March 2012
The First-in-the-Family Education Fund (FIFE Fund) Presentation Ceremony was held at the Convocation Room in February 2012, at which Fund recipients, alumni and supporters shared their learning experiences and words of encouragement.
Neil Hui (Dentistry, Yr 4), FIFE Fund recipient, was touched by a performance on television by Vanessa Mae, the famous violin player, and became very interested in learning to play the violin. Due to family financial constraints, he was only able to join his school’s violin interest class and even his first violin was a second-hand one given to him by a relative. Neil believed that education could change his own and his family’s life and thus he studied very hard. He achieved very good results at HKCEE and was admitted to HKU through the Early Admission Scheme to study Dentistry. However, the violin remained his passion and he never gave up learning it by himself. In year 2 at HKU, he used the FIFE fund to complete the Grade 8 violin examination. It was his first time ever to attempt a music examination – and he passed.
“I am very grateful for the support rendered to me from my family, teachers and friends all along. I am particularly thankful to the supporters of the FIFE Fund which helped me fulfil a childhood dream,” said Neil.
The First-in-the-Family Education Fund scheme was launched in April 2008 with the aim of creating equal learning opportunities for students from grassroots families and the first generation in their families to attend university. To date, the FIFE Fund has benefited over a total of 1,033 students. For the academic year 2012-13, it is expected that the numbers of students in need would be doubled due to the double cohort of undergraduate students being admitted.
To learn more about FIFE, please visit http://www.fife.hku.hk/.