Eight Hong Kong students will have to view next year's handover celebrations from abroad - that is the one small drawback to the Award Study Scholarships.
Electronic engineering student Ken Lam Man-chun, 20, is one of those who will miss the celebrations on June 30, 1997. Ironically, he will be in England at the time.
However, the University of Hong Kong student takes consolation from the fact that he will be able to view the return to Chinese sovereignty from a British perspective.
'It will be an interesting experience to be in England while lots of Britons will come over to Hong Kong at that time. I can learn about the response of the British people there, and share my impressions with the people here when I return,' Ken said.
'I have no idea how much the people there really know and what they think [about Hong Kong]. Now I can find out more.' Ken will spend a year at the University of Kent at Canterbury.
'It is a moment that people in Hong Kong should be going through together,' said 22-year-old Japanese Studies student Loretta Lo Shuk-yan.
'It would be a big pity to be away. I would love to fly back just for the day if I could afford it.
