On 15th Nov, 2019, Ma Man Kei and Lo Pak Sam College (MLC) held the second High Table Dinner (HTD) for this academic year. The purpose of holding HTDs is to serve as a formal social function in College to enable students to become well-versed in social and dining etiquettes, which will be beneficial to their career development and social skills.

Prof. Katrine Ka Ki Wong, Interim College Master of MLC, gave an opening remark by posing a few questions to the students. She asked: “Who am I? What am I doing this semester, this week, this very moment? What can I do for myself and others? What does it mean to be an UM student? And an MLC student?” These questions, said Prof. Wong, had close connection to the theme of the dinner, which was later revealed in the student panel discussion. Prof. Rui Paulo da Silva Martins, Vice Rector (Global Affairs) joined the discussion and encouraged UM students to explore the world after they graduated and to “think big” and “have fun” at university.

After the intermission, it came the highlight of the dinner which was the keynote discussion. The session was co-hosted by Prof. Wong and Dr. Larry Liang. The student panel consisted of students from different majors, years and hometowns. During the session, panelists discussed their experience of being MLC students from different aspects, drawing upon personal experience. Ann Chang, a senior student from Macao, shared how living in RC had shaped her experience during her exchange trip to the U.K. Sam Lam, a junior student from Macao, shared how MLC’s  multilingual environment had helped him improve his spoken English. To Siting Huang, a freshmen from the Mainland, residential college has provided a platform for her to pursue her dream. The creator of the College mascot, Andy Chan, shared his story of how he and Dr. Liang created the mascot from scratch. Thereafter the name of the College mascot was announced: “Qíxīn” means “united, together” in Chinese.

The most anticipated event of the dinner was definitely the debut of the College Anthem. Mr. João Ng and Cory Hu, music writer and lyrics writer of the MLC College Anthem, shared their memories on how the song had been created before student leaders presented the College Anthem to the public for the first time. Afterwards, Mr. Ng also led a performance as the conductor, with Prof. Wong as the lead singer, accompanied by all student leaders who sang the College Anthem side by side with all guests and students.

The College would like to extend our heartfelt gratitude to Mr. Ng for his generous help in creating the College Anthem, as well as everyone involved in organizing the event.