HK student just misses out on Australia's 'world's best job'

A Hong Kong finalist has lost his attempt to win Australia's "Best Jobs in the World" competition, which attracted 330,000 applicants from 196 nations.

Chris Leung Yin-chung, an ecology and evolutionary biology student at Princeton University in the United States, was one of three finalists for the post of park ranger in Queensland. He lost the dream job to Elisa Detrez from France, Tourism Australia said yesterday.

The job, which comes with a salary of A$50,000 (HK$358,000), requires patrolling rainforest, waterfalls and beaches while protecting native plants and animals. It is one of the six jobs offered in Australia's annual Best Jobs in the World campaign.

A total of 18 finalists spent the past week undertaking a series of challenges based around adventure-training, cooking, social media and photography, as part of a rigorous, final selection process.

"To be frank, I wasn't disappointed or unhappy [about losing]," 22-year-old Leung wrote on his Facebook page, saying it was a good beginning after graduating from university two months ago.

He told the South China Morning Post he could be a little nervous in group activities. "Elisa is very enthusiastic. She knows exactly what she wants."