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President's View
Signing off from one Board year in the last newsletter, I am now signing back on for 2006/2007, following the new Board's election at the AGM held in June. The AGM was held at a new venue - Club Lusitano in Ice House Street - which commanded spectacular views over Central and we hope to hold further events in this privileged location.
A brief report on the AGM follows within the newsletter. As outgoing President, I addressed the Members present and outlined that it had been another challenging year for the Chapter but one which was not without successes. The Hong Kong Chapter continues to be one of the most active in the IFMA world and one of the largest both in terms of members and number of CFM's. Whilst we have seen one of the largest drops in Membership in the Chapter's history, we remain financially healthy and extremely active.
We have relatively little support in sponsorship, except at the annual conference, and no input from Associate Members at Board and Committee level - both of which play a significant role in the success of other Chapters in the US.
We are therefore a Chapter run by FM professionals, for FM professionals.
As I have mentioned during the course of the 05/06 year, we rely on volunteers who dedicate a significant amount of time and effort to share their passion and energy for FM in the running of the Chapter.
The 05/06 was the first time we have run committees. These were established to help dissipate the workload of Board Directors and encourage the up and coming members of the profession to develop their interests, career and profile. The committees worked very well and it is great to see 2 members of the committees volunteer for positions on the new Board.
Despite the drop in membership, personal highlights for me have been the newsletter and website, together with the events arranged by the professional development team. These events showed great diversity: a talk on Ngong Ping 360 cable car, a visit to the MTR maintenance depot, a talk on RFID technology and visits to EMSD HQ and Ocean Park. We also organized another immensely successful annual conference at Cyberport in November.
Our efforts to improve collaboration between the FM institutions have also been successful.
The strategic plan we developed at the start of 05/06 is solid and should serve the new Board well.
Sadly for the Chapter, our Vice President Ms Arnald Ng, has decided to step down from the Board for personal reasons. Arnald has been a great driving force behind the Chapter for a number of years.
At a global level, both myself and Arnald paid visits to the US. I attended World Workplace in Philadelphia and Arnald joined the Management Summit a couple of months ago in San Antonio.
As one of the key players, IFMA continues to progress its alliance with other major FM professional bodies around the world - including BIFM and FMA - through the launch of Global FM.
It gave me great pleasure to announce 3 scholarship winners and the annual Presidents Award.
The Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA scholarship award comprises one year's membership to the Chapter, annual local conference admission, together with an allowance towards FM related publications, worth approximately HK$5,000. It was originally intended that there would be 2 awards: one for Post Graduate and another for Under Graduate.
A BBC spokesman commented that it was not merely a matter of fixing an electrical problem and that they were now looking at re-wiring or replacing the sign.
However, once again, we were unable to limit our selection to 2 people and we made the following awards:
•
Richard Hui, Post Graduate
•
Chan Ka Lok, Under Graduate
•
Amy Wong, Under Graduate
All 3 demonstrated excellent academic records, leadership skills in their classes and an enthusiasm and passion for FM and learning.
The annual Presidents Award was made to Tony Garland, Director of Communications, for his outstanding efforts in the production of the newsletter, professionalism of Chapter communications and improvements in the website.
My thanks are expressed to all of the 05/06 Board Directors and Committee members who have dedicated their time, energy and professionalism to provide Chapter members and friends with exciting and diverse events, news and views and support in their FM careers.
To close, I welcome the new Board and trust we can continue to serve the profession as well as, if not better, than the previous year. Please feel free to drop me a line if you have any suggestions in connection with our activities, wish to get involved or need any assistance.
As Brian has reported in his President's View column, the AGM was held on 22nd June at the Club Lusitano in Ice House Street. The venue was very conducive to a relaxed meeting with attentive staff, good food and plenty of space to circulate and network prior to the formalities.
Following Brian's speech on the year's efforts by the Board and Committees, which is covered in the President's View column, Philip Fung gave a brief account of the status of membership and Ken Nip gave a review of the financial status of the Chapter. Members wishing for more detail of either topic should contact Ken Lee, the Administrator.
The annual scholarship award climaxed at the AGM with awards made to the following students. For the purpose of encouraging future winners brief notes on why these students were chosen are included.
Richard Hui - Winner Post Grad Category
•
Excellent academic results with consistency over all subjects.
