Media

Dr Albert Ko, Senior Student Adviser with the University of Hong Kong (HKU), was honoured at the Third Hong Kong Humanity Award Presentation Ceremony today (May 22) in recognition of his devoted contribution to international humanitarian work.

Dr Ko was among the five recipients of the award co-organised by the Hong Kong Red Cross (HKRC) and Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK).

Dr Ko is a professional mechanical engineer. He joined the Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) in 2000 and was the first Hong Kong engineer to join the service. Over the years, he had facilitated relief projects in Sudan, Uzbekistan, Indonesia and Pakistan.

During the emergency phase of the 5.12 Sichuan Earthquake in 2008, Dr Ko managed the emergency supply centre for the MSF and has provided continuous support in rebuilding remote villages in Mianzhu and Shifang by "Progressive Rural Rehabilitation Project".

He offered villagers free consultancies in engineering and technical design in rebuilding the village in a way that is structurally safe and most importantly affordable; he has also actively trained student volunteers and invited professionals to participate in this project. Besides rebuilding, they have also included countryside tourism and environmental friendly elements in the design of village; so as to achieve sustainable development in the long run.

Being a trained and experienced relief engineer, Dr Ko has trained future humanitarian workers in Hong Kong. He designed, organized, taught and promoted the first emergency engineering course in Hong Kong for The Hong Kong Institutions of Engineers. Emergency engineer training includes constructions and camp planning like the Infectious Diseases Centre and refugee camps, logistic support, telecommunication technology, water and sanitation.

He has also proactively advocated the volunteer humanitarian missions and encouraged participation of Hong Kong students and professionals. In December last year, he joined HKU Centre of Development and Resources for Students to help in organizing student activities integrating service and learning. He has also contributed to the design of the new core curriculum for the four-year university education. A major emphasis of the new curriculum is experiential learning to provide students with opportunities to apply classroom learning to real life practice.

Dr Ko's belief in serving the vulnerable has been widely disseminated among the younger generation. Mere enthusiasm, he said, would not be adequate to make humanitarian work a success.

"Passion and perseverance is the key, with careful planning and continuous hard work, sustainable development can be achieved in the long run." He said volunteers should equip themselves with skills and knowledge, so as to work to the benefit of the needy.