The Assessment of Professional Competence for the Year 2011 has been completed. There were a total of 255 attempts and 75 candidates have satisfied the assessment criteria and eligible to becoming our members. All candidates have been notified of the results.

 

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate the candidates who have passed the APC and to welcome them for becoming our members. I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the members of the Divisional Education Committee, the members of the APC Panel, the APC assessors and interview panels for their precious time and tremendous effort in this APC.

 

A new set of Rules and Guides for QSD APC will soon be announced in April 2012. There will be a few changes introduced in the new Rules and Guides. The new QSD APC will be introduced in Year 2012 and will gradually substitute the old APC which will still be organized until Year 2014.

 

On 17 February 2012, the QSD organized a Newly Qualified Members’ Welcoming Party at the Surveyors Learning Centre of HKIS to meet the newly qualified QS this year.

 

The QSD Council Members and past QSD Chairmen were glad to meet with the young and fresh faces in this jovial and casual event. It was also a great opportunity for us to know the new members and to introduce the various QSD Sub-Committees to them. It was our great honour to have our President of the Institute, Ms Serena Lau, to attend the event and give an impressive speech to the new members. We were also grateful to have the attendance of our Senior Vice President, Mr Stephen Lai, Vice President, Mr Simon Kwok, Honorary Secretary, Mr Robin Leung, other Divisional Chairmen and YSG Chairman to this party. To facilitate submission of the application for membership, we again arranged for signing and gathering of membership application forms of new members during the event.

 

The creative games brought cheerful atmosphere to the party. They got everybody to blend in and enjoy. The Party ended with a lucky draw with the grand prize of an iPad 2. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Welcoming Party Organizing Committee and the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, Mr Honby Chan, for their great effort in organizing such a successful event. I would also like to thank all new members, their friends and families, our Council Members and Past Chairmen for their participation in this enjoyable evening.

 

Benny Chi Yan Lee, a Corporate Member of the HKIS, QS Division, had been taken seriously ill with Hepatitis B and listed for a liver transplant.

 

Having broadcast the news to all members and the media, we were glad to receive a number of enquiries, and expression of will to offer assistance to Benny. The Institute had referred the callers to contact the hospital or Mrs Lee for further

arrangement.

 

Benny had finally received a liver transplant from a deceased donor on 2 February 2012 morning and he is now recovering at the Queen Mary Hospital. We hope Benny will fully recover soon. Taking this opportunity, I would like to thank you for your concern and help as well as the donor and his family for the donation.

 

Our Vice Chairman, Mr Honby Chan, representing HKIS together with other PAQS Panel Members, Professor Anthony Mills (AIQS Rep), Assoc. Professor Khairani Ahmad (ISM Rep), Mr Paul Bunkall (NZIQS Rep) and the Facilitator, Mr John Granville (NZIQS Executive Director) carried out a PAQS Accreditation Visit to Massey University, New Zealand for the Bachelor of Construction (Quantity Surveying) programme from 22 to 23 February 2012. The workload for this visit was extremely heavy and the Panels’ Members must be commended for their diligence and efforts. Apart from pre-study of the documents submitted by Massey University, the Panel Members gathered and met at a motor inn on 21 February 2012 for a pre-meeting briefing before the formal visit to the university. The 2 days accreditation visit included sessions with the programme team, meeting with teaching staff, tour of facilities, scrutiny of documents, meeting with students and graduates, meeting with the Industry Advisory Committee and employers, and attending a number of private meetings of the Panel and feedback sessions.

 

The QSD Annual Dinner is scheduled to be held on 25 May 2012. Please jot down this important event in your diary. Last year, we have 19 tables fully seated. You are cordially invited to this Annual Dinner which provides an opportunity for meeting our friends in the profession. Further details of the Annual Dinner will be announced in due course and I am looking forward to seeing you there.