•
Good group work results showing the ability to lead within groups and backed up by his current position where he is assistant technical manager at Swire
•
Career to date and aspirations expressed at the meeting show a dedication to FM and a desire to progress within FM
Chan Ka Lok - Joint Winner Undergraduate Category
•
Excellent academic results
•
Good report from lecturer showing leadership skills
•
He came over very well in the interview with a clear understanding of FM. One of the key things noted was his ability to pick up and understand a subject at college and then use the information directly at work to help his job - specifically to do with water ingress to basements in the premise he manages
Amy Wong - Joint Winner Undergraduate Category
•
The IVE course so not too academic but she came in 4th out of 60+ students, which is excellent for a mature student in a class of young students
•
Identified by lecturer as a leader in her class, capable of motivating her classmates
•
What really came over during the interview was her enthusiasm for work and learning in general. She clearly had a good understanding of the role of FM and how they must add value. She was very enthusiastic about how the course had given her an opportunity to do "hands on" stuff - welding and the like - and understand the equipment used. She could take this back to her work and it really helped her to discuss and explain to colleagues and clients
After the excellent lunch a talk John Bowden of the pressure group Save Our Shorelines (SOS) gave a talk on Victoria Harbour. Firstly he highlighted why there are a number of pressure groups involved in the subject of shoreline and harbour reclamation defense - there are many areas of concern and each tends to concentrate on a particular area - but he agreed that they all tend to take a lead from the main group, the Society for the Protection of the Habour lead by Winston K S Chu and Christine Loh.
He then went on to outline the areas of concern related to the Central and Wan Chai harbour reclamation works and the general development associated with these areas, in particular the new government headquarters site at Tamar and what will happen to the old government office quarters at Government Hill.
The whole talk was insightful generated considerable interest amongst the participants, with some interesting questions following the talk.
The overwhelming feeling was of SOS and other groups struggling to understand what the government wants to do in reality, due to a general lack of transparency in the information flow and distrust of the motives behind the government actions. May be good governance for Hong Kong will only come about when government provides unstinting information and pressure groups give way to discussion forums with a free-flow on information on both sides.
After the discussion Brian presented John with a souvenir of the occasion.
Back in April of this year, IFMA USA instigated a web based survey on the preparedness of members to handle a pandemic created by avian influenza. IFMA has now issued the results of the survey on the US web site. For your convenience they are re-printed below.
Background
The World Health Organization (WHO) has reported an outbreak of a highly pathogenic avian influenza (HPAI) affecting birds in a number of countries in Asia, the Middle East, Europe and Africa. The strain of H5N1 that re-emerged in 2003 in Asia is a slightly altered form of the 1997 virus. It has now spread to other parts of the world by migratory birds and possibly through trade in poultry. Some countries have reported only isolated cases in wild birds while other countries have had extensive outbreaks in poultry farms.
Avian influenza is a contagious viral infection that can affect all species of birds and occasionally causes disease in humans. The actual number of human cases around the world has been small relative to the number of outbreaks in birds. Although the H5N1 virus can cause severe and sometimes fatal infections in humans, there has been no evidence of effective human-to-human spread of H5N1 infection, and no evidence that a new influenza pandemic is starting. Nevertheless, companies and organizations are starting to develop contingency plans.
There have been three influenza pandemics in last century: in 1918, in 1957/1958 and again in 1968/1969. The outbreaks occurring in the fifties and sixties were caused by viruses containing a combination of genes from a human influenza virus and an avian influenza virus. A pandemic outbreak could affect workplaces, schools, hospitals, factories and other facilities. Closures could occur due to lack of staff. Normal health and other services may not be available for several weeks.
The purpose of the IFMA study is to see if organizations consider pandemic flu as a threat and what types of plans subsequently have been developed.
Results
1
What is your level of understanding of current avian H5N1 virus (bird flu) and its potential to turn into a pandemic flu outbreak?
*
43%
Have a clear understanding of the issue
*
40%
Somewhat aware of this issue
*
16%
Have limited knowledge of the issue
*
1%
Unaware of the issue
2
Does your organization's senior management consider a pandemic flu outbreak as a serious or probable threat to your business?
*
49%
Yes
*
51%
No
Note:
Those who manage global facilities are more likely to consider a flu outbreak as a threat to business operations.
