them.

As a Hong Kong-born Filipino, Jianne Soriano is the director and producer of “Own Voices: Breaking Stereotypes”, a documentary that tells the stories of young ethnic minorities through their own voices to hopefully break existing stereotypes placed upon them.

Since she was in secondary school, Jianne has had a wide involvement in various international initiatives. She has been an active youth leader at the United Nations Internet Governance Forum and was one of the guest speakers at the HKBU Global Youth Summit 2018.

"Hong Kong is home to people from different cultural backgrounds. In that sense, it is international. However, people's perception of 'international' tends to veer towards western culture, hence people of South Asian and South-east Asian descent don't automatically come to mind. Also, there aren't many opportunities for Chinese- and non-Chinese-speaking people to interact with each other." Jianne Soriano is one of the few Hong Kong-born Filipinos to have gained admission to a local university. For both primary and secondary schooling, she was allocated to designated schools where ethnic minority students are the majority. The International Journalism course in HKBU has provided Jianne a real opportunity to study with locals and an ethnically diverse group of students.

A few months ago, she directed and produced a documentary examining stereotypes of ethnic minorities in Hong Kong. Equal Opportunities Commission representatives were invited as special guests at the public screening. "I live in Hong Kong but I seldom hear the voices of ethnic minorities in the mainstream media. And when I do hear them, it's usually negative news. It prompted me to produce a documentary that tells the stories of four young people of different ethnic backgrounds as told through their own words. I wish to give them a voice and make them more visible to society. That's why I named it 'Own Voices'."

More

HKBU and was awarded the Belt and Road Scholarship (Thailand) from the HKSAR government.

Mereen Santirad and her family are one of the many refugees in Myanmar (Burma) who flew across the border to Thailand. With limited educational opportunities available, Mereen gained admission to HKBU and was awarded the Belt and Road Scholarship (Thailand) from the HKSAR government.

The adversity and hardship she has endured have aspired Mereen to study communication and to choose the Data and Media Communication concentration offered by the Department of Journalism.

Years of civil war have forced the Karen people and many other ethnic minorities in Myanmar (Burma) to flee across the border to Thailand. Over the past few decades, nine refugee camps have been established along the northwestern border of Thailand. They host hundreds of thousands of Burmese refugees, including School of Communication Year 2 student Mereen Santirad and her family.

Refugees are not allowed to leave the camp. Mereen, like many refugee students, was excluded from the educational opportunities that are available to local Thai people. In the camp she could only finish her high school and the post-ten school, the highest level available. Although the facilities in a school built with bamboo were very inadequate and limited, Mereen's determination to study has never faltered. Last year, she gained admission to HKBU and was awarded the Belt and Road Scholarship (Thailand) from the HKSAR Government.

More

wide and has worked at the European Parliament.

Growing up in Romania witnessing the societal changes brought by the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Florin Constantin Serban longed to pursue journalism to become a global citizen to understand the world better. He has travelled far and wide and has worked at the European Parliament.

Florin has completed his PhD degree in Journalism at the School. He now teaches Journalism and Communication.

• Q1.
  Could you tell me more about your early life in Romania? What have you witnessed during the transitioning from communism to capitalism? How does those experiences make you want to be a journalist and a global citizen?
• I had a great time growing up in the 1990’s in Romania. It was a time characterised by profound societal changes brought by the fall of communism in Eastern Europe. Of course, I was young and I couldn’t make much sense of it, but as I was growing up I was surrounded by the wind of change, the sense of possibilities and opportunities. Everything around me was changing. For example, having a colour TV and cable television in the early 90’s was an amazing experience after the grey years of communism. Romania had the highest television restrictions in the communist block and people had to smuggle VHS tapes in order to watch movies that were labelled by the communist regime as “imperialist”. Then, in 1989, the Iron Curtain collapsed. I was 5 years old and I couldn’t make much of it, but the changes were noticeable. People gained their hopes back; they felt there was a chance for them to improve their lives.
• Watching international channels such as Rai Uno from Italy, TVE from Spain, TV5 from France and, of course, MTV opened up a window to the outside world. As ordinary as it sounds in 2017, those were major things for us in the early 1990’s. Politically and economically, the country was stuck in a period of transition. However, culturally, the impact was immediate. These were times when Romania was still not part of the European Union, traveling abroad was not commonplace at all and people were reconnecting with their European heritage. They did so by reading all the books that were censored by the previous regime, reading colourful magazines presenting photos and clothes previously labelled as decadent, watching Hollywood blockbusters (also forbidden communism), or watching the evening news of a French channel only to see how people live in Paris or Bordeaux.
• Those formative years had a huge impact on me. Nowadays, I am able to hop on planes and visit most of the countries around the world without needing a visa, but back in the early 1990’s most people connected with the outside world through a mediated experience. I can only explain my adolescent decision to pursue a journalism degree by the thrills, provided by watching a world through the TV screen. I wanted to be closer to what was happening “out there” and to understand the world better. For me, the world “out there” was more attractive than my neighbourhood, my city, or my country.
• Q2.
  In your view, what are the important elements that make a person a "global citizen" ? Travelling around has become common nowadays but it doesn't necessarily make a person a global citizen. What else do you think are needed to acquire to be a global citizen like you? Any examples?
• The badge of “global citizen” is easy to collect nowadays given that traveling became inexpensive and we’re hours away from our next destination. I would say that it is easy to travel but it is more difficult to adapt, to discover, to become a part of the places you visit. Going to places is easy, adjusting your mind-set and your comfort zone to these new places is much more difficult. I feel the term “global” in itself is quite problematic because it excludes the local specificities. And at the end of the day this is what enriches our experience. If we travel around the world but eat from the same fast food chains, do we really travel? Personally, I am attracted by the local specificities, not by the global perspectives. When we forget to connect with the locals and do not get to know them better, we miss out on a large array of experiences and emotions. Throughout my journeys to different parts of the world, I sometimes felt uncomfortable. There were many times when I disagreed with the way things were going, whether the issues were political, economic, or societal. Nevertheless, I tried to understand why things were like that and why people don’t want to change these issues. At the end of the day, as guests in a new country or place, it is not up to us to change them. We do not have to fully embrace them, but it is our duty to try to understand them and to shift our perspectives from “this is not how things should be” to “I try to understand why things are not the way I was expecting them to be”. We should be more humble and feel less entitled when we try to collect the “global citizen” badge. It’s all about the people we meet and the way things go in a certain environment and never about ourselves.
• Q3.
  How has your experience in European Parliament changed your view towards “global citizen”? Any interesting incidents happened when you worked in Europe Parliament that you would like to share?
• The European Parliament is a vital institution for the European Union project. I was surprised by its slow pace and its high levels of bureaucracy, but I did my best to understand its role. If you step back for a moment, you realise that it’s amazing to have hundreds of representatives from the 28 EU member states gathered in a single place. They disagree a lot, and sometimes they shout at each other, but most of the times those who are elected do their best to uphold the values and the interests of the European Union. It is amazing that these representatives should not uphold the interests of their home countries, but those of all the EU citizens. At the end of the day, the bigger interests prevail and everyone has to accept their small defeats for the greater good. Every time a celebrity visits the Parliament, people will transform into paparazzi. A funny thing was when Arnold Schwarzenegger came to visit the Parliament, he was surrounded by bodyguards. Given his past as a bodybuilder, it was difficult to tell who was protecting whom.
• Q4.
  Why did you choose Hong Kong for your PhD? And why HKBU? Any story that you could share?
• During my M.A. program in the Netherlands, I chose Hong Kong as an exchange destination. It was by chance, I wanted something memorable for a semester. Given the co-operation between Utrecht University and CUHK, I went to the latter one and ended up staying there for 2 semesters instead of only one. I did my research on Hong Kongese media and completed my dissertation while in Hong Kong. This was a great experience and I felt dislocated coming back to Europe after almost a year in Hong Kong. I was already away from my home country, then I got very close to Hong Kong and in the end, I had to leave it as well. I came back to Hong Kong, this time to do a PhD at HKBU. I chose HKBU and HKBU chose me. Given the university’s strong interest in journalism studies, its international outlook and my past experience in the territory, I was accepted into the PhD program and was offered the prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme. I was at the European Parliament in Brussels when the offer came. I told myself that this institution will still be there some years later, but a fellowship to carry out research on a topic I am interested in and in a place I love will only come once in a lifetime. Four years later, I do not regret the decision one bit.
• Q5.
  You started to do research about Hong Kong media since your master study, why? What attract you about the HK media? How do you view HK media and HK journalists in general?
• Due to its fast transformations, Hong Kong is an amazing place in which to carry out research. It has a unique position within post-colonial societies and my research asked basic, but relevant questions, on how journalism in the territory is transforming, who counts as a journalist and how media professionals deal with technological advancements. The high penetration of smartphones and digital media is relevant not only for local media, but also for other places that sooner rather than later will go through similar experiences. As well, the political and economic questions on local media are timely and I used them to better explain how journalism in the territory is changing. Hong Kong has a strong journalistic heritage and media outlets, such as South China Morning Post are highly regarded around the world. Journalism in Hong Kong is going through important changes and we can see how digital-only outlets – newcomers who until some years ago were absent from the market – gain more and more relevance. Journalism will continue to be significant in Hong Kong, but the way the audience is experiencing it and engages with it is definitely changing.

Over the past two years, Celia Lai has participated in the Model United Nations conferences in Montreal and Geneva respectively. She has greatly benefitted from this international experience interacting with students from more than 150 countries and regions.

Journalism is a profession to report upon a problem. United Nations is a platform for discussions and solutions. As a model of UN, Model United Nations (MUN) is a conference for all the interested youth to represent their assigned countries and discuss the problem on an equal basis. As a journalism student, it is like second nature to be drawn attention to the global topics. Apart from reporting, I am more eager to become a part of the solution. MUN therefore caught my eyes instantly when I heard about it from the club’s promotion booth.

I participated in two international conferences in Montreal and Geneva respectively. The conference is basically a melting pot for all the opinions and ideas since students from more than 150 countries and regions would take part in these conferences every year. They are all well-prepared for the discussions. Inside the chamber, you can hear them talk fearlessly about their “countries’” stances and suggestions, and sometimes oppositions. Public speaking and impromptu speeches are a major part of the whole conference. Current issues such as immigration and Ebola are common topics in MUN. You get inspired by all the brains there with their innovative proposals and bold decisions. Some conferences such as Geneva International MUN (GIMUN) would take reference from the discussion throughout the conference and bring the fruit, which is the draft resolution, to the real table in UN. Indirectly, our hard work and fierce discussions have paid off.

The experience in MUN conference can be described as life-changing. Getting the awards is simply the icing on the cake. From these two years of participation, I have managed to overcome stage fright. It is also a great opportunity to make friends from all over the world. The participants are different yet the same – our backgrounds are diverse but we share similar values and worldviews. The conference has established a platform for the exchange of ideas among participants. In my opinion, the exchange among the delegates from diverse educational, cultural and professional backgrounds is the new best way to solve world issues nowadays. There are many issues induced due to an inadequate understanding between different parties. However, the exchange of ideas, especially among the youth, can help nurture the new generation to become kind and compassionate individuals. And yes, I do reckon that empathy is the key to solving many problems.