Professor Mo Kit Han Phoenix of the CUHK Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care is an affiliate of Chung Chi College for more than ten years. She has been actively involving in the Creativity Awards, General Education and Service-Learning Programmes, contributing greatly to the development of Chung Chi students. This year, Professor Mo is chairperson of the Service-Learning Committee.

How did Professor Mo’s connection with Chung Chi begin? What insights has she found through Chung Chi?

Professor Phoenix Mo (1st left) and members of the Service-Learning Committee had a site visit to prepare for the Service-Learning Programme.

Inspiration and Support from Chung Chi Teachers

Professor Mo was employed as a research assistant for Chung Chi Professor Mak Wing Sze Winnie at the CUHK Department of Psychology in 2004, after her graduation from the HKU Department of Psychology.

“The research Professor Mak was doing at the time was about stigma. It involved public attitude towards SARS survivors, AIDS patients and TB patients, as well as their self-understanding and mental health. I was mostly working on the section related to AIDS patients.”

Professor Mo became more aware of severe anxiety in AIDS patients. “Some patients would avoid taking their medicine when there are people around, and that negatively impacts their treatment. This experience made me want to find out more about how psychological factors influence physical and mental health.”

In 2005, Professor Mo continued her studies in health psychology in the UK. She explained how her experience working with Professor Mak inspired her dissertation. “My research topic is related to the different ways online support groups can be helping AIDS patients. Besides professional treatment from doctors, AIDS patients can also gain understanding of ways to manage symptoms through connecting with their community. This can be a means to promote awareness of health.”

Professor Mo also mentioned that she met Professor Lau Tak Fai Joseph of the Jockey Club School of Public Health and Primary Care through Professor Mak in her final year as a PhD student. At the time, Professor Lau was doing research on topics related to the psychological aspects of AIDS patients as well, and this became one of the reasons Professor Mo joined CUHK. “So you see why Professor Mak is an important mentor to me,” Professor Mo chuckled as she explained.

In 2023, Professor Mo was honored with the “Outstanding Teacher Award” by CUHK Faculty of Medicine, sharing this proud achievement with her family. She has received this distinction annually since 2016.

Kindness and Creativity in Chung Chi Students

Because of these relationships in addition to her Christian faith, Professor Mo decided to join Chung Chi College of CUHK. Since academic year 2015/16, she served as a member of the Creativity Awards Committee (now the Creativity Awards Task Group). Professor Mo stated that the task group is responsible for setting requirements for each award and examining applications. She was part of the selection panel for three award schemes, i.e. Dreaming Through Chung Chi Scheme, S.H. Sung Creativity Award and “Seeds of Good Deed” Project Award.

“I remember from years ago, there was a student whose plan was to travel to Watoto, an Uganda village.” Professor Mo revealed that she often feels heartened by proposals submitted by students. “In the village lives a lot of women and orphans who are affected by AIDS. This student wished to serve the locals and get to know their needs. I was deeply moved by her kindness.”

As for the S.H. Sung Creativity Award and “Seeds of Good Deed” Project Award, Professor Mo is delighted by ideas related to mental health and their applications. “There was a year when the S.H. Sung Creativity award was given to a game activity called ‘Chung Chi Pets’. The idea is to better the mental health of students with pets and virtual reality. Another “Seeds of Good Deed” Project Award was given to a student who wanted to motivate others by regularly sharing ten second clips of encouraging words or famous quotes on social media.”

Professor Mo noted that not only is mental health her research focus, but it is also important to her as a teacher that students in need are able to get the support and attention they require. “Though ideas from these students may seem trivial, it means a lot to the people who need them.”

Significance of General Education and Service-Learning

Apart from the Creativity Award Schemes, Professor Mo has performed duties for the Chung Chi College General Education and Service-Learning Programmes. She was a teacher for first-year general education courses at the beginning and would regularly meet with students for discussions about university.

Later, she took part in the Senior Seminars. “This final year course calls for a lot of reports, many of which are very interesting. As a teacher, there were quite a few things I’ve learnt from these.” Professor Mo points out that these reports cover a broad range of topics, including current affairs, social issues or even events related to CUHK, such as the effects of orientation camp.

“There were some students who analysed the revocation and enactment of regulations regarding red minibuses, and others who investigated whether priority seats promote social harmony. These are thought-provoking discussions that I’ve learnt a couple things from.”

Professor Mo joined the Service-Learning Committee since 2019 and is tasked with guiding students to understand the needs of different communities in society, and developing activities or services to support these groups.

“I’ve led Service-Learning courses of many different topics, including intergenerational harmony, hearing disability and local ethnic-minorities. Students can learn more about these social topics in the courses, like challenges the hearing disability community and ethnic-minorities face, also that current related social services are insufficient.”

Professor Mo suggested that it was likely due to these experiences that she was invited by the College to join the General Education Committee and Service-Learning Committee (formerly the Committee on Integrative Basic Studies and the Management Board of Service-Learning Centre) in academic year 2020/21. Professor Mo expressed gratitude for this opportunity and stated that her earlier experience with the courses allowed her to find meaning in general education and service-learning. Thusly, she wanted to be part of the course designing process, to make it more beneficial for students.

“Subject knowledge is certainly important in university education, but right now society needs all-round experts. They need to have qualities like social responsibility, and attentiveness for the underprivileged, which may not be taught within subject education. Besides, university students are part of society, and they will enter the workforce after graduation. Therefore, they cannot be negligent of what goes on around them. General Education and Service-Learning programmes are created precisely to build up that knowledge and moral competence, which requires concern for local and global events.” Professor Mo also adds that General Education programmes involve multidisciplinary discussions and analysis of shortcomings, as well as making suggestions, which can be an exercise for students to think critically.

Professor Mo was presented with the Chung Chi “Exemplary Teaching Award in Service-Learning” by Professor Jason Yam, Dean of General Education of the College in January last year.

Outlook for Service-Learning programmes

Professor Mo assumed chairperson of the Service-Learning Committee since September last year, so what does she think of the Service-Learning Programmes?

She admitted that it is a challenge to both the College and University to arrange service-learning activities for each student in CUHK. “To make an early start, the College has made large-scale trials of the Service-Learning Programmes. It has fully carried out this academic year and are mandatory for first-year students.”

“Enough service groups must be arranged to fulfil the service-learning requirements for every student. This involves a lot of communication between the College and departments within and outside of CUHK. With collaborative efforts, there are currently over fifty service groups in Chung Chi, much greater than thirty from last year.”

As the number of service groups increases, the College needs more teachers to lead. Professor Mo expressed anticipation for more teachers to join the Programmes. “We have many teachers who do so much for the Service-Learning Programmes. In view of that, Chung Chi introduced the Exemplary Teaching Award in academic year 2023/24 to celebrate guidance worthy of commendation, and in hopes of new engagement.”

Professor Mo further stated that she was looking forward to service-learning topics potentially related to mental health and behavioural health. Students would learn more about related issues, and raise awareness of mental health, eventually putting an end to associated misunderstandings and stigmas.

Student Reporter Lee Yin Lok