Bulletin No. 2, 2020

Coming Closer at a Distance: Snapshots of CUHK in the pandemic 35 Cameras would flash at the end of each Homecoming session to capture alumni's happy faces. The entire team of the Office also takes a picture as part of its long tradition went to the studio for recording. We rented a shuttle bus on a Sunday to take the alumni around campus for filming. I distinctly remembered they were vying with each other to take pictures with the driver and the bus, saying this “buscation” only happened once in a blue moon,’ Wong reminisced with a twinkle in her eyes. ‘The solidarity of CUHK members is truly amazing. If they have their minds set on one thing, they come together and get it done.’ The global version of The CU Heart and CU Mind premiered on the day of the Homecoming. The thumbnails of alumni music videos shown in the video, forming an impressive mosaic, testify to alumni’s devotion to their alma mater. At the end of September, when the pandemic raged severely across most countries, alumni were invited to submit video clips featuring their singing of the song. Despite the restrictions, the alumni thought of ways to do the recordings. ‘One alumnus went to the Vancouver airport, one played piano at the Toronto seaside, one strummed a guitar in front of the White House. As Japan had strict lockdown rules, an alumnus who live there visited a neighbouring shrine and recorded his singing there. The alumni living in Beijing spent a few hours driving to the Great Wall and to Tiananmen Square for filming. One even approached the Central Conservatory of Music and borrowed the konghou for performance,’ said Lee. Since the beginning of the first wave of COVID-19 outbreak, the team has organized a number of online and hybrid events. In the digital age, reaching one’s audience is a proven battlefield. ‘Event promotion should not simply rely on emails and the alumni magazine. It should be down-to- earth, innovative, and keep abreast of the times. Nowadays, people use various channels to receive information. To maximize our reach, we must know each platform well and make good use of them,’ Hui remarked with zeal. Messages on the Office’s Facebook page are mostly colourful images, with brief captions highlighting key events. She took the Alumni Torch Fund as another example: as face-to-face exhortation proved impossible, the committee this year fundraised through digital videos and concise email messages. The donations skyrocketed in the last two weeks and they eventually raised $1.12 million, a figure far exceeding their expectations. Empowered yet atomistic individuals make up the digital world. To bring them together, we must count on groups as established points of contact. ‘We have to be in contact with the 136 alumni associations of CUHK. Commitment is borne out of engagement, and engagement comes through taking part. In the first place, though, there must be meaningful causes to draw people in,’ said Hui. ‘Rome was not built in a day—the fruitful results we see today hinge on the relationships we built with our fellow alumni in the past years. AAO must continue to do its part in connecting the dots.’