Visit to St. Louis School
Five old boys of St. Louis School, namely, Mr. Thomas Ho, Mr. Kenneth Chan, Mr. Daniel Ho, Mr. Bill Chan and Mr. Patrick Chan and I visited the School on 19 May 2011. They are all experienced Quantity Surveyors practising in the profession for more than 20 years. There were about 180 Form Five students who attended the career talk. The career talk started with QSD video and then followed by a power point presentation introducing the surveying profession. The students were briefed about the job nature, related courses in universities, the qualifying process, job opportunities and the career path of Quantity Surveyors. Experience sharing by the old boys with the youngsters in the Question and Answer allowed more discussions on the job nature and requirements of Professional Quantity Surveyors. The students were interested in the wide variety of the job nature of the Quantity Surveying profession.

After closing of the career talk, we took the opportunity to chat with the Deputy Headmaster who was the teacher of one of the old boys. We were informed of the trend and needs in respect of further studies after completing the secondary education. Teachers and students as well as their parents require substantial effort to deal with the newly implemented scheme of 4-year university study in Hong Kong. I would to thank Thomas, Daniel, Bill, Kenneth and Patrick for their time and participation of the visit.

Finally, we would like to appeal for your help for making visit to the secondary schools. It is beneficial to both the institute for promoting the surveying profession and the students to gain exposure to the spectrum of professional surveyors in finding their way for further studies. If you can arrange the visit for us or providing contact details of suitable secondary schools to us, please do not hesitate to give a call to Mr. Coody Ko of HKIS (tel: 2526 3679 or e-mail: [email protected]). We shall follow up with you for further details. Thanks!

Visit by the RICS President Elect
Mr. See Lian ONG, the RICS President Elect, together with council members from the RICS Hong Kong Board visited the HKIS on 16 May 2011 and had a meeting with the HKIS President and Executive Committee Members. Views on various topics are exchanged and we look forward to more co-operation of professional development. It was raised that study of sustainability should be the general skill of surveyors and should be strengthened in the curriculum of the universities.

Sustainable Urban Form: Preservation and Development of Historical & Cultural Cities
The 2011 Mainland and Hong Kong Construction Forum was held between 27th and 30th May 2011 at Luoyang (洛陽), which was organized by the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, PRC, the People’s Government of Henan Province and the Development Bureau, HKSARG. The Hong Kong Institute of Surveyors was one of the co-organizers. There were about 300 delegates from other associations, government departments and representatives from the Mainland and the purpose of the Forum is to promote the exchange of construction technology and expertise and enhance the co-operation between the construction industry
of the Mainland and Hong Kong.

The Forum included site visit to museums, the old city of Luoyang (洛陽老街區), the Longmen Grotto (龍門石窟), Shaolin Temple (少林寺) and Zhengdong New District of Zhengzhou (鄭東新區). The sustainable development and preservation of the statutes at the Longmen Grotto are challenging. The newly developed Zhengdong New District at Zhengzhou will become the landmark of the city.

The Second Batch Training for the Reciprocity Agreement between CECA and HKIS (QSD)
We were recently informed by the China Engineering Cost Association (CECA) that the results of the second batch training and assessment for the members of QSD under the Reciprocity Agreement would be formally announced shortly. Subject to the final announcement, the 166 HKIS QS members who have fulfilled the requirements of training and assessment will obtain the qualification for PRC Registered Cost Engineer and can register for practice.