The Group Training section recently held a STEM workshop entitled 'Parent-child Joint Workshop – Smart Living with Micro:bit', in which colleagues together with their children learned how to write Micro:bit programmes and use related electronic parts. During the workshop, participants tried their hand at assembling smart home models while gaining a solid grasp of intelligent controls for home lighting and other systems. This activity not only helped spark children's interest in electronic technology, but also provided our colleagues with an experience on smart living.
 

During the past 10 years or so, the Sun Hung Kai Centre Management Office has distributed wonderful New Year gifts after the Chinese New Year holiday. This year, there were long queues inside the lobby of Sun Hung Kai Centre with people looking to receive the post-holiday gifts. The New Year decorative presents, which comprise four types of designs, are exquisite and unique, including two different coloured cute little lions, and compactly designed firecrackers imprinted with the wish ‘bring in wealth and treasure’. There were also auspicious red ingots being given away. It’s no wonder that so many of our colleagues and tenants alike were attracted to queue up to redeem these great gifts.

The SHKP carolling team, comprising colleagues from different departments, has come together for the third consecutive year to share the joy of Christmas with the public. Recently they went carolling at the Sun Hung Kai Centre, Central Plaza and Noah's Ark in Ma Wan. The team started training as early as October, and even invited a professional music instructor to enhance their vocal skills. It's no wonder that colleagues and tenants alike passing by were drawn to stay and listen attentively to their beautiful singing.
 

SHKP Quality Academy invited a professional instructor to teach colleagues how to create beautiful terrariums using glass containers while detailing the impact glass bottles have on the environment as well as the glass recycling concept. After the workshop, participants learned how to make exquisite DIY green decorative items with their broadened environmental protection knowledge.
 

Many of our colleagues like to travel, but did you know that SHKP is also involved in aviation services? This year marks the 20th anniversary of the Hong Kong Business Aviation Centre (HKBAC), which has been providing customers with professional flight services for two decades. In this issue of 'We are the SHKP Family', we'll learn more about our HKBAC team members.

How much do you know about HKBAC?

HKBAC is a premier Fixed Base Operator (FBO) in Asia that provides aircraft technical support, ground maintenance as well as passenger and crew services. Currently, HKBAC has around 150 staff members organized in three departments – Administration and Business Development, Flight Operations, and Customer Service. There are extensive comprehensive facilities at HKBAC, including three hangars with maintenance support, a 50,000m2 large apron area, as well as passenger lounge and crew lounge all designed and maintained to the industry's highest standards. In recognition of their excellent service, HKBAC has been voted the best FBO in the ProPilot PRASE survey for 11 consecutive years, and they also won the Best Ground Handling Award once again at the Asian Business Aviation Association's Icons of Aviation Awards 2018.

Capturing growth opportunities in the business aviation industry

The business aviation industry has been booming in recent years, while gaining increasing popularity among the new generation of corporate leaders. In fact, the number of flights handled by HKBAC has grown significantly from only a few hundred at its inception in 1998 to an annual total of nearly 7,000 flights now.

Serving customers with heart

Motivated by their 'can-do' spirit, every HKBAC staff member is more than willing to make an extra effort in order to satisfy the needs of customers. They shared with us two memorable incidents in the course of serving customers. There was a time when a client felt homesick and requested Shanghai hairy crab before taking off. So, the team immediately travelled all the way to the city centre to get the hairy crabs, and the client was hugely impressed by that. Another unforgettable incident involved a customer who broke his beloved footrest on the plane. After learning about the situation, the team found a highly-skilled seamstress in no time to fix the footrest and restore it to its original condition within 24 hours. The lingering grateful and smiling faces of customers are what drive the team to serve with heart. 

Team-building and talent cultivation

HKBAC offers colleagues a diverse range of training opportunities for career advancement while providing a 2-year management trainee programme to groom future leaders. In the interest of encouraging a healthy work-life balance among colleagues, HKBAC organizes a variety of activities every year such as hiking, social gatherings, and dinners for colleagues and their family members.
 

SHKP actively promotes the spirit of 'Exercise for Good' and regularly sponsors colleagues to take part in a wide range of charity sports events. Recently, a team comprising colleagues from the Project Monitoring Department competed in the Inner Challenge organized by Breakthrough, which is an initiative to help raise funds for children and youth development. In addition to climbing mountains and wading in rivers, participants were presented with a host of interesting challenges during the competition.
 

SHKP places great emphasis on talent cultivation, recruiting high-calibre university graduates throughout the year through its Management Trainee Programme and offering three years of comprehensive training. Recently, the Group arranged a team-building event for trainees at Noah's Ark. Through activities based on the theme of 'Aspire, Strive and Achieve', the trainees learned the importance of setting goals and striving hard together to achieve them. Hong Kong's renowned distance runner Chan Ka Ho was invited to give a talk, and SHKP Executive Directors Adam Kwok, Christopher Kwok and Allen Fung also joined the event, sharing experiences with the trainees, which provided everyone with an enjoyable and meaningful weekend.

SHKP Management Trainee page

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The SHKP Evergreen Club regularly organizes various activities to maintain ties with retired colleagues. Recently, they travelled to Foshan for an enjoyable visit, taking in the Guangzhou-Foshan Luxury Designer Outlet as well as famous attractions, including the National Arts Studios and Shunde Museum. They also pleasured their palates with delicious culinary specialities.
 

The marathon originated in 490 BC, when an ancient Greek soldier ran all the way from the plains of Marathon to Athens to announce victory in a battle, before dying from exhaustion. Since then, this distance – 42.195km – has become the holy grail of many long-distance runners, including Ricardo Cheung of the SHKP Project Management department. Spanning around two years, he accomplished the feat of completing six World Marathon Majors.

Developing an affinity for marathons

Like many runners, Ricardo took part in 10km and half marathon (21km) races before gaining exposure to full marathons. "At first, I practised on my own without any formal training. In 2014, Mr. Wong (Executive Director Mike Wong) organized a running training class and arranged a systematic training regimen with professional coaches on the weekends. This was when I began mastering the techniques of long-distance running," Ricardo said.

During the same year, Ricardo,s friends helped him enroll in the London Marathon – his first ever marathon – when he was travelling in England. "I could only just finish the race. After all, my basic running technique was not very good and I didn't train hard enough." Nevertheless, he has since developed a huge interest in marathons.

From marathon debut to completing six World Marathon Majors

While completing the six World Marathon Majors (Boston, London, Tokyo, Berlin, Chicago, and New York) is considered a lifelong goal for many long-distance runners, it only took around two years for Ricardo to accomplish this feat. In addition to continuous training, Ricardo always has running on his mind. He said, "In order to achieve faster times, I try to do things that help improve my performance, such as losing weight, sleeping and rising early as well as eating healthy foods."

At first, Ricardo took part in competitions with his fellow colleagues, and having support and companionship along the way was a good experience for him. Although later on his colleagues were not able to compete together because of schedule differences, Ricardo persisted and ended up finishing the six Marathon Majors on his own.

Fostering a closer relationship with colleagues

Aside from the sense of satisfaction gained from running marathon races, Ricardo relishes the process of training with his colleagues. "Although we are amateurs, we' re still very serious about running and we work hard together and motivate each other to reach our common goal. This has definitely helped us foster a closer relationship," said Ricardo.