3
Which statement best describes your company's current response to pandemic flu?
*
7%
Pandemic plans completed and implemented
*
41%
We are in progress of creating/updating our plan
*
18%
We feel we have addressed the issue in our business continuity plans. No additional action is required
*
34%
This type of planning has not been considered
4
Do your plans address the impact of pandemic flu relative to:
*
91%
Staffing
*
83%
Facilities
*
67%
Security
*
63%
Customers/visitors
*
48%
Vendors
*
43%
Food service
*
13%
Other - travel, patients, research animals, community, employees' families
5
In your planning, have you consulted with any external organizations such as government agencies?
*
60%
Yes
*
40%
No
6
Were any of your facilities, operations or employees impacted by the 2003-04 SARS outbreak?
*
12%
Yes
*
88%
No
Note:
45% of the Canadian respondents' operations or facilities were affected by SARS.
7
Does your organization either subsidize or promote flu shots to employees prior to or during flu season?
*
55%
We subsidize the cost of flu shots
*
31%
We encourage or promote employees to get a flu shot
*
15%
We do not offer or promote flu shots
*
11%
Other - offer free flu shots, government provides free flu shots, arrange for flu shots to be administered on-site
8
Has your organization changed its travel policy because of this issue?
*
8%
Yes
*
92%
No
9
Do you manage public access facilities (e.g. hospitals, schools, courthouses, airports or retail establishments)?
*
33%
Yes
*
67%
No
10
Do you manage facilities in more than one country?
*
23%
Yes
*
77%
No
11
Do you manage facilities in more than one country?
8.0%
Canada
0.4%
Luxembourg
0.5%
China
0.2%
Mexico
0.2%
Czech Republic
0.2%
Singapore
0.2%
Denmark
0.2%
South Africa
0.2%
Germany
0.2%
Switzerland
1.4%
Hong Kong
0.2%
United Arab Emirates
0.6%
India
1.4%
United Kingdom
0.2%
Ireland
86.0%
United States
0.2%
Italy
Methodology
The data for this study was collected using a web-based questionnaire. An e-mail invitation was sent to 4,251 professional members of International Facility Management Association (IFMA) on April 12, 2006 . The invitation included a link where respondents could answer the short survey. Of the 4,251 e-mails sent, 3,994 were successful in reaching the intended recipient. Members responded quickly; the majority of the responses were received within 48 hours of issuing the survey. A total of 596 surveys were deemed complete. The overall response rate was 15%.
The margin of error at the 95% confidence interval for these questions is between + 4 and + 5 percentage points. This means that for a given statistic, the chances are 95 in 100 that a survey result does not vary, plus or minus, by more than 4% or 5% from the results that would have been obtained if a survey had been conducted with all persons in the universe represented by this sample.
Diploma in Facilities Management
Last year volunteers from the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA worked with the School of Continuing and Professional Education (SCOPE), at City University of Hong Kong, to develop the first course in Hong Kong to offer the new Facility Management Profession (FMP) credential.
During the year the course was assessed by IFMA and accepted as an IFMA Approved Provider. The Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA remains a supporting organisation for the course, with volunteers giving their time to assist.
This year is the second intake for this course, which will commence in September 2006. It remains a good solution for staff without higher qualifications to improve their abilities within the facilities management industry, giving them the opportunity to progress within the industry.
The programme aims to equip students with the required analytical abilities and management techniques for being a facility management professional, and provides them with general business and communication skills that can facilitate career development and allow them to plan for further studies.
You can download further details from the link below. Why not take the time to bring this to the attention of work colleagues who may benefit from the opportunity?
We continue our series of interviews with people within the FM industry by interviewing Dr Man Wai Chan Director of Estates, Hong Kong Baptist University.We continue our series of interviews with people within the FM industry by interviewing Dr Man Wai Chan Director of Estates, Hong Kong Baptist University.
The people covered by this section of the newsletter will vary, from senior and well-known members of the industry to graduates just starting in the industry. The intention is to provide information on a cross-section of the industry covering how they first became involved in the industry, what they do, how they relax etc. The interviews are conducted and reported by Santa Raymond for the Hong Kong Chapter of IFMA.
Q.
How do you describe the job you do?
A.
I look after, and oversee, Campus development and the facilities management of all our premises. Currently, we have around 160,000 sq.m campus space for about 6,500 full-time and 45,000 part-time students.
