HUSEINA TYEBKHAN

School Director

International Academy of Film & Television (Hong Kong) Limited

Professional Experience:

A fourth generation Hong Konger, Huseina is an educational leader with over twenty years of experience and specialism in managing vocational and post-secondary courses of studies. Huseina is a curriculum developer, teacher, coach, and mentor.

Ethnicity:

Gender: Female

No. of years in Hong Kong: 45

Cantonese Speaking:

Can speak Cantonese in meetings even though may need to use English

Cantonese Understanding:

Most of the conversations

Huseina has worked in Hong Kong, India, Canada and Sri Lanka. Amongst the roles she has had in Hong Kong is her extensive career with the Sara Beattie Group. There she held a number of senior and regional management roles. Huseina has also worked at the Hong Kong Institute of Continuing Education in programme management and course development, and currently manages the International Academy of Film and Television in Hong Kong.

Within her local Hong Kong community, the Dawoodi Bohra community, Huseina plays an important role by actively volunteering. She also provides education-related activities for the other ethnic minority groups in Hong Kong.

Huseina completed both an Advanced Diploma in Education with Distinction from the Institute of Education, London, and a BSc in Management from the University of London.

Huseina speaks fluent English, Cantonese, Gujarati, and conversational Hindi.

Voluntary Contributions to Hong Kong:

Treasurer, Public Affairs Convenor, Vice-President, President, The Hong Kong Association of Business and Professional Women

Member, PVRM Vetting Committee, Transport Department

School Representative, HK Federation of Private Educators

Member, Revenue Committee, Hoseinee Society of Hong Kong

Member, Managing Committee, Bunnayatul-Eiddiz-Zahabi Hong Kong

Teacher, Madrasah Vajahiya

Member and Tutor, Care@HK-EMS.

Quote from Spencer Stuart Hong Kong: www.zubinfoundation.org

Huseina is a Hong Kong girl, passionate about education. Huseina is a specialist in vocational and alternative tertiary education paths and has had many positions in Hong Kong and around the region. Huseina has extensive experience in working with women as well as racial minorities.

This is a list of individuals who have significant experience in directly working with ethnic minorities to address specific questions about employment, education, health, welfare and other issues. These individuals would be an asset to NGOs or specific government committees that work directly with ethnic minority service users.

COMMUNITY CONNECTORS Gary AHUJA

Ethnicity:

Gender: Male

Professional Experience:

Gary has been the elected District Councillor in the Yau Tsim Mong District four consecutive times from 1988 to 2004, for 16 years.

Gary has a deep understanding of the Indian community as well as his specific district. He was the first ethnic minority to become a District Councillor in Hong Kong.

Aruna GURUNG

Ethnicity:

Gender: Female

Professional Experience: Aruna works extensively with the Nepali Women’s Association and has a deep understanding of the education and welfare needs of the Nepali children including those with special education needs.

Aruna is a Member of the Personalized Vehicle Registration Marks Vetting Committee Transport Department of HKSARG and Member of the Women’s Commission, Labour and Welfare Department of the HKSARG.

Muhammad ANWAR-ULHAQ

Ethnicity:

Gender: Male

Professional Experience: Muhammad works closely with the various government departments on translation, proofreading and vetting of materials from English to Urdu.

Muhammad is a Public Relations Officer & Media Advisor in a pro bono capacity to the Pakistani Students Association Hong Kong.

Poonam Vijayprakash MEHTA

Ethnicity:

Gender: Female

Professional Experience:

Poonam is an educator and counsellor. She works with grassroots families in the ethnic minority communities in Hong Kong mostly through her NGO, Be The Change.

Poonam also works with teachers of non-native Chinese speaking children.

Poonam’s past experience includes being Deputy School Principal at the Victoria schools in Hong Kong.

Notan Hassanand TOLANI

Ethnicity:

Gender: Male

Professional Experience: Notan is an active member of the Indian community. He helps at the individual and family level and assists in navigating education, employment and health related concerns.

Notan is also active in the Hindu Temple Kowloon, Overseas Indian Organisations, Council of Indian Associations, India Club and India Association.

Next Steps

Call to action

Diversity List 2016 started as a pilot, an idea that quickly gained recognition by the HKSARG in ways that we could not have imagined. We witnessed first hand how Mrs Carrie Lam, HKSARG Chief Secretary, personally spearheaded greater inclusion on HKSARG advisory bodies. We were delighted that 5 of the 16 candidates on Diversity List 2016 were extended new appointments (see appendix 1). This is a tremendous success and we hope that the next Chief Executive of Hong Kong will also embrace Diversity List fervently.

Our ambition is to educate the Hong Kong community to be more inclusive and our hope is that HKSARG and NGOs in Hong Kong will actively recruit ethnic minorities to their advisory boards and committees. This would enable HKSARG and NGOs to be even more effective and in addition, they will also become role models for the entire Hong Kong community and Greater China community. They will help impress upon the people of Hong Kong that ethnic minorities are an integral part of Hong Kong, that this sector is also a valuable asset of Hong Kong and that Hong Kong will go from strength to strength through the integration and collaboration of all ethnicities.

Readymade directory of ethnic minorities

The Zubin Foundation is calling on the HKSARG and NGOs in Hong Kong to tap into the abundance of talents and expertise in our Diversity List 2017 (22 individuals), Community Connectors 2017 (5 individuals) as well as Diversity List 2016 (16 individuals) for representation on their boards and committees. In addition, there are also over 110 individuals, nominees of Diversity List 2016 and Diversity List 2017, who are of strong standing in our community and who are also enthusiastic about contributing to Hong Kong. This is truly a robust pool of outstanding individuals whose intentions are for the betterment of Hong Kong and who are readily available to help Hong Kong at our community’s calling. We strongly hope that all the names on our lists will be successfully engaged by HKSARG and local NGOs in due course.

The definition of “Ethnic Minorities”

The Zubin Foundation recognizes the shortcomings of the current interpretation of “ethnic minorities”. We know that many find this term marginalising and disrespectful. We are therefore planning to engage with the community at large, particularly the youth in Hong Kong, to re-define and re-create this terminology. As part of this effort and subject to interest and funding, we would also like to include the Caucasian population of Hong Kong who considers Hong Kong their home in Diversity List 2018.

Identifying outstanding youth

We believe that they are the future of Hong Kong and as such, the voices of ethnic minority youth must be resonated during youth discussions and youth initiatives in Hong Kong.

In order to help identify ethnic minority youth committed to bettering Hong Kong, The Zubin Foundation intends to bring on a list of young people in 2018. Spencer Stuart and ourselves are both excited about expanding our outreach to this demographic sector.

Engaging a wider scope

For the purpose of developing Diversity List 2018, The Zubin Foundation wish to identify individuals from as broad as possible within Hong Kong’s demographic and social spectrum. In order to do this, we will need our outreach to be wider. As such, we plan to setup a Diversity List 2018 Committee with representatives from the various communities in Hong Kong.

Working together to create a greater impact

At the Zubin Foundation, we value collaboration with all groups regardless of their political beliefs and their religious and racial backgrounds. We look forward to working together with all of you to enhance the voice of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong.

As always, we welcome your thoughts and comments. Please email us at info@zubinfoundation.org

APPENDIX 1 - New appointments

As of 1 February 2017, five of the 16 candidates on the Diversity List 2016 have been appointed to HK government advisory committes. Below are the details: