Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 1998

'We believe it is important for CUMBA to take the lead in establishing the programme in the region. We have been invited to participate in the Moot Corp competition in Austin for several years and have seen how it is done. Last year, when I was in Austin with the students, I spoke with the director of the Moot Corp Program as well as that of Motorola New Enterprises, USA. The latter was very interested in being the underwriter and provided US$25,000 to help start the competition. The Moot Corp helped us by allowing us to use their judges' evaluation sheets, and their guidelines. The support of business organizations and CUMBA alumni also contributed to the success of the v e n t u r e . ' Director of the Asian Moot Corp Program Prof. Chua Bee-leng The v e n t u r e conceived a n d d e v e l o p e d b y the C U H K t e am is T he First Pharmaceutical C o m p a n y w h i c h manufactures Heppacine, the first locally p r o d u c ed inactivated hepatitis A vaccine i n the People's Republic of China. Except f o r I v a n w h o w as a b i o c h em i s t ry ma j o r as an u n d e r g r a d u a t e , the other t e am memb e r s k n e w almost n o t h i ng about vaccines. T h ey therefor e h a d to start f r o m scratch, d e v o u r i ng all the literature t h ey c o u ld l ay thei r h a n ds on, s p e a k i ng to students, teachers, a n d professionals i n the f i e ld at every o p p o r t u n i t y , a n d t h e y h a d to j u g g l e all this w i t h their u s u a l course h o m e w o r k a n d e x ams . T h i s m e a n t t h ey o f t en h a d to p u l l s e v e r al all- n i g h t e rs i n a r ow , f o r t u n a t e l y i n the c o m p a ny of enthusiastic a n d h e l p f u l classmates. T h e judges f or th e i n t e r n a l c o m p e t i t i o n consisted of representatives f r o m the F a c u l t y of Business A d m i n i s t r a t i on a n d the c omme r c i al sector, a n d a v e n t u r e capitalist. T h e students said their feedbac k w as c r u c i a l i n h e l p i n g t h e m perfect their p r o d u c t , m a r k e t i ng strategies, a n d presentation skills. ' T h e y c o mm e n t e d t h at o u r researc h w a s too academic . We w e r e also u n f a m i l i ar w i t h finance a n d a c c o u n t i n g, a n d h a d little k n o w l e d g e, n ot t o m e n t i o n experience, of d o i n g business i n m a i n l a n d China. We we re also t o o n e r v o u s d u r i n g the q u e s t i on a n d a n s we r session,' they said. I n t h e t h r e e w e e k s t h a t f o l l o w e d t he s t u d e n t s e n g a g e d i n m o r e m e t i c u l o u s p r e p a r a t i o n s f or the a c t u a l c omp e t i t i o n . I n the process t h ey received invaluable advice f r o m various teachers, i n c l u d i n g Profs. W a i m an C h e u n g a n d M i c h a e l H u i . T h e A s i a n M o o t C o r p c o m p r i s ed t w o r o u n d s w h i c h t o o k place o n t w o c o n s e c u t i v e days. I n the o p e n i ng r o u n d , the 11 teams w e r e s p l it at r a n d o m i n t o three d i v i s i o n s a n d the w i n n e r s o f these c o m p e t ed i n the second r o u n d. T he teams t h at m a d e it t o the finals w e re thos e f r o m the N a t i o n a l U n i v e r s i t y o f S i n g a p o r e , T h a m m a s at U n i v e r s i t y , a n d T h e Ch i n e s e U n i v e r s i t y. M o t o r o la N e w E n t e r p r i s es ( US A ) , E r n s t & Y o u n g, Transpac Ca p i t a l, a n d C h e n H s o n g H o l d i n g s , w h i c h p r o v i d ed f i n a n c i a l s p o n s o r s h ip for A s i a n M o o t C o r p , sent their senior executives to serve as j u d g es i n b o t h t h e d i v i s i o n a n d t he f i n a l c o m p e t i t i o n s . O t h er j u d g es i n c l u d e d C U M B A a l u m n i . Besides c o m p e t i n g , the C U H K s t u d e n ts also b u s i ed themselves w i t h p l a y i ng host to the other teams a n d p a r t i c i p a t i n g i n a l u n c h e o n a n d presentations o n entrepreneurship a n d v e n t u r e capital. Chinese University Bulletin Autumn • Winter 1998 16