LEUNG, Siu Yu

BSc in Risk Management Science
Hang Seng Bank

I worked as an intern at the Retail Portfolio Management Department in Hang Seng Bank for the past year. During my internship, I completed various assignments and gained invaluable experience.

During the year, I wrote different kinds of monthly reports and performed ad-hoc tasks. As I worked in the Retail Portfolio Management Department, most of my work was related to retail products, such as credit cards, personal loans and mortgages. For example, I monitored the monthly card authorisation rate to detect if there were any sharp rises or drops in the approval rate. I also analysed weekly bankruptcy cases, trying to identify some characteristics of or patterns across these customers. Also, I investigated merchants for fraud aimed at swindling money from customers and banks.

From these assignments, I now understand much more about retail credit risks. For example, there were a large variety of retail products. Each product had different properties and required different measures to manage their risk. Moreover, my programming and computer skills improved a lot with my colleagues’ instructions and repeated practice.

Apart from learning hard skills, I also gained many soft skills. First, teamwork was vital in the office and the division of labour was always necessary for greater efficiency. Furthermore, time management was important as there was always more than one task to accomplish and prioritisation was essential.

Overall, this internship was a rewarding experience to learn, and to connect study and work. So, do not miss the chance if you have the opportunity to work as an intern!

POON, Ling

BSc in Risk Management Science
Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, Denmark

I am glad to have the opportunity to go to Danmarks Tekniske Universitet (DTU) for a semester-long exchange, where I met people from diverse cultural background and learnt knowledge about statistics and computer science from top-tier teachers.

Academic-wise, during my exchange in Danmarks Tekniske Universitet, I focused on computer science and statistics courses, on topics that are practical and interesting to me, like machine learning, discrete mathematics and software engineering. The teaching method of DTU is vastly different from that of RMSC programme in CUHK. They emphasize and encourage co-operation and experience by placing heavy focus on group work and project. I learnt very well under this teaching approach.

Among different courses, the machine learning course interested me the most. In the course, I co-operated with international students in a group project that aims to predict ratings of films. Although we did not find an accurate model, we gained experience in applying machine learning to real life problem. This experience stimulated my interest in data science and encouraged me to learn more and find real life application of data science.

Social-wise, at the first week I am introduced and welcomed by a buddy composed of old and new students from all countries, very alike to the “O Camp” in CUHK. They were very passionate and friendly. We went partying, drinking, visiting to city, etc. We have quite a lot of fun together and I am glad to have met them. Among many buddies, I am very friendly with a Japanese called Keisuke since we have very similar personality and hobbies. He is planning to visit Hong Kong and I will be his guide when he makes his trip.

The hall mates I lived with are also very friendly. We get to see one another every day and therefore were very close. We exchanged culture about our home countries and I learnt a lot about theirs. Before going to the exchange, I have already set myself a mission to promote Hong Kong internationally. I would tell them stories about Hong Kong, hoping to introduce them the cultural and political aspect of Hong Kong. I am very glad that they like to listen and I also get to know their countries too!

This exchange is very rewarding and I thank the Statistics Department for financially supporting students’ personal development with this scholarship.