Yap Palak Yadav Abigail Sarang Kim Pey Ting President Vice President Secretary
Aditi Singh Pah Kian Seng Ho Ching Leung Sven Zajonz Pooja Promod Angela Clarissa IT Officer Treasurer Design Officer PR Manager Event ManagerEventGosari Manager
International Student Association of CUHK By Moon Wong Founded on 4 November 2008, the International Student
some sporting events, a cultural mini carnival, a Christmas
Association of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (ISA
party, and to put an emphasis on introducing local culture
CUHK) aims to unite all international undergraduate stu-
with a great Chinese New Year celebration. Sadly, at this point
dents in CUHK, as well as serves as the bridge between the
it is hard to tell which of these they will be able to pull off.
University and students with different backgrounds. At this difficult time, ISA managed to connect international Through holding various activities, the ISA strives to create
students through publishing the ISA newsletter regularly and
opportunities for students to meet people from all over the
launching videos on their newly-opened YouTube Channel
world, understand cultural diversity, and build connections.
— ISA CUHK. In the newsletter, you can find information
The ISA also assists international students in adapting to the
on the ISA’s upcoming and past events, announcements, rele-
new environment and endeavors to give them a homely feel-
vant news concerning the university, membership privileges.
ing on campus.
If you are interested in learning more about this international family, don’t hesitate to subscribe to their newsletter by scan-
The biggest and most exciting activity of ISA is the annu-
ning the QR code! Meanwhile, their YouTube channel serves
al International Orientation Camp just before the beginning
as an interactive platform to give international students in-
of the year (Unfortunately, this has to be held in the virtual
sights on life in both CUHK and Hong Kong. The videos
world this year). To kick off the new academic year well and
lately uploaded mainly introduce
to help freshmen get a taste of HK culture, ISA organises the
the procedures you have to go
traditional Dai Pai Dong where international students have
through upon arrival in Hong
dinner at, well, a dai pai dong. Another noteworthy event is
Kong, as well as feature how some
the ISA Boat Party, where students enjoy a beautiful sum-
students spend their time during
mer day on the sea. Apart from that, the committees organise
quarantine. Do go take a look if
their own activities throughout the year, though ISA usually
you would like some inspirations!
has a gap in Nov/Dec and around April when everybody is busy preparing for exams. This year, ISA is planning to hold
An Intereview with the Executive Committee Why would you become an exco of ISA?
Sven: As I had been to Hong Kong during my high school for exchange, this city is not completely new to me. Yet, nobody could have imagined the situation of Hong Kong in this academic year. I felt really welcomed during the Ocamp held by ISA. It would have been an absolute catastrophe without this event. Even though my first year has been far from perfect, I have received lots of help and would like to pass this on. To me, ISA is like a family, and I hope other international students feel the same way as I do. Pooja: Having been living in Hong Kong for seven years, I have the advantage of being a local. The only problem I encountered in university was the lack of bonding between the locals and the internationals. With my knowledge on local resources that can build the connection, I felt that I had the obligation to help shape some common ground between these two bodies.
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Through organizing and mediating events with local associations, I hope to foster the relationship among CUHK students.
