Vocational training was their lifeline: five Hongkongers who found their calling by getting hands-on
- University degrees are not for everyone, as these Vocational Training Council graduates will attest. They went from dead-end work to having careers, or from jobs they disliked to ones they thrive in.
Hong Kong is home to nearly 20 degree-awarding institutions, of which eight are publicly funded universities. In this well-heeled international hub, however, not everyone is suited to traditional modes of education.
Thankfully, there are ways for residents to train in the essential skilled work that the city needs. One path is through the Vocational Training Council, a local organisation that takes in more than 200,000 students per year and covers a wide range of courses, from hairdressing, Chinese medicine and automotive repair, to animation and digital visual effects.
Over the period of unrest, when the city was hit by protests followed by a pandemic, Hongkongers have seen stable job markets waver and no small number have had to improvise their career choices.
But success need not be measured in degrees, and these five Hongkongers prove that even the unlikeliest of transitions are possible. Vocational training has been their lifeline, and others in uncertain situations can draw inspiration from them.
Miki Choy Mei-ki, 27, reporter to landscape designer
“When I pass by a new public green space I mark it down so I can go there again,” says landscape designer Miki Choy Mei-ki. “My favourite is the Cadogan Street Temporary Garden, in Kennedy Town. It’s just a grassy area with trees.” It may sound simple but in one of the world’s most densely populated cities, the words “green” and “space” are sacred. And it is Choy’s mission to keep such locations growing.
