Founded by the renowned philanthropist Mr. Ho Ming-sze, the Ho & Ho Foundation Ltd. recently donated eight million dollars to CUHK to set up the ‘Ho & Ho Foundation Scholarships’. It will award three full scholarships to mainland students every year starting from 2012–13. Target recipients were those who are academically outstanding but have financial difficulty going abroad to study. A donation ceremony was held on 10 January. Accompanied by Ms. Ho Cheuk-wa, representative of the foundation, Mr. Ho Ming-sze co-signed an agreement with Mrs. Chow Chan Man-yuen Grace, director of Admissions and Financial Aid. Prof. Jack C.Y. Cheng, Pro-Vice-Chancellor, CUHK, expressed his heartfelt thanks to Mr. Ho and members of the foundation, and gave a brief account on the admission exercise of CUHK on the mainland.

Priority will be given to students from the ‘red triangle’ region (Shaoguan in Guangdong, Ganzhou in Jiangxi, and Chenzhou in Hunan). Through the nurturing of young talent, the foundation wishes to facilitate regional development and eradicate poverty. Mr. Ho in his youth had spent years in the mountainous region in northern Guangdong province. He was alarmed by the harsh conditions that people were facing and therefore vowed to dedicate himself to promoting education and socio-economic development, and raising the living standards of people there. In the past decade, he has been keen on supporting infrastructural projects, as well as erecting school premises, and has sponsored numerous students by giving out scholarships.