He who always carries out his mission with passion and vigor has won “The Best Performing Sub-branch General Manager” of Bank of China in year 2011. He also dared to take challenges and won the third prize in the world final of Global Management Challenge (GMC) on behalf of Macau. He is our alumnus Mr. Ao Wai Hong who was awarded “Commendation of Merit” by Macau SAR Government in year 2005. Even though he has achieved so much in life, he still remained modest. He believes that the spirit of “diligence, life-long learning, courage and perseverance” will enable him to defeat every career obstacle.
Breakthrough in Global Management Challenge for Macau
Whoever owns the courage to climb up high and to take challenges can pass over oneself and gain more knowledge. So when Mr. Ao knew that there was a GMC competition, he accepted the challenge and decided to join. For him, it was an opportunity to broaden his horizon, to enhance self-improvement, and to achieve a higher self-value. He said, “GMC is the business world’s largest digital business simulation game. The team with the highest company share price is declared winner and go to the world final.” After years of professional training and practice, he became more sophisticated and prudent. Mr. Ao participated in this game ten times, five of which won him the first prize at the regional level and a Second runner up in the world final in 2004. This was the best record for Macau and helped to raise Macau’s international reputation. With all these achievements, he was awarded the Commendation of Merit by SAR government in 2005 in recognition of his outstanding contributions to Macau.
He was modest towards this honor and he said, “Gratefulness. I feel grateful to the Macau SAR Government for her recognition to my effort. I feel grateful to my university in educating me and my company for training me.” We asked if all these had brought him to a new career high, he said bluntly, “The competition helped me to develop my abilities, for example, the ability of judgment. Several teams were given the same batch of information and you had to identify problems and solve them shortly with the best solution. We were given limited time to make decisions and could not spend all the time on discussion without action. In the final round, we had only 30 minutes to make a critical decision that would affect the result of the game. All these are examinations on your flexibility and reactions as well as your ability in handling adversity and emotional intelligence. For example, when other teams are just ahead of you, you have to stay calm with indomitable optimism and can-do spirit so that you can make a good decision. All these experience gained from joining the game did help me with my work.”
Lifelong Learning, A Good Way to Improve Yourself
Mr. Ao pursued his career in the banking sector and started in a junior position after graduating from high school. He said, “Everything was so new to me. And this sparked me to keep learning new things.” Understating that professional knowledge would be the basic need for him to develop his career in the banking sector; he decided to study in his free time. “In 1980’s, there were not many chances to receive a higher education. But the open college of the University of East Asia provided continuing education opportunities for working people. So I seized the opportunity to enroll in the Bachelor of Business Administration Degree program.” Mr. Ao understood the importance of lifelong education and he kept learning to broaden his own knowledge to keep up with pace of time. Besides having lessons on Saturday and Sunday, he also enrolled in an English Accounting course and practiced self-study in Economics. These enhanced his study in college and he was able to complete the degree course within 3 years and to receive another bachelor degree in Computer and Application Technology.
Recalling his thirty-year career, Mr. Ao said that each position was a challenge and an opportunity to learn. He has been serving in different departments from a Sales Assistant to General Manager of Sub-branch in Bank of China. Gradually, he accumulated lots of expertise and operating experience which served like a tailor-made training program, enhancing his capacity and assisting him with his self-development. After years of hard working, his good service and performance were well recognized as he was awarded “The Best Performing Sub-branch General Manager” among all Bank of China global branches in 2011.
Unit the Power, Contribute to the Community
Being one of the founding members of the University of East Asia of Open College Students’ Association (UEASA), he said the objective of UEASA was to connect and gather alumni, providing them a platform for lifelong learning so as to build professional knowledge to contribute to the community. Mr. Ao said, “Since the establishment of UEASA in year 1991, their members had worked successfully on different activities like the publication of ‘Oral History’ and ‘Creators talk Creation’ series and the establishment of the Chinese Cultural Industries Association of Macau in 2007. They have received many positive comments from the public.” Mr. Ao also has good knowledge in writing despite the fact that his high school majors were mostly science subjects. He recalled that he has once involved in the text proofreading of publications that took him a lot of time and effort. He felt a real sense of accomplishment when the book was published.
Mr. Ao was one of those who witnessed the development of the University in the past decades. Talking about his concern on the current development of the University, he said, “Being the top university in Macau higher education, the University should enforce her academic research, cooperation, and international education advancement, nurture professional with talent, virtue and international vision as well as to assist Macau with its development in industrial diversification with labor supply.” He believes that there are three essential elements for talent training. He said, “Firstly, we must have the right attitude. Secondly, we must be able to face adversity optimistically. Last but not least, we must be equipped with professional knowledge.” Being a senior working in the banking sector for so many years, Mr. Ao wishes to pass a message to those who wish to join the banking sector. “You have to be professional, ethical and be considerate of your customers. Also, it is also important to keep an open attitude to meet and learn new things”.