Not including outsourcing, there are 110 staff in the Estates Office, and we do all the maintenance including M&E in-house. We only outsource strategically, that is out-tasking security, cleaning and landscaping. The Finance Office manages catering, but we handle food safety, IAQ, and H&S - including that for the laboratories. We look after staff quarters in Sha Tin, and help the Student Affairs section manage student accommodation.
We are in the process of major campus redevelopment, and unlike big universities where development is separated from facilities management, here it is integrated - which means we're responsible for our own mistakes!
Q.
What is your background?
A.
I was born in Hong Kong, and having studied here at high school went to Leicester Poly in the UK doing Building Surveying. After qualifying, I came back to here and worked with Vigers Chartered Surveyors, starting as an assistant surveyor and working up to partner.
For four years I was in Canada - Toronto and Vancouver - mainly doing QS works and forensic engineering. For seven years I was then an associate professor at HK Poly U - doing teaching and research on building surveying, project finance and facility management, plus consultancy work. I was involved with some of the earliest research in HK on FM - benchmarking for the Asia Pacific Region.
It was then back to industry at the Hospital Authority, as Executive Manager (Capital Works) for 44 hospitals. After two years, I moved to the HK Institute of Education and headed its Estates Office where I was for five years.
Academically, I also studied a Masters in Construction Project Management at HKU, and later did a PHD in Project Funding and an MIPA in International & Public Affairs. Professionally, I am qualified as a Chartered Building Surveyor FRICS and a Professional Quantity Surveyor PQS . I am also an Authorized Person.
Q.
Why did you apply for your current job?
A.
Most of the projects under my supervision at HKIEd were about completion, and the Institute had few new projects. The FM system designed by me was running smoothly and churned out good results. When I saw this job advertised I knew it would have a lot of new projects. Also the FM system here was lagging behind and needed someone to bring it up to the right level. A problem was that until I started in October, 2004, there had only been an acting director heading the office for five years. So it was a real adventure - lots of new projects, a different situation and an opportunity for FM to expand.
Q.
What are your current key projects?
A.
Our campus development: in order to cater for the expansion from a three to a four-year curriculum, we are building round 20,000 sq.m. We are also making up on existing shortfall of round 36,000 sq.m. - so around 56,000 sq.m. overall. We plan completion by 2012 using a series of two to three year programmes.
This programme includes a new Communications School, and an Academy of Performing Arts that we have already started. We are also currently building a new campus on the Mainland - a joint venture with Beijing Normal University - for 4,000 full time students, Another interesting project is a joint partnership with the Arts Development Council and the Arts Centre to convert an old factory in Shek Kip Mei into a Creative Arts Centre.
My role in these is as the project manager. In parallel we are undertaking a strategic campus planning process looking into the very long term, plus a wish list for the next ten years. Our strategic campus plan forms the basis for incremental development. With our interim projects, we are steering toward our end goal, making sure we don't make irreversible mistakes. In parallel we are carrying out a comprehensive FM system review / revamp to develop an integrated and up-to-date system and work process.
Q.
What do you see as the future for FM?
A.
It's an evolving discipline. I wouldn't be surprise if, in ten years time, it wasn't called facilities management any more. Looking at the label, and looking at the discipline - it may well have to be re-labelled. FM is a label of convenience. An example is in Mainland China; when translated it comes under property management.
It is a question of looking at assets to support services, and of FMs being elevated higher up the corporate ladder. Whether from the hardware, software or even humanware sides, there are very conflicting forces, and these depend on the stage of development of the corporation. Apparently, the 'steady' corporation is interested in 'hardware', but the corporation in the development stage is concerned with strategic planning. I may be wrong.
Q.
What do you do to relax?
A.
I do Tai Chi Chuen - shadow boxing, and go to concerts and listen to classical music. As a child I played the violin, and although this is now some forty years ago, I still have the ambition to start again and play at the last row of the second violin or viola in an orchestra.
Q.
If you weren't in FM, what else would you like to do?
A.
I almost became a physiotherapist when I was young. My parents wanted me to be a doctor but I did badly in biology then. Actually, I wanted to be a town planner, but we couldn't afford the long and expensive training. I picked surveying because it was a shorter course and seems to be related to town planning (!). Now, I might just like to be a violinist.
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