Hong Kong vocational students reap rewards of WorldSkills Competition as platform to showcase talents, win medals
- Childhood passion for cars leads Youth College student to world prize and a job
- Youngsters not keen on academic subjects find satisfaction by learning skills
Li Kam-hung never imagined that his childhood fascination with cars would one day lead him to a job and first prize in a global competition.
The 20-year-old came out on top in the Sustainable Practice Award for car painting at the WorldSkills Competition – a biennial championship of vocational skills – in Kazan, Russia, last August.
Hong Kong sent a team of 24 to the tournament, which attracted more than 1,300 competitors from more than 60 countries and regions.
Apart from Li, 13 others brought home a total of 11 Medallions for Excellence in skills ranging from hairdressing to electrical installations. Among them were Ben Law Siu-leung and his teammate, Ricky Lee Wai-kit, both 21, who won a Medallion for Excellence for mobile robotics.
Last year’s haul of prizes was Hong Kong’s biggest since it began sending teams to the world event in 1997. The next competition will be held in Shanghai in September next year.
Li recalls being drawn to cars during his growing up years in a traditional walled village in the New Territories, attracted by their cool, sleek appearance.
In secondary school, he was not interested in academic subjects and decided on vocational training to learn a skill. With his interest in cars, he applied for a diploma programme in automotive technology at Youth College in Kwai Chung, under Vocational Training Council (VTC).
“I simply like cars, and I wanted to have a career associated with them,” he says, adding that his parents supported his decision.
During his year-long course, he became interested in painting cars, and proved good at it. He found it satisfying to restore a damaged vehicle to its original condition, with matching colours, shades and texture.
The job involves multiple processes from paint preparation to spraying and, depending on how damaged the car is, can take four or five days to complete.
Li honed his skills as an intern at car maintenance centres for three years. His school selected him to compete in car painting at the WorldSkills Hong Kong Competition in 2018.
He was one of three winners, and eventually made it to the team of 24 sent to the international competition in Kazan last year.
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The overseas experience, and winning, was not only eye-opening but also a big boost to the young man.
“I have become more courageous and confident in my work,” says Li, who graduated and started working full-time last September as a car painter at Toyota Tsuen Wan Body and Paint Service Centre.
One of his VTC instructors, Lucas Li Kwong-ho, says Li’s skills and even temperament helped him excel.
“He has good skills in car painting, and his work is of high quality,” he says. “He is also calm and poised facing problems.”
Every year about 200,000 students take vocational education and training courses provided by VTC – the city’s largest vocational and professional education and training provider.
Mobile robotics technician Ben Law Siu-leung, 21, also turned an early interest into a career through vocational training.
Law, who lives with his parents and two older sisters in Tin Shui Wai, discovered mechanics and engineering in secondary school, when a teacher helped him take part in a competition to design a wind turbine.
Then in Form Two, he designed a 12-blade turbine to convert the wind’s kinetic energy into electrical energy at maximum efficiency.
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Although he did not win, that sparked his passion for mechanics and electronics and by the time he finished secondary school, he knew he wanted to become an engineer.
He graduated with a higher diploma in electrical engineering from the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education (IVE) in Tsing Yi last September.
At the WorldSkills Competition, Law and his teammate Ricky Lee Wai-kit won a Medallion for Excellence for mobile robotics.
They designed a mobile robot to deliver items of different colours to requested places, and the task required competencies in logic, computer programming and microprocessors.
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Law says they performed well in basic and manual operation at the competition, but noted they had more room to improve, compared with other competitors.
“The result surpassed my expectations, and I felt happy,” he says. “But they are more confident, experienced and better prepared.”
One of his teachers, Dick Mak Ka-chun, from IVE’s department of engineering, says Law’s eagerness to learn made him stand out.
Now working as a technician at a start-up company in the Hong Kong Science Park, Law is also taking part-time Bachelor’s degree courses in electrical engineering.
“Having more working experiences while studying can help me realise my dream of becoming an engineer sooner,” he says.
