CHAN YUEN-YING MAY well have found the secret of perpetual motion. The director and professor of the University of Hong Kong's journalism and media studies centre has not taken a single holiday in the past four years. And with innumerable projects on the go, she is unlikely to take one any time soon. Professor Chan is one of those rare people who are blessed with an endless supply of energy and the determination to stand up and fight for what they believe in. Her aim is not just to make a difference but, whenever an opportunity presents itself, to change the world. This crusading zeal led her into journalism early in her career. Now, she wants to communicate some of that fire to the new generation of students and help them realise that more Asian voices are needed in the global media. 'China is the most important story today and we should be experts in telling our own story,' she said. That point struck home when she got her first job as a junior reporter for a Chinese-language newspaper in New York. Many of her stories focused on the struggles of Chinese immigrants, the violence in Chinatown and international relations between the United States and China. Over the course of a decade, she worked her way up the ranks to the position of editor-in-chief. Professor Chan's lucky break came in 1990, when she took on a temporary assignment with the New York Daily News, the seventh largest daily newspaper in the United States, with a circulation of 795,000. She was asked to work on a special immigration project. Noting her passion for the job, the Daily News editors were soon offering her a full-time role as the paper's first immigration reporter. Back then, getting a foot in the door at a big US publication was an outstanding feat for a woman from Hong Kong. Professor Chan did not disappoint. She covered everything, from the plight of illegal immigrants to victimisation by triads. In 1993, when the freighter Golden Venture, carrying 300 illegal Chinese immigrants, ran aground close to New York, she was one of the first journalists on the scene. The story made headlines worldwide, and her coverage of the event won her a prestigious George Polk Award for journalism. Two years earlier, when race riots broke out in the New York suburb of Crown Heights, Professor Chan was there with her notebook and tape recorder. 'The paper asked me to cover the riots after one well-known white columnist got beaten up,' she said. 'As an Asian, I could navigate the neighbourhood and talk to blacks, Jewish people and every other section of the community.' After seven years of covering crime and investigating injustice, she felt it was time for change. Also, there was a sense of disillusionment about the way the American media was leaning towards tabloid-style 'infotainment', rather than doing hard news stories and analysis. Professor Chan had no firm plan, but she knew she wanted to return to Asia. While on a family visit, she happened to hear that the University of Hong Kong was looking for someone to create and run a journalism programme. With her background and experience, it seemed a perfect fit. 'It was all very fortuitous and things fell into place,' she said. It certainly helped that Professor Chan had been an adjunct professor at Columbia University's journalism school in New York. To some extent, the appointment brought her full circle. As an undergraduate, she studied sociology and economics at the University of Hong Kong before moving on to complete a master's in sociology at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Further graduate studies followed at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, but halfway through a PhD, Professor Chan allowed a desire for 'real-life' experience to take over. She decided to take a job as a social worker in New York's Chinatown, where she assisted immigrants and provided family counselling. When the chance came up to start reporting and contributing articles to a Chinese newspaper there, she knew it was too good an opportunity to miss. Since 1999, Professor Chan has been the architect of the University of Hong Kong's journalism programme. Her first step was to introduce a master's course, and then a bachelor's degree in 2004. At every level and with every endeavour, from designing courses to recruiting top-notch faculty members, fundraising and administration, she has strived for the highest standards. There has also been a conscious effort to attract a diverse student body. Professor Chan sounds like a proud parent when she talks about students under her who have excelled. They have held internships with A-list media companies and gone on to join prestigious newspapers, magazines and broadcasters. Thanks to her fundraising efforts, the school now offers two full annual scholarships, one for a Hong Kong student and one for a mainlander. Appropriately, the success of the programme has made headline news in the journalism community, catching the eye of other academic institutions. Three years ago Shantou University, in southern China, invited Professor Chan to launch a similar programme to the one she set up at Hong Kong University. She now juggles two jobs and travels a lot. She draws inspiration and energy from her commitment to groom coming generations of journalists. 'There is a tremendous demand for people with strong bilingual skills, people who know Hong Kong, China and Asia and can think critically,' she said. 'We just don't have enough good students to send out to compete with the best journalism talent in the world. I am convinced that the international media needs a diversity of voices, and I am trying to make a contribution through these programmes.' Another part of her mission is to get the public to support the art and craft of journalism. 'Everyone is talking about how we must have press freedom in Hong Kong, but if the media is so important, where is the support to make that happen?' she asked. 'The turnover in the industry is high because people can quickly get burned out. 'We need things like fellowships and a good recognition system, as in the United States, to recognise good work and enable people to take a break and get new perspectives. That way, we can help reporters find a proper career path and maintain their passion for the business.' This is an ambitious goal, not easy to achieve in Asia where governments and business leaders do not always appreciate the concept of press freedom and the scrutiny and critical thinking it calls for. Professor Chan knows that doing something about it, rather than complaining, is the best way she can make a contribution. WRITE STUFF Goal to promote high standards in journalism Pushing for Asian voices to be heard in the global media Gained experience during two decades as a journalist in New York Wants more support from society to help journalists build their careers
