- The 27 students from HKU and HKUST served spectators watching tennis matches at the 19th Asiad
- The volunteers underwent hours of rigorous preparatory courses, tests, and in-person training ahead of opening ceremony
(From left) Candy Liu, Laura Zeng, Siu Ying and Henry He were assigned to perform their volunteering duties at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Tennis Centre during the 2023 Asian Games. Photo: HandoutSeeing the Asian Games on television and being a spectator in the arena are entirely different experiences, and, as more than two dozen Hong Kong university students discovered, one way to see the action up close is through volunteering.
In an effort coordinated and arranged by the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government, 16 students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and 11 more from the University of Hong Kong (HKU) were chosen to work at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Tennis Centre.
“I am on the collegiate taekwondo team,” Henry He Jinliang, a 21-year-old computer science major, said.
“Though I am not here as an athlete, it’s an honour and a rare chance to participate and to serve as a volunteer.”
Siu Ying, who studies Hong Kong history at HKU, told the SCMP: “I want to know more about living patterns in mainland China.
“This is my first trip to Hangzhou, and I am amazed by how developed mainland China is now.”
While greeting valuable guests and guiding spectators to their seats, volunteers learned everything from basic tennis rules to interpersonal communication.
But before commencing their Games duties, the students went through rigorous preparations for their positions, including taking a 12½-hour compulsory online video course, two lengthy tests of 190 questions, and two days of training in Hangzhou ahead of the opening ceremony.
And yet, some of the challenges that came with volunteering were not things the students could memorise from flashcards.
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“It’s difficult to explain to them the rules of tennis,” HKUST student Candy Liu Yu-ting, 21, said.
“Spectators wouldn’t understand why we only let them in during odd-numbered games and would become emotional. We had to be patient and explain to them.”
Siu, who was assigned to put memorial stamps on tickets, said the task was “quite popular among the spectators”.
“Keeping a good order in the queues could be difficult at times, but I am happy to see how satisfactory the spectators looked once they completed the collection.”
Along with their duties on court, the volunteers got to enjoy the Games’ “green” opening ceremony at the Hangzhou Olympics Sports Centre Stadium. From the CGI fireworks to a computer-generated Qiantang River, the city’s volunteers deemed the spectacle “remarkable”.
“I was impressed by how well they did in terms of environment protection,” 22-year-old Laura Zeng Ziying, a global China studies student at HKUST, said.
“I wondered how the organising committee came up with the fireworks idea for the opening ceremony, it took the majority of the audience into consideration since most could not go to the stadium.
“It might as well send a message to those organisers who are to stage another ceremony in the future.”
While the volunteers have ended their official duties at the Hangzhou Games, expect them to bring home some unforgettable memories and stories to tell their families and peers.