocated in the society in recent years. Apart from reducing the use of plastic bags and drinking straws, we can also use the more environmentally friendly ‘beeswax wraps’ to replace plastic wraps. Recently, a workshop was held in the company, in which an instructor demonstrated to our colleagues how to make reusable beeswax cloth, using beeswax and cloth, helping the participants put the eco-friendly living concept into practice.

Negotiating with customers is never easy. The SHKP Quality Academy recently held a negotiation workshop, in which a professional instructor helped colleagues master different negotiation techniques through interactive teaching and learning, group discussions and practice. The participants learned various negotiation strategies that can lead to win-win solutions.

Spine problems are prevalent among people in Hong Kong. Common causes of spine and joint problems are degeneration and poor posture. The company recently invited a registered physiotherapist to talk about spinal health, so that colleagues could learn about common problems, such as osteoarthritis, slipped discs and scoliosis. Participants also learned the best way to sit and how to prevent or relieve spine and joint problems through exercise.