As the late Nelson Mandela once eloquently remarked, “What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.” Inspired by this profound philosophy, Ming Hong strives to leave an indelible positive impact on the development of leadership and capacity-building ecosystems on local, national, regional, and global scales.
Ming Hong’s contributions span seven key initiatives at the University of Cambridge. At the Cambridge Judge Business School (CJBS), he currently serves as the Co-President of the Real Estate Special Interest Group and the Investment Management Club. Together with his fellow leaders, he has endeavored to create an inclusive and supportive environment for students across various degree programmes (MBA, EMBA, and MFin) at CJBS, aiming for careers in commercial real estate and investment management. These efforts include organising and facilitating events, job opportunities, case competitions, and career development resources to increase their career readiness and professional development. In collaboration with the CJBS MFin Office, he supported their admission and marketing efforts by speaking on the college admission panel as a student representative and participating in the filming of the MFin Group Consulting Project.
Serving on the Judging Panel of the Cambridge Student Union’s Student-Led Teaching Awards has been particularly rewarding. It has allowed Ming Hong to acknowledge and celebrate the outstanding contributions of educators and student support staff across the university. His roles as a Student Ambassador for Kettle’s Yard and a Green Impact Auditor for Trinity Hall have enabled him to gain a deeper appreciation of and advocate for inclusivity in the arts and the importance of sustainable practices within the institution.
Collaborating with the Center for Science and Policy at the University of Cambridge, Ming Hong authored an article on the Cambridge Zero Policy Forum seminar. The seminar featured David Craig, Co-Chair of the Taskforce on Nature-based Financial Disclosure (TNFD), alongside a distinguished group of professors and fellows. It was an unparalleled opportunity to delve into critical discussions about the TNFD, focusing on how organizations and financial institutions can integrate nature-related dependencies, impacts, risks, and opportunities into their strategic and capital allocation decision-making processes.
Beyond the university, Ming Hong has been volunteering with the National Youth Council Singapore for the past 8 years and is currently serving as Deputy Chief Curator of the Young ChangeMakers Grants Programme. Together with a team of over 40 Curators, they evaluate and deliberate on grant applications, deploy government seed funding to support over 150 community projects annually, and provide mentorship and partnership opportunities. These initiatives span a wide array of causes, including sustainability, women empowerment, community development, social mobility, and Covid-19 responses.
Regionally, Ming Hong is a Co-Founder of Deria, a non-profit initiative in Malaysia aimed at increasing environmental education and literacy among youth—a cause close to his heart. Together with his team, they won the Communicating Science for Climate Action Grant Award from the British High Commission Kuala Lumpur, in partnership with the UK Science and Innovation Network and the 26th United Nations Climate Change Conference. Deria’s flagship product is an environmental education toolkit co-developed with teachers and advised by prominent climate experts. UNESCO, under its Green Citizens initiative,
recognised Deria as one of over 150 citizen-led projects in 65 countries dedicated to biodiversity and sustainable development and featured their toolkit on its website.
Globally, Ming Hong has served in the selection committees and panels of grants, fellowships, scholarships, and awards of multiple organisations, including the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, the Rhodes Trust, the Commonwealth Secretariat, and the Diana Award. For instance, as part of the Grants Committee of the Queen’s Commonwealth Trust, they have assessed and deployed over £400,000 to support 25 social ventures across the Commonwealth in honour and legacy of the late Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. These roles have allowed him to contribute to meaningful projects worldwide and broaden his perspectives on international development.
Receiving the Vice-Chancellor’s Social Impact Award as the only Master’s recipient this year is a testament to Ming Hong’s ongoing social impact endeavours. However, to him, the award represents not merely his individual efforts but embodies the collective dedication of everyone he has had the privilege to collaborate with. The VCSIA recognition reaffirms his unwavering commitment to social impact, inspiring him to continue working towards a
sustainable, inclusive, and equitable world